Welcome to the Acadia Dance Festival

Bringing the Best of Contemporary Dance to Mount Desert Island

The Acadia Dance Festival brings world-class performances, dance workshops, artist talks, and opportunities to experience the exhilarating world of contemporary dance on Mount Desert Island. Launched in 2018 by Nimbus Dance in partnership with Bar Harbor’s 1932 Criterion Theatre, the Acadia Dance Festival brings together professional dance artists from throughout the northeast for performances while also offering engaging community programming through local partnerships with Camp Beech Cliff, ArtWaves & More.  

Learn more about our summer intensive, our community programming, & 2024 Performances & Events.

Nimbus Dance

Nimbus Dance bridges world-class performance and community engagement by presenting work that challenges, speaks to, and elevates diverse audiences. Utilizing the distinct and interwoven platforms of professional company, school, Arts Center, and community outreach programming, Nimbus manifests a vision for dance and the arts as a catalyst for equity, community development, and transformative cultural exchange. Founded in 2005 by Samuel Pott and based in Jersey City, Nimbus has been at the forefront of excellence in the arts, civic engagement, and equitable impact, successfully interweaving its mission between Company, School, and Presenting wings. Nimbus co-presents the Acadia Dance Festival, offering dance performances and community programming led by its professional company members.

Learn more about Nimbus and Founding Artistic Director, Samuel Pott

Criterion Theatre

The 1932 Criterion Theatre is a nonprofit cinema, theatre, multimedia art producer and venue committed to safeguarding this historic space for stories, storytellers, and audiences. The Criterion has been a staple of the Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island arts community since its construction in 1932. The Criterion co-produces the Acadia Dance Festival.

Learn more about the 1932 Criterion Theatre.

Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island

Bar Harbor is a town situated on Wabanaki land, what is now known as Mount Desert Island, Maine. Nestled in the heart of Frenchmen Bay and the greater Downeast region, this small coastal community sits at the entrance to Acadia National Park. Characterized by rocky shoreline, glacier-formed lakes and valleys, bare mountaintops, and boreal forest, this land has inspired visitors for generations.