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About Nations Dance Festival

Passion, magic, and beauty... over 150 ethnic dancers and musicians!

The first Nations of San Diego International Dance Festival (Nations) was presented under the auspices of the San Diego Dance Alliance and the San Diego Repertory Theatre at the Lyceum Theater in 1993. Performers included internationally recognized American Indian dancer Eric Runningpath, Irish step champion Liam Harney and flamenca Yaelisa. In tandem with professional dancers such as these, Nations presented and continues to present accomplished “amateurs” in the best sense. As the Latin root of this word suggests, love and personal passion drive these dancers to study and practice a culture's dance forms.

As the organizers of the first Nations Festival discovered when they scouted out performers at backyard parties and community centers all over the county,  the San Diego region abounds in groups of dedicated amateur dancers and musicians, many of whom devote hours to rehearsing and even travel the globe to learn from masters.

Though the producers and venues for the event have changed through the years, the original vision for Nations still holds true sixteen years later.  Nations seeks out the rich cultural heritage of dance from our region and elevates these traditional art forms on a stage for a wide audience to enjoy. 

This collaboration with artists, organizations and communities, advances cultural understanding, and achieves universal appreciation and support for the world’s diverse dance traditions.  Bringing 15 different cultures together under one roof to speak their culture through dance and music powerfully unites our varied community.

From the beginning, Nations has been committed to education.  Performances specifically for students from throughout the county have been and continue to be part of the Nations offering. Nations also offers schools the opportunity to bring in dance educators from the Nations performer roster for class demonstrations and in-depth learning.  Traditional dance forms are a brilliant window into diverse cultures; students are captivated.

Nations has had a variety of producers and called many venues home, from the Lyceum Theatre in Horton Plaza, to UCSD Mandeville Auditorium in La Jolla, to the Birch North Park Theatre.  The Coronado School of the Arts Foundation noted that the festival was missing from the cultural scene in 2008 and jumped at the opportunity to produce Nations in 2009. 2010 marks the second year that Nations will take place in the new 600 seat, state-of the-art theater on the campus of Coronado High.

View photos from Nations performances on Elazar Harel's website.