The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards will name this year's Best Choreography winner on Sunday, September 27, at Los Angeles' Peacock Theater, and most of the nominees are collaborative teams rather than solo choreographers.

Dance Magazine, which published the full list of nominees, frames the trend directly: music videos "seem to keep getting bigger, grander, more ambitious—short-form musicals in pop packaging." It "takes a lot of dance firepower," the magazine writes, to support such sweeping creative visions. Videos may now live mostly on small digital screens, but their choreographic ambitions have scaled in the opposite direction.

The ceremony begins at 4:30 pm PDT / 7:30 pm EDT. CBS and MTV will simulcast the show, with a live stream on Paramount+.

Madonna opens the telecast in her first VMAs performance since 2003. The dance artists behind her "Confessions II: The Film" number are among this year's choreography nominees, raising the prospect that they will reunite to, as Dance Magazine puts it, transform the VMAs stage into "Danceteria" — the downtown New York club where Madonna's career took shape.

The nominees

Damien Jalet, Megan Lawson, Young Boy Dancing Group and Nicolas Huchard are nominated for Madonna's "Confessions II: The Film." Jalet also holds a second nomination this year, for GENER8ION's "Storm." Two nominations make the French-Belgian choreographer the most decorated individual on the 2026 list.

(LA)HORDE — Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer and Arthur Harel are nominated for Tate McRae's "Nobody's Girl." The trio, who also direct the Ballet national de Marseille, bring contemporary dance credentials to the pop category.

Mandy Moore and Amanda Balen are nominated for Taylor Swift's "The Fate of Ophelia." Moore is a repeated VMAs contender whose name carries weight in both the dance and television worlds.

Ryan Heffington is nominated for Harry Styles' "Dance No More." Heffington remains one of the most recognizable solo choreographers in music video, with a track record of viral, character-driven work.

Grant Gilmore, Sohey Sugihara, Sergio Reis and Zacc Milne round out the category for KATSEYE's "Pinky Up." Their four-person nomination reflects the team-based structure that dominates this year's field: of the six nominated works, only two credit a single choreographer or a lone creative unit.

The winner takes home the Moon Person trophy, with public voting open through MTV's platform.

What the list signals

The 2026 slate confirms a shift already visible in recent years: pop stars now recruit choreographers from opera, contemporary dance and experimental performance — Jalet's and (LA)HORDE's presence alongside commercial veterans like Heffington and Moore shows the category has become a genuine meeting point between the concert dance world and pop's biggest budgets.

How that plays out on the Peacock Theater stage — and whether Madonna's opening performance reunites her nominated creative team — will be decided on September 27.