Ageless Festival returns to Leeds on 10-11 July 2026. Over two days Ageless features an eclectic mix of bold new performances, inspirational talks, workshops and installations from critically acclaimed dance artists who are reimagining age through dance.  

Headlining Ageless on Friday night is a retrospective of renowned French choreographer, Jérôme Bel blending film, monologue and live performance in an unexpected evening of past creation and constant reinvention. 

Earlier in the day Holding Wisdom features solos of Juju dance and music, Flamenco and Kathak from leading older artists Funmi Adewole Elliott, Allie Herrmann and Mitul Sengupta. Lizzie Klotz invites audiences to slow down, rest and reconnect with new work Abundance.

On Saturday Ageless hosts the premiere of Wild Hope by TC Howard and Company of People. The new work is inspired by our wild and untamed Yorkshire landscape – a place to feel beautifully insignificant and magnificently connected.  

This is followed by Bird Nerd and the Red List by Marie-Louise Flexen, which invites audiences to encounter the Skylark, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Swifts and Nightingale — four of the 73 bird species on the UK’s red list.

On Saturday night Susan Kempster invites us to don headphones for immersive performance, On the usefulness and futility of looking backwards, where spectators become performers and where everyone is in their own private movie.

As well as performances, Ageless will feature dance workshops led by iconic older dance artists including Jo Fong who asks us to consent to explore the unknown in Liveness, this moment. Dawn Holgate and Joanne Bernard weave contemporary, African and Caribbean dance, music and storytelling in Bodies of Experience. Cai Tomos and Company Cain explore partnering and improvisation in Ways of Listening.

Over lunch join chef Kaltouma Hassaballah for a vibrant Sudanese-inspired community feast with gentle, facilitated conversation. Or turn from audience to voyeur in Flexer & Sandiland’s An Obscure Camera. 

View the full festival line up:

Ageless Festival 2026

Watch the trailer

Creative Director Hannah Robertshaw explains “Ageless is interested in who is visible, who is celebrated and what we define as beautiful. Where do age and experience hold power and how can dance redefine our relationship to age.

The festival unites local, national and international artists reflecting different societal attitudes to ageing and how this intersects with different cultural dance practices. We also explore ecology and our timeless relationship to the natural world. From our Big Communal Boogie through to Susan Kempster’s On the usefulness or futility of looking backwards, we hope you find moments of connection that enable you to consider what it means to be present, playful and find joy in moving.”

Grab your early bird festival pass before 31st May to get priority access to events across the festival and a 20% discount. A limited number of festival events are available with a pay what you can ticket.

Ageless Festival takes place in Leeds City Centre from Fri, 10 – Sat, 11 July, 2026.