The 16th Belgrade Dance Festival was officially opened 24 March in Sava Center, supported by Bojović Drašković Popović & Partners among other sponsors.
The prima ballerina of the London Royal Opera and the Milan Scale Viviana Durante opened the festival, held under the slogan „Emotions“. She pointed out that it is an honour to be at the Belgrade Dance Festival, in which the audience will have the opportunity to enjoy exceptional artists from all over the world.
„I feel privileged to be a part of this international dance celebration“, Viviane said, adding that the dance has the power to connect people, to give pleasure, provoke and shock.
The founder and director of the Belgrade Dance Festival Aja Jung stressed that if there are not so many emotions, from smile to tears and from love to grudge, there would probably not be a festival. „Despite the unspoken, the dance triggers emotions. In the manuscript of skilful choreographers, it becomes more interesting than in the theatre drama. There is a concentrate in our bottle, a concentrate of precious emotions – 16ml for the restoration of the best human feelings“, said Aja.
The Nederlands Dans Theater was selected for the opening ceremony. It came to Belgrade with its three choreographies by Paul Lightfoot, Sol Leon and Marco Goecke.
The 16th Belgrade Dance Festival will be held from 22 March to 12 April, with 16 troops from 11 countries, with a total of 19 choreographic pieces, as well as 25 solo dances and duets. The participating countries are France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Germany, the United States, Israel, Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa and North Korea. The main program of the festival will take place in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Vršac. The festival program can be found here.
