It has been 20 years since the Seattle International Dance Festival (SIDF) first began. From June 6 to 14 this year, the Festival will bring a new local and global lineup to Seattle’s Broadway Performance Hall.
Over the course of nine days, the Festival brings together about two dozen dance companies for performances, workshops, and the James Ray Residency and Touring Program. The artists hail from India, South Korea, and the Pacific Northwest, as well as Finland and Burkina Faso.
Khambatta Dance Company book-ends this year’s festival by teaming up with Jae Kwan Kim and MYOWNMOVE on opening night, June 6. Kicking things off, Khambatta will present “404: Human Not Found,” a piece that inquires into humanity’s relationship to machines and robots, while MYOWNMOVE joins from South Korea to perform “Constructed Selves,” focusing on personal movement and individual physical language to ask how society transforms us to suit collective desires.
On June 9, Zihao (Jeremy) Yuan will perform his solo work “The Hidden Q.U.E.E.R.,” a piece about gender norms, expressions, and perceptions in dance. A self-described “Kuer” (酷儿 or queer) Chinese dance artist-scholar, Yuan is a first-year doctoral student and Graduate Fellow in Dance Studies at The Ohio State University and is also pursuing a minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
Before heading to Ohio, Yuan earned a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Washington. “When I moved to Seattle in 2022, I already knew about SIDF and had always dreamed of participating in the festival,” Yuan recounted. “However, graduate school kept me incredibly busy at the time.” Only after graduation did Yuan have the opportunity to engage with Seattle’s dance community.
For Yuan, the Festival is an ideal venue to showcase “The Hidden Q.U.E.E.R.”
“To me, SIDF is one of the most inclusive, diverse, and internationally recognized dance festivals,” Yuan explained. “It creates space for artists like me to share personal voices and perspectives that are not always welcomed or represented elsewhere.”
Yuan’s piece is inspired by the legacy of Mei Lanfang 梅兰芳, the iconic Chinese opera artist known for his cross-gender performances. “His artistry opened a powerful space for me to think about the relationship between identity, tradition, performance, and personal liberation,” Yuan said.
Throughout his training, Yuan observed that binary gender norms dominated the dance world, and “The Hidden Q.U.E.E.R.” is his response. “It reflects my own experiences growing up and navigating gender, while also inviting audiences to embrace authenticity in both dance and life,” Yuan said. After seeing traditional dance suppress non-normative identities and forms of expression, Yuan is hoping to offer visibility, empowerment, and representation to individuals and communities who have long felt unseen.
Performing his work at SIDF during Seattle’s Pride Month is particularly meaningful for Yuan. “I’m incredibly excited to see the different kinds of work each artist is creating and how our diverse cultural backgrounds shape the stories we tell through dance,” he said. “I hope this work encourages others to continue speaking, creating, and living their truth with courage.”
The following day, June 10, Tatkaar y Taconeo will present Panchaboota – The Five Elements. The recently-formed duo of Pooja Ganesh and Eve Salonen will explore the elements of life through a combination of Kathak and flamenco music and dance.
Ganesh and Salonen’s partnership dates only to spring of last year, when they were hired to create a Kathak and flamenco performance for performing arts hub House of Kala. “Since then, we’ve continued our collaboration and performed in many venues in Seattle, as well as in San Francisco International Arts Festival,” Salonen reported.
After dancing together repeatedly, Ganesh and Salonen decided to bring live music into their performances, and Ganesh introduced a story from her Indian heritage. “The concept of five elements, Panchaboota, is rooted in Indian culture and mythology,” Salonen explained, “and offers a platform for us and our musicians to create new approaches alongside the traditions, with both dance and music styles.”
Tatkaar y Taconeo is rounded out by several musicians, including flamenco cante vocalist Erin Lau; vocalist, beatboxer, and mridangam artist Shivaraj Natraj; and Seattle-area multi-instrumentalist Rishabh, whose focus is the intersections of jazz and Indian classical music. “Our musicians have been composing new pieces, finding collaborative ways to connect these two cultures and styles,” Salonen said.
To expand their reach, Ganesh and Salonen applied to SIDF’s James Ray Residency and Touring Project and were selected as one of the 2026 artists. “To be able to connect and learn from artists around the world is the ultimate reward,” Salonen said.
On the final day of the festival, Ethan Pak Rome Dance will present Kilgore, which delves into the flow of time through movement. “My work often explores elements of softness, waving, undulating currents as both an aesthetic and method of creating work,” Rome said. “I always look at what flows, how material evolves, and how power can come from unknown and often subtle places.”
A Korean and Norwegian dancer based in Seattle, Rome combines martial arts with hip-hop and contemporary dance, and he draws upon themes of identity, philosophy, and the Asian diaspora. “SIDF is an amazing festival that offers the opportunity to participate in a global community of dance,” he enthused.
“This festival provides the ability to see and be seen by a very diverse audience and come into conversation with artists from a wide range of backgrounds, geographically, stylistically, and artistically,” Rome added.
On the closing night of SIDF, Rome’s Kilgore is paired with another performance by Khambatta Dance Company. In this way, KDC bring SIDF full circle under the direction of founder and executive artistic director Cyrus Khambatta, a biracial artist whose father emigrated from India and who now leads SIDF into its third decade.
Seattle International Dance Festival runs from June 6 to 14 at the Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway, Seattle.
