DANCE CAROUSEL to Expand With 24 Choreographers at Ground Floor Theatre

The Austin Dance Carousel will get bigger, continuing its annual dance celebration with a roster of choreographers—this year adding two more per program for a total of 24 dance makers for the 2026 performances. Each choreographer will create 4 one-minute dances that will be shown in a round, amounting to 48 minutes of dance — humorous, poignant, virtuosic, pensive, and sometimes deliciously subversive.

The fast-paced format is perfect for our attention spans—a yearly favorite since its revival in 2023. This production of contemporary dance and dance-based performance art was founded in 2004 by Ellen Bartel. Productions of the past integrated hundreds of choreographers, dancers, and dancegoers in a weirdly wonderful and artful event. The return of Dance Carousel has given a new life to an old tradition, cross-pollinating and enlivening the local community with a fresh mix of strong choreographic voices.

Two different programs, Carousel A on Wednesday, October 7th  and Friday, October 9th  and Carousel B on Thursday, October 8th and Saturday, October 10th  will each showcase the work of twelve—formerly ten— different choreographers. The 2026 iteration is helmed by Austin dance producers Emily Rushing, Lisa Kobdish, Rosalyn Nasky, Alexa Capareda (who have collectively garnered multiple Best Dancer/Choreographer awards, nominations, and accolades), following the guidance of founder Ellen Bartel, named “Best Dance Mobilizer” in 2008 for her tireless work of bringing people together.

Dance Carousel was named Best Original Dance Event by the Austin Chronicle and beloved by the Austin dance community for more than a decade. Barry Pineo of the Austin Chronicle proclaimed in 2006 that Dance Carousel is “one of the most pleasurable, thought-provoking, eclectic hours you will ever spend in a theatre.”