Tohru Dance and Other Great Dance Artists Headline This Year’s FIFTH WALL

Japanese internet sensation Tohru Dance is breakin’ and poppin’ alongside our incredible FilipinoFilipinoThe national language of the Philippines, widely used for communication, education, media, and culture.Go to Filipino Glossary dance artists at this year’s FIFTH WALL festival, happening from October 22 to 25, 2026, at NBS Park in Mandaluyong City.

Tohru Dance will appear in Club GIGIL, a special two-part program featuring an artist talk and community jam, in partnership with the Japan Foundation Manila. This incredible treat will also be free for attendees who purchased a ticket for any day of the festival.

“Dance is the ultimate tool for communication, transcending gender, age, and national borders,” Tohru said on his Instagram post promoting the event.

Tohru’s claim to fame was putting on a fine suit and dancing to insane hip-hop songs like Playboi Carti’s “2024,” Lucki’s “Sunset,” and even some hits by Charli XCX. At 60, he hits smooth moves never before seen online (he can even cartwheel!), making him everyone’s favorite B-boy unc.

He and a slew of incredible local masters of movement will express their own interpretation of GIGIL, the theme of the festival’s seventh edition, in their own unique ways.

Light and media artist James Clar makes his first live performance production with Manila After Dark, inspired by film legend Ishmael Bernal’s Manila by Night and choreographed by FIFTH WALL founder and director Madge Reyes.

Al Garcia, Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of the Philippines Diliman, offers Lore, an exploration of how our traditional culture interacts with artificial intelligence.

Spectral Spectator by Tarzeer Pictures and 0001 by Timothy Axibal, director of the 2022 horror flick Deleter, will also push movement beyond live performances and into the field of the moving image.

“With GIGIL, we wanted to continue FIFTH WALL’s advocacy of creating new contexts for audiences to encounter dance through contemporary, cross-disciplinary, and experimental programming,” said FIFTH WALL founder and director Madge Reyes.

Whether you’re eager to watch Uncle Tohru live or interested in how our feelings held back become movement art, FIFTH WALL: GIGIL will be ticketed online and on-site through HelixPay. Walk-ins will also be accommodated throughout the festival period.