Chiara Bersani and Mamela Nyamza nominated for the Salavisa European Dance Award (SEDA)

The five finalists of the second edition of the Salavisa European Dance Award (SEDA) have been announced. Created by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in partnership with an international network of cultural institutions, this European dance award, worth €150,000, recognises choreographers and artists working in contemporary dance. The prize aims to support artists with artistic maturity and distinctive trajectories whose visibility within the European circuit remains limited.

The finalists for this edition are Chiara Bersani (Italy), Dan Daw (Australia), Jefta van Dinther (Netherlands), Mamela Nyamza (South Africa) and Lukas Avendaño (Mexico). Among these names, Chiara Bersani and Mamela Nyamza have previously presented performances at the Alkantara Festival, in 2025 and 2024 respectively, highlighting the festival’s ongoing relationship with artists shaping the international contemporary dance landscape.

The five creators were selected by representatives from the institutions that make up the award’s organising network, including Dansehallerne (Denmark), Fondazione Fabbrica Europa (Italy), Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Portugal), Joint Adventures (Germany), KVS (Belgium), Maison de la Danse / Biennale de la Danse (France), Mercat de les Flors (Spain), Sadler’s Wells (United Kingdom) and Tanzquartier Wien (Austria).

In the first edition of the award, the winners were Dorothée Munyaneza, who presented umuko at the Alkantara Festival 2025, and Idio Chichava.