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On 3-13 November, the Lublin Dance Theatre and the Centre for Culture in Lublin will host the 20th anniversary edition of the International Dance Theatres Festival. Foreshadowed by the June performances of the Nederlands Dans Theater, the celebrations will conclude in December with a presentation of the Polish National Ballet. Thus, this year?s festival schedule differs from the previous editions. Its main, November instalment was divided into several presentation modules. Enclosed below you will find the festival editorial in which you may learn more about the idea and the programme of this year?s edition of the festival.
?The International Dance Theatres Festival will be held for the 20th time this year. Bearing in mind the customary anniversary gestures, we have decided to celebrate the beginning of the third decade of activity in a slightly different fashion: we have reshaped the Festival?s formula, expanding its timeframe and its spatial reach, hoping to contribute a fresh look into the future and a bold exploration of new scenic territories.
The main thread in the programme of the International Dance Theatre Festival, which verges beyond this year’s edition and extends over a three-year period (2016-2018), is based on the ideas of showing differences, contrasts, antagonisms and chances for dialogue between various dance strategies adopted in contemporary art world. Such a concept entails an understanding of the path which leads from dance tradition and its classics towards the present, from the exposure of young artists through the presentation of dance icons who influenced them, from chamber solo pieces to large-scale performances resented at the main stage, from the description of dances in Central and Eastern European countries to the ideologies and dance concepts of the West.
The 20th edition of the International Dance Theatres Festival began with a phenomenal prologue: the June performance by the Nederlands Dans Theater 2 at the Centre for the Meetings of Cultures Opera Stage. The world-renowned company and a true dance icon, the Lublin show was the ensemble?s first and only performance in Poland. The Nederlands Dans Theatre 2?s visit was particularly significant, as it marked the opening of a new stage in our long-standing activity. The acquisition of a new, large and fully equipped stage at the Centre for the Meeting of Cultures has enabled the festival to boost its programme by adding large-scale performances of the highest artistic stature, as well as to adjust its long-term cultural and educational objectives. We hope this step will be of crucial importance for the development of Polish and Central European dance scene.
The November instalment of the Festival has been planned as a series of close-ups covering phenomena which command careful attention. Looking for ways to refresh the formula of presentation of foreign dance artists, we decided to present not just individual dance pieces but also dance itself in a wider cultural, historical and social context. We strive to create an integrally composed festival offer, intended as a platform for presentations of the world?s most intriguing scenes, enriched by lectures, video screenings and discussions with the invited artists and dance promoters. The 2016 edition includes the ZOOM NA IZRAEL (ZOOM IN ON ISRAEL) cycle which includes presentations prepared in collaboration with the Jerusalem International Dance Week festival and the Israeli Choreographers Association. The Israeli artists will also conduct dance workshops for participants from Poland.
For many years, one of the vital components of the Festival has been the presentation of Polish artists. This year?s ZOOM NA POLSKI TANIEC (ZOOM IN ON POLISH DANCE) cycle features a selection of the most intriguing new dance proposals, from renowned groups through emerging artists and finalists of young dancers and choreographers? competitions organised in Cracow, Kielce, Gdańsk, Tarnów and Połczyn Zdrój.
Another vital component of the Festival is the ZOOM NA PRODUKCJE/REZYDENCJE (ZOOM IN ON PRODCUTIONS/RESIDENCIES) programme which includes presentations of pieces co-produced by the Festival and supported by the Centre for Culture as part of its artistic residencies series. The presentation summarizes the year-long cycle of activities spanning artistic work and workshops for the Lublin-based dance milieu, as well as presentations of works in progress, meetings and discussions with artists.
Since its very first edition in 1997, the Festival has combined presentations of projects from Eastern and Western Europe, bridging the two worlds. Throughout the twenty years of its history, the Festival has established itself as Poland?s chief platform for the presentation of artists from countries east of Poland, and a venue for meetings of dance artists and curators from Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Armenia and other Eastern countries, and their Polish and Western European colleagues. ZOOM NA WSCHÓD (ZOOM IN ON THE EAST) was prepared in the course of a long-standing collaboration with the festivals in Minsk (PlaStforma) and Kiev (Zelyonka-Fest), and as a continuation of the Terytoria choreografii ? Promesa 2016 [Choreographic Territories ? Promesa 2016], a tour of the Eastern Partnership member states by Polish artists (including the organizers of the International Dance Theatres Festival).
The experimental strand of the Festival will be completed by the AEROWAVES ? Europejska Platforma Tańca (European Dance Platform) cycle featuring presentations at the crossroads of dance, performance and visual arts, selected from among the twenty finalists of the competition organised by this European network, and presented at the ?Spring Forward 2016? festival in Plzen, Czech Republic.
As part of the November Festival Finale, we will return to the opera stage with a presentation of Polish Dance Theatre?s Czterdzieści [Fourty]. This year?s Festival will, however, truly conclude as late as December, with a special night featuring the Polish National Ballet. We hope these LARGE SCALE proposals will be a great preview for what is coming up in 2017 and the subsequent years.
You are most welcome to attend this edition of the International Dance Theatres Festival (as well as all of its subsequent editions). The future looks bright?.
Lublin Dance Theatre
Centre for Culture in Lublin
Downloads:
Festival website: www.20.mstt.pl
More information:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/356465668034006/
GaGa at the 20th International Dance Theatres Festival: https://www.facebook.com/events/689661134518792/
Centre for Culture in Lublin website: www.ck.lublin.pl
