01 / The encounter
From Campo Maior.
For those who let themselves
be moved.
Between those who dance and those who watch, there is a space where anything can happen.
That encounter is what makes Pés no Chão. In Campo Maior, artists, companies and audiences come together to experience contemporary dance up close: on stage, in the street and in places given new life through movement.
Solos, duets and company works bring different languages and journeys to a place that opens itself to the world. Each work invites us to look again, to feel and to discover.
Discover the festival’s works ↗
For audiences
Curiosity
is the first
step.
You do not need to know the language of dance to accept the invitation. All you need is a willingness to be there and to be surprised.
Across conventional venues and alternative spaces, the festival brings artistic creation closer to community life. There are bodies, gestures and stories to discover — and many ways to feel them.
Revisit the 2026 edition ↗For artists and professionals
Create.
Share.
Find a way forward.
Pés no Chão brings together professional artists and companies from different backgrounds and perspectives, connecting contemporary creation with the local setting.
Performances, workshops and screendance create room to share practices and perspectives. A setting in which to present work, learn and bring dance to new audiences.
Talk to the organisers ↗
Different bodies. Different worlds.
One language.
Many accents.
International exchange is part of the festival’s identity. Artists and companies bring other references, other ways of creating and other ways of inhabiting movement.
In Campo Maior, these differences find common ground in the close relationship between creators, performers and audiences.
Discover the artists and their origins ↗02 / Learn and explore
From the audience
into movement.
Dance is also something we learn together. The festival’s workshops invite participants to experiment, share practices and discover new possibilities within their own bodies.
From children to arts professionals, the learning programme welcomes different audiences according to each workshop. The festival experience continues through making, listening and learning from one another.
Revisit the workshops ↗
03 / Other perspectives
The body is also
part of cinema.
In screendance, gesture takes on a different sense of time and framing. The festival brings choreography and filmmaking together, opening up new ways of creating and watching dance.
The meeting of body and camera creates images that carry movement beyond the stage.
Explore screendance ↗04 / Remembering the encounter
The gesture passes.
The memory remains.
Where we begin
Feet rooted here.
Eyes on the world.
Campo Maior’s relationship with dance has deepened over the past two decades through the municipality’s arts education projects.
The vitality of local traditions, including the Saias de Campo Maior, meets contemporary languages and practices that value experimentation. Tradition and creation come together in a festival rooted in its community and open to other places.
Pés no Chão contributes to the municipality’s cultural life and helps establish Campo Maior as a place for artistic creation in inland Portugal.
The people behind it
A project
made together.
Presented by Município de Campo Maior and Axpress-Arte | Associação Cultural.
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The encounter continues