World-class contemporary dance under the open sky at the front of the Opera House. Free admission.
Danish Dance Theatre’s much-loved summer highlight, Dansk Danseteaters Summer Dance, returns from 26–30 August 2026 – this year in a completely new and spectacular setting. The summer event moves to the front of the Opera House on Holmen, overlooking Amalienborg, with the water as a gently rippling backdrop. One of Copenhagen’s most beautiful locations will frame six open-air performances filled with dance under the open sky – and this year all performances are free of charge.
All reserved seats are booked, but we have 50-100 free seats to all performances that will be handed out in front of the opera on a first come first served pricipal.
With Summer Dance in its new setting, Danish Dance Theatre presents the performance Le Scénario. It is created by the internationally acclaimed Swedish choreographer Philip Berlin, performed by the company’s dancers in one of Copenhagen’s most iconic locations – and this year all performances are free. Philip Berlin creates dance that is bursting with energy: athletic, full of joy and with plenty of edge.
Summer Dance is a gesture to the city. It offers access to international dance at eye level that can be felt in the body, whether you are encountering dance for the first time or already have it under your skin – in a setting where the city, the audience, and the art come together.
Danish Dance Theatre’s Summer Dance also features workshops for children and adults, talks, and coffee and wine at the waterfront.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Dates: 26–30 August.
Schedule:
Wednesday, 26 August: 8:00 PM
Thursday, 27 August: 8:00 PM
Friday, 28 August: 8:00 PM
Saturday, 29 August: 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM
Sunday, 30 August: 3:00 PM
Location: In front of the Opera House on Holmen, Ekvipagemestervej 10
Price: Free admission. Reservation fee of 25 DKK. All reservations are sold out, but we offer a free ticket queue for all performances with 50-100 seats avaliable.
Food & drinks: The café at the Opera House will be open, offering hot and cold drinks, cakes, ice cream, and more.
Please note:
FREE DANCE WORKSHOPS
Saturday, August 29, 2026
Public workshops for families, all ages, 1:30 PM–2:15 PM. Book HERE
Public workshops for families, all ages, 4:15 PM–5:00 PM. Book HERE
Sunday, August 30, 2026
Public workshops for families, all ages, 1:30 PM–2:15 PM. Book HERE
This Year’s Performance: Le Scénario by Philip Berlin
Le Scénario is a dance performance that celebrates the climax as a state of being: the soaring leaps, vibrating energy and a playful gleam in the eye. The Swedish choreographer Philip Berlin fuses raw post-punk with a playful sense of humour, while drawing threads back to the freedom of modern dance of the 1960s and 1970s with references to Merce Cunningham and Michael Clark, among others. The costumes flirt with both Renaissance menswear and contemporary queer aesthetics, creating a visual language that is at once historical and insistently present.
The performance unfolds as a sustained crescendo and plays with the idea of the finale as a format where energy, sound, light and movement build relentlessly and crash over the audience. It is intense, sensuous and physical – an experience felt throughout the body. The focus rests on the instant when the body leaves the ground. The dancers launch themselves through space in large, powerful jumps – like leaping deers at full speed, unpredictable and full of life.
The costumes, created by Daniel Åkerström Steen and Philip Berlin, combine historical silhouettes with latex and modern materials, reinforcing the performance’s playful exploration of identity, strength and extravagance.
Since its premiere at Dansens Hus in Stockholm in 2023, Le Scénario has toured widely across Scandinavia, including performances at the Oslo Opera House.
Choreography: Philip Berlin
Dancers: 10 dancers from Danish Dance Theatre
Stage Design and costumes: Daniel Åkerström-Steen
Composition: Yoann Durant
Music: Molchat Doma, Dirty Beaches & Suicide
COSTUME MAKER Maria Ipsen
CHOREOGRAPHIC ASSISTANCE Louise Dahl og Anna Grip
With support from
A.P. Møller og Hustru Chastine McKinney Møllers Fond til almene Formaal, Augustinus Fonden, Beckett-Fonden, William Demant Fonden, Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond, Københavns Kommune
