The Amaturo Theater at Fort Lauderdale's Broward Center for the Performing Arts will once again fill with male dancers from around the world when Men Who Dance returns for its seventh consecutive year on Saturday, Nov. 28, and Sunday, Nov. 29. The festival, which showcases multigenre male dance performances, has built a reputation for challenging assumptions about who gets to move across a stage and how.
According to the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, the event is billed as the largest all-male dance festival in the United States, bringing together local, national and international artists for performances at 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. The festival is meant to celebrate, challenge, deconstruct and redefine concepts of masculinity, the venue notes, a mission that has defined the event since its earliest days.
That mission traces back to its creator, Rafi Maldonado-López, who serves as director of Sanctuary of the Arts and the Inter-American Choreographic Institute, the organization that produces Men Who Dance, according to the Miami Herald. A recent conversation hosted by Miami Community Newspapers publisher Michael Miller brought Maldonado-López together with three other guests working to expand opportunities in the performing arts, as reported by Miami's Community Newspapers. In that discussion, Maldonado-López spoke about the inspiration behind the festival and his goal of creating a platform for dancers to express themselves beyond traditional expectations, while also reflecting on the mentorship, collaboration and relationships that helped it grow.
Lucky 7 Theme Brings Five New Works
This year's edition carries the theme “Lucky 7,” and the program includes at least five new works, per Outclique. Among them is a new piece from Nathalia Arja, a choreographer and former Miami City Ballet principal dancer who is premiering the work with several dancers from that company, the outlet reports. In the same conversation with Miller, Arja shared her perspective on choreographing for male dancers and described the creative possibilities that open up when performers move beyond familiar partnering roles.
Also joining the festival for the first time this year is Francisco “Cisco” Graciano, a choreographer, dance artist and faculty member at New World School of the Arts, the outlet's report notes. During the panel discussion, Graciano reflected on discovering dance as a child and the encouragement that led him to pursue it, and he emphasized giving his own students space to find their artistic voices and move beyond limiting expectations.
International Guests Join South Florida Companies
The 2026 lineup pairs South Florida companies with artists from abroad. International guest artists include Ballet Nacional del Sodre, Cisne Negro, Compañía Nacional de Danza de Mexico and Tropilla Malambo, according to BroadwayWorld. The same report lists South Florida companies including Miami City Ballet, Dance NOW! Miami, Cuban Classical Ballet and Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami as part of the program.
Behind the scenes, Clay Oliveira serves as production manager for Men Who Dance. In the panel conversation, Oliveira explained the work of coordinating companies, artists and production needs, and described rehearsal schedules and lighting cues as key elements of pulling the festival together. Together, the festival's guests described the event as a rare chance for artists across companies, generations and cultural backgrounds to share experiences and build relationships, a theme that also ran through Miller's broader discussion with the panel about dance's physical demands, arts education and the connection between live performers and audiences.
A Festival Built From 15 Dancers
The festival's growth has been dramatic. What started as a group of 15 performers at the 2020 premiere, launched in November of that year as South Florida arts venues were still navigating the state's Phase 3 reopening during the pandemic according to WLRN, expanded over time into a program featuring more than 40 dancers, the Miami Herald reports. By 2025, the festival featured 52 dancers from more than 20 countries, per a separate WLRN report. Outclique notes that more than 20 new choreographic works have been presented on stage across the festival's history.
The event's reach has also extended beyond Fort Lauderdale. Men Who Dance Global, created in 2021, has held editions in Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina and Mexico, according to the Miami Herald. Organizers have said future goals include expanding festival seminars and auditions across the United States and into Europe, though the same report notes that international visa delays and denials have hampered the global project's progress.
Addressing a Shortage of Male Dancers
The festival's mission connects to a broader challenge facing South Florida's dance world. Jennifer Kronenberg has pointed to a shortage of male dancers in the region, attributing it in part to high living costs that make retention difficult, the Miami Herald reports. Men Who Dance has positioned itself as a direct response, aiming to challenge stereotypes surrounding male dancers while showcasing different styles of movement and bringing together artists from diverse backgrounds on one stage.
Tickets for the 2026 festival range from $25 to $45, with student and senior tickets priced at $25, according to BroadwayWorld. With five new works, returning South Florida companies and international guests set to share the Amaturo Theater stage, organizers are framing this seventh edition as both a celebration of how far the festival has come and a continuation of the conversation it started back in 2020.
