To celebrate, we’d like to invite you to join us in a conversation about the most important artists, the most important books, the most important theatre shows and more.
20 Years of Latitude
Next summer, we’ll gather to celebrate the twentieth edition of Latitude Festival. Twenty years of festival line ups that celebrate the breadth of the arts.
Thousands of artists have moved us with theatre, with literature, with songs, with laughter, with dance. Together, we’ve experienced moments that simply couldn’t have happened anywhere else.
Thousands of artists have moved us with theatre, with literature, with songs, with laughter, with dance. Together, we’ve experienced moments that simply couldn’t have happened anywhere else.
Part mission statement, part cultural archive, part collective memory. A cultural and social survey and conversation with you, our audience, to establish in your eyes and our eyes what the most important aspects of modern life and culture have been.
Sometimes, movement can speak louder than words, and Latitude’s Waterfront Stage has been where those moments unfold. Who could forget Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake or that Dirty Dancing lift? These moments remind us how dance can land instantly, emotionally, and without explanation.
Across two decades, Latitude has played host to contemporary dance moments that have stayed with us long after - performances that became shared memories and defining images of the festival. This category honours the choreographers who have made an incredible contribution to the dance canon, whether that's an iconic production, extraordinary storytelling or a new movement language.
Sir Wayne McGregor has made his mark through a curiosity for what the body can do, and what choreography can become. From founding Random Dance to reimagining classical language as Resident Choreographer at The Royal Ballet, his work has consistently pushed dance forward through collaborations across music, art, technology and science.
Across the last two decades, McGregor’s career has unfolded at the intersection of choreography, science and technology. His collaborations with composers, visual artists, architects and neuroscientists have reframed dance as a research-driven practice as much as an expressive one.
Across the last two decades, McGregor’s career has unfolded at the intersection of choreography, science and technology. His collaborations with composers, visual artists, architects and neuroscientists have reframed dance as a research-driven practice as much as an expressive one.
Hofesh Shechter is known for his movement language that hits with both urgency and intimacy. Pairing raw, grounded physicality with his own percussive scores, his work has built a signature world that is instantly recognisable. From early breakthrough works like Political Mother and Uprising to later pieces such as Grand Finale, Shechter has created choreography that feels communal, emotionally charged and deeply reflective of the world around it.
Oona Doherty’s choreography arrives with the force of lived experience. Drawing directly from close observation, she creates movement rooted in everyday life and places it under the spotlight without softening its edges. Doherty represents a shift in whose stories contemporary dance can hold. Her work resonates beyond traditional dance audiences because the emotions are immediately recognisable, even when the form is unfamiliar. By challenging ideas of polish, beauty and technique, she has helped transform contemporary choreography into a space for urgent, deeply human stories.
Who do you feel is the Most Important Poet of the last 20 years?
We will endeavour to determine the final decision on 6th February 2026 taking your responses into account and will work our socks off to ensure that the winner(s) will attend the festival next year.
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