International artists are flocking to Brisbane!

Los Angeles and Brisbane are both gearing up to be Olympic host cities, so it's fitting that the jewel of this year's Brisbane Festival is coming from LAX to BNE. L.A. Dance Project’s Gems is contemporary ballet at its finest. Choreographed by French-born Benjamin Millepied (famous for his work on Black Swan), this innovative performance, twelve years in the making, is debuting at Brisbane Festival.

The Netherlands’ Club Guy & Roni are interested in the things that bring us together: our human nature, even the bad parts. They work with artists from around the world to create a melting pot of ideas. For Bad Nature, the Dutch group are joined by the Australasian Dance Collective and Studio Boris Acket for a multisensory international dance collaboration. 

ISH Dance Collective travelled from the Netherlands to Sydney for a critically acclaimed run of Elements of Freestyle and are now continuing their travels as they jump into action at Brisbane Festival. With a cast of champion Dutch athletes, ISH are moving with precision and adrenaline. Experience extreme urban sports, dance, music, and theatre like never before. 

New York's Indo Warehouse celebrate their South Asian roots with electronic and club aesthetics. Meet Kahani and Kunal Merchant: the dynamic partners revolutionising dance music through their groundbreaking ‘Indo House’ movement. Their meteoric rise has positioned them at the forefront of a cultural renaissance in electronic music. 

NYC’s anxious clown Spencer Novich (American Horror Story, Cirque du Soleil) is going to take you on an absurd, hyper-physical ego trip deep into the bowels of his psyche. This twisted, serio-comic journey wrestles with the inner critic — complete with naked balloon nightmares, shock-collar surprises, and eight-hour enemas.

Founded by renowned Canadian composer and guitarist Tim Brady in 2015, 100 Guitars has wowed audiences at major festivals across Canada in unexpected venues like shopping malls, basilicas, railway stations, and hockey arenas. This special Brisbane Festival performance will feature Brisbane’s own Topology, infusing the experience with their signature rhythmic virtuosity on piano, saxophone, violin, viola, and double bass.

International arts superstars Craig & Karl are flying into Brisbane with Singapore Airlines for an incredible arts takeover, unlike anything you've seen before. The pair first met while studying in Brisbane and now collaborate daily from their respective bases in New York and London.