A thoroughly modern dance festival

The once-controversial Dance Umbrella celebrates its 25th anniversary in style

"Our first contemporary dance festival, in 1978, nearly caused a riot," recalls Val Bourne, the artistic director and founder of Dance Umbrella. After Douglas Dunn, an American soloist, had made a slow circuit of the stage at Riverside Studios on his back, "one man stood up and said he had never been so insulted in his life."

It was inevitable that it caused ripples. Most people had just about got around to accepting Ballet Rambert and The London Contemporary Dance Theatre, both of which established the backbone of modern dance in Britain in 1966, but for many, this slightly anarchic, postmodern contemporary dance from America was a step too far. The Arts Council was also cautious about the new festival. "They let us get on with it and thought it was nonsense, but here we are, 25 years later," Bourne says.

This year's festival opens with a birthday gala at Sadler's Wells and features many regulars, including the Siobhan Davies Dance Company's She Bit Her Tongue (on 28 Sep), to a text by Caryl Churchill.

Michael Clark performs a world premiere set to music ranging from Erik Satie to P J Harvey (1-4 Oct). "Clark was 19 when he came to the 1981 festival and was known as an enfant terrible," Bourne recalls. Trisha Brown's company performs a triple bill (6-8 Oct), comprising Geometry of Quiet, Groove and Countermove and her classic 1983 work Set and Reset. "Often people say it was Trisha Brown who converted them to contemporary dance," Bourne notes.

The Queen Elizabeth Hall will host, on 18-19 Oct, a world premiere by Stephen Petronio, from New York. His style is fast and furious, with music by Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed and designs by Cindy Sherman. The following week, Silver Celebration will feature work by old hands such as Sara Rudner and Richard Alston, both of whom performed in the first festival. There are Dance Umbrella debuts from Josef Nadj at The Place (6-7 Oct), and the John Jasperse Company (21-22 Oct) with Giant Empty, a piece involving ropes that start out coiled on the floor and then rise. At the Barbican is Boobies, from Israel's Inbal Pinto Dance Company (31 Oct-1 Nov).

But the highlight is New York's Merce Cunningham Dance Company in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern (4-8 Nov), performing Anniversary Events, a celebration of Dance Umbrella's 25th birthday. "Although Cunningham samples past work, it will be stitched together when he reacts to the installation by the artist Olafur Eliasson," Bourne explains.

The 2003 festival is not just a celebration of survival. "Contemporary dance is now established and vibrant. To have been part of that is rewarding," Bourne says. "We were late to the table, compared with visual arts and theatre, but we have caught up quickly."

Dance Umbrella 2003, (020-8741 5881; www.danceumbrella.co.uk), 28 Sep-8 Nov