International Dance Day 2025

The 29th of April is International Dance Day. The worldwide celebration that highlights one of the most inspiring and universal forms of artistic expression.

Every year, the International Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) commissions a well-known figure from the world of Dance to write a message that is read around the world.

We would like to share with you all the message for this year commissioned from the legendary dancer and choreographer Mikhail Baryshnikov, who, after a long and successful career on stage, remains active as the head of the arts centre bearing his name, Baryshnikov Arts.

International Dance Day 2025 message by Mikhail Baryshnikov, dancer and choreographer (Latvia / United States)

It is often said that dance can express the unsayable. Joy, pain and despair become visible; embodied expressions of our shared fragility. In this sense, dance can awaken empathy, inspire kindness and stir the desire to heal rather than harm.

Especially now, as hundreds of thousands of people suffer through wars, grapple with political upheaval and rise in protest against injustice, honest reflection is vital. It is a heavy burden for the body, dance and art.

Yet art remains the best way to give shape to the unexpressed, and we can begin by asking ourselves: Where is my truth? How do I honour myself and my community? To whom am I accountable?

In sharing this message with you, we would like to Wish you a Happy International Dance Day 2025.

We are Dance

We are Education

We are Culture