Author: renate.dinu

We have prepared a series of projects and strategic approaches that enhance the support and visibility of contemporary choreographic creation in Romania. Non-refundable grants dedicated to dance, a new edition of the Iridescent festival, an extended season of performances and several European projects are just a few of them.

• FINANCING

The year 2023 marks the reintroduction of non-reimbursable funding in the structure of the CNDB programmes. These will be awarded to independent projects that contribute to the dynamics of the local dance scene, following a public call and on the basis of selection by a committee of independent experts.

• SEASON

Contemporary dance comes closer to the public with this year’s season of performances. In parallel with the performances programmed at “Stere Popescu” hall, the CNDB season diversifies by supporting the presentation of choreographic creations produced by independent artists and structures in other venues in Bucharest and in the country.

• FESTIVAL

Iridescent – International festival of contemporary dance and other reconfigurations of the sensitive returns in 2023 with the theme IREVERSIBILE and will take place in May. The festival also includes the premiere of a new CNDB production: PatoSfera – manifestări patetice (title in the works), a performance choreographed by Mădăline Dan, which will bring together performers from different generations and styles.
This second edition of the festival brings a new section of films by local and international visual artists. The programme, curated by Anca Rujoiu, will present works in which the narrative is an open structure that establishes oblique and interactive connections between histories, geographies, disciplines and species.

• EDUCATION AND TRAINING

The Academy of Dance and Performance is starting courses for producers in the performing arts, and the programme for dancers will produce three creations in co-production with Brain Store Project Foundation in Sofia and Stanica – Service for Contemporary Dance in Belgrade. These collaborations are part of the European project SEEDS – South-East European Dance Stations.

The Performing School for Children continues its course modules, with a focus on creating a repertoire relevant to young audiences, which will be presented more frequently and in different contexts.

• PUBLICATIONS/MEDIA

We continue our series of publications dedicated to dance with two new releases: O lume întreagă din fărâme. Cronici de dans 2012-2022 (volume IV), by Liana Tugearu and the translation of André Lepecki’s book, Exhausting Dance. Performance and the Politics of Movement.

• INTERNATIONAL

We also remain active on the international scene, in the European Aerowaves network and in the Relay project – Thinking Artistic Material in Music and Dance. In 2023, the CNDB is a partner in a new international cooperation project: MODINA – Movement, Dance Intelligence and Interactive Audience. involving 4 other dance centres and 3 academic institutions from 6 countries: Tanzhaus NRW (Germany); Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava (Estonia); Kino Šiška (Slovenia); Trafo (Hungary), Tallinn University (Estonia); Hochschule Düsseldorf (Germany); Interactive Technologies Institute, IST-ID (Portugal). This project, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme, aims to expand the creative possibilities for contemporary dance performances and enhance the audience experience through the use of new technologies, with a focus on exploring artificial intelligence (AI) through interdisciplinary collaboration, art and science.

• NATIONAL

Last but not least, at the national level, CNDB is a partner of the Performing Arts Festival of Timișoara – European Capital of Culture 2023, and will support the creation and presentation of the performative installation Readings of female corporealities by Simona Deaconescu and Flor Firvida (Mexico). The installation will be presented both during the festival in Timisoara and in Bucharest.

Stay up to date with news from the CNDB by following details of events and projects on our website, Facebook, Instagram or subscribe to the newsletter for the latest news and opportunities in the world of contemporary dance.

After Umeå, Barcelona, Pilsen, Aarhus, Sofia, Paris, and Elefsina, Springback Academy is offering once again aspiring dance writers the chance to be mentored in the fundamentals of quality dance criticism in the action-packed environment of Spring Forward, Aerowaves’ annual festival. The festival will take place this year in Dublin (Ireland) across numerous venues including Project Arts Centre, Smock Alley Theatre, The Complex and Samuel Beckett Theatre.  The Academy will take place during the festival between 26 – 29 April (inclusive) 2023.

Springback Academy is looking for up to 10 people with a lot of enthusiasm and some prior experience in writing about dance. The participants will be mentored by our team of leading critics including Donald Hutera (The Times), Sanjoy Roy (The Guardian), Kelly Apter (The Scotsman) and Laura Cappelle (New York Times). 

Under their guidance, participants have the chance to create, shape and share conversations about dance and hone their critical writing skills. Springback Academy is a fast-track route to gain experience and technique in responsible, effective, attractive dance criticism as well as to explore and understand the opportunities that digital publishing has to offer. 

In March 2018, Springback Magazine was launched. The publication’s contributors are drawn exclusively from writers who have participated in the Springback Academy programme and form part of the ever-growing community of ‘graduate’ writers.

To see Springback writing from previous years, visit Springback Academy online. A free quickstart guide to writing dance reviews can be downloaded as a PDF.

Apply before 24:00 (GMT) Monday 9 January 2023

Find full application details here and application link here

Application Form

For enquiries, please contact: Springback Academy director Oonagh Duckworth sbapplications@aerowaves.org . 

Good luck! 

Image: Gran Bolero ©Claudia Cordova Zingano

Press release
12 December, Bucharest

The National Center for Dance Bucharest awarded four trophy-bricks at the CNDB 2022 Awards

This year, the CNDB Awards were granted, non-hierarchically as usual, for outstanding contributions to the development of choreographic culture in Romania to four professionals in the field, during the award gala that took place last night, December 11, at the Atelier Hall of the National Theatre Bucharest, which was presented by poet and journalist Răzvan Cosmin Țupa, together with Vava Ștefănescu, manager of the institution.

At the opening of the gala, Mr Lucian Romașcanu, Minister of Culture, declared that in the coming year dance, through the CNDB projects, will find its place among the other strategic fields of culture, and this will be materialized through a support that will be appropriate.

The first of the CNDB Awards was handed by the Minister of Culture to the independent artist Maria Beatrice Tudor, for her contribution to the construction of contemporary dance and choreographic culture, through her work in Timisoara, within Unfold Motion. The Unfold Motion Association, whose driving force is Lavinia Urcan, is actively involved in the cultural scene of Timișoara, contributing through its projects to the consolidation of the cultural-artistic network of the city and seeking to offer the widest possible cultural experiences to the public, which is constantly being formed. Contemporary dance is at the heart of this structure, where Maria Beatrice Tudor is an associated artist and the generator of an energy that contaminates and brings people and ideas together.

The second award reminded that for Romanian artists involved in the development of contemporary dance it has never been enough to be exclusively concerned with what they have to do on stage. To get there they have always had to create the conditions themselves, to generate the contexts, to structure and maintain spaces, to find and manage scarce resources. Often dancers and choreographers take on multiple roles in order to get to dance or present a performance. They are also managers, they also do administration, they clean their own spaces, we meet them when they greet the audience, but also up on the stage setting up spotlights, they write applications, they send press releases… The CNDB award, presented this time by the Cultural Counsellor of the French Embassy in Romania, Mr Julien Chiappone-Lucchesi, went to one of those who contribute consistently to the life of a living organism such as the LINOTIP Independent Choreographic Centre, the founder and manager Arcadie Rusu.

If without allies, friends and partners everything becomes much more difficult, and sometimes potential partners have to be seduced, won over, convinced, this is not the case of the next laureate, who since the beginning of his mandate as manager has shown the vision and openness with which he has understood to enter into dialogue with contemporary dance, but also with other arts, contents and artistic formats.

The CNDB award, the traditional trophy-brick, presented this time by Simona Deaconescu, associate artist of the CNDB in 2022, was given to Mr Alexandru Boureanu, manager of the “Marin Sorescu” National Theatre in Craiova, for his contribution to supporting contemporary dance and implicitly for creating a space favourable to a broad dialogue between the arts.

Every year, in addition to the prizes it awards, the CNDB wishes to highlight, in a specific way, the extraordinary results of the work of one of its team members. This award, presented by Mihaela Michailov, went to Ana Papadima, for the seriousness, dedication and attention with which she builds, accompanies and takes care of the Education and Training department she leads. The Performing School for Children, the Academy of Dance and Performance, the very diverse courses and workshops are aimed at children, non-professionals of all ages, but especially at those who are in constant need of consistent and current information, training and expansion of knowledge.

The CNDB Awards Gala then continued with the screening of RAMANENJANA, a co-production Germany-Romania-Madagascar by Simona Deaconescu in collaboration with Gaby Sarranoufi (MG), about a dance that literally made history.

We invite you to watch below a retrospective film of the activity of the National Center for Dance Bucharest from 2022.

The students of the Academy of Dance and Performance met today for the first class with performer Iva Sveshtarova, co-founder of Nomad Dance Academy and the Antistatic Festival, two landmarks of Sofia’s contemporary dance scene.

For two weeks, through her course – theoretical but not devoid of performativity – Iva will encourage the 12 trainees to investigate the notion of toxicity, to pass it through various narratives and images and to appropriate it, physically and conceptually.

Iva Sveshtarova is an artist and performer from Sofia. She graduated from the experimental Theatre-Studio “4XC” and “Synthetic Stage Arts” at the University of Plovdiv. She recently completed MA programme “Choreography and Performance” at the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies in Gießen, Germany. From 2002 till 2006 she worked as a performer at Acto – Instituto de Arte Dramática, Portugal. In 2006 she was granted a scholarship for DanceWeb.  In 2007 she joined the Sofia based formation Brain Store Project in the frame of which she collaborates with Willy Prager. She has worked with directors and choreographers such as a.o. Nikolay Georgiev, Filipe Pereira, Galina Borissova, deufert&plischke, Thomas Lehmen, Verena Billinger and Sebastian Schulz, Helena Botto, Ani Vaseva, Maren Strack, Ani Dankova a.o. Iva Sveshtarova is the author of the performances: “Perfectly Pink”, „a (e) ffect”, “Doing that thing again”, “Mirror Phase” and “Kafka’s Metamorphosis” (production by Acto – Instituto de Arte Dramatica, Portugal).

The National Centre for Dance Bucharest (CNDB), in partnership with the organizations Brain Store Project Foundation (Sofia) and Stanica – Service for Contemporary Dance (Belgrade), launches the Training Programme for Producers in the Performing Arts within the CNDB Academy of Dance and Performance 2022-2023.

The second edition of the Academy has the mission to integrate young artists and producers in the performing arts into the professional circuit through intensive and long-term training.

The training programme for producers is dedicated to those who want to become professional in performing arts production, with a focus on dance and performance.

Running from February to May 2023, with a generous curriculum and a pace conducive to assimilation, the programme welcomes applications from both emerging and established producers.

Trainees will embark on a theoretical and practical learning path, at the end of which they will have integrated the notions and experiences needed by a professional producer: from cultural policies, administrative and teamwork tools, to networking sessions, mentoring and practice in relevant organisations.

The programme includes theoretical courses, workshops, meetings with professionals, mentoring sessions and guided practice, all to the benefit of the professional integration of students in the field of performance production, with a focus on dance and performance.

Teachers: Corina Șuteu, Marijana Cvetković, Oana Radu, Alexandra Schmidt, Raluca Iacob Pop, Vava Ștefănescu, Elena Calistru, Mihai Mihalcea, Lucian Vărșăndan and others
Mentors: Andreea Andreei, Carmen Coțofană, Laura Trocan
Programme Director: Corina Șuteu

The programme is structured in three modules:

• General context of production in performing arts / contemporary dance
• The producer’s working tools
• Institutions, organizations and cultural networks

Registration calendar:
The selection of participants in the Producer Programme is carried out in 2 stages:

• Application form here
• Deadline: 18 December 2022
• Interview: 19 – 21 December 2022

Conditions of participation:
Registration is free of charge. Those selected will pay a participation fee of 1500 lei.

Interventions will be conducted in Romanian and English.
Programme structure HERE.

The Academy of Dance and Performance is part of the South-East European Dance Stations (SEEDS) project, coordinated by the National Center for Dance Bucharest and carried out in partnership with the Brain Store Project Foundation (Sofia) and Stanica – Service for Contemporary Dance (Belgrade) in the period between 2022 and 2025. The SEEDS project is co-financed by the European Union through the Creative Europe program. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Following the partners meeting, Aerowaves announces Twenty23 artists. The 2023 line-up includes works from 16 countries and showcases an exciting and diverse selection of emerging dance makers working across Europe.  
The selection process took place during Romaeuropa Festival at Mattatoio in Rome (Italy), hosted by Francesca Manica from 27 – 30 October. Aerowaves partners and dance professionals gathered in person to discuss hundreds of submitted works on video.

The Aerowaves Twenty23 artists are:

• Ioanna Paraskevopoulou with MOS, Greece
• Olga Dukhovnaya with Swan Lake solo, France
• Eva Recacha with Because I Can, UK
• BRABA plataform with Atlas da Boca (Atlas of the Mouth), Portugal
• Loraine Dambermont with Toujours de 3/4 face!, Belgium
• Boglárka Börcsök & Andreas Bolm with Figuring Age, Germany/Hungary 
• Sebastian Abarbanell with HOME, Germany
• United Fall | Emma Martin with Birdboy, Ireland
• Leïla Ka with To cut loose, France
• Camilla Monga & Emanuele Maniscalco with In the Moment, Italy 
• Structure-Couple with Believe, France 
• Lovísa Ósk Gunnarsdóttir with When the Bleeding Stops, Iceland 
• Ching-Ying Chien with Vulture, UK
• Mélissa Guex with Rapunzel, Switzerland
• Dominik Więcek with Café Müller, Poland
• Deyan Georgiev with Wired, Bulgaria
• Company Les Vagues with W̶E̶L̶COME, France
• Laura Cemin & Bianca Hisse with How the Land Lies, Finland & Norway
• Tamara Gvozdenovic & Kangding Ray with METRONOMIJA, Serbia
• Jean-Baptiste Baele with Nabinam, Norway

Save the date! The Twenty23 artists will present their work at the Spring Forward Festival from 27 – 29 April 2023 in Dublin (Ireland).

Applications open for the Netherlands Choreography Competition – NCC

The Netherlands Choreography Competition is looking for emerging choreographers worldwide, who are willing to present their work and compete among other young talents with the chance of winning up to 1500 euro research fee.

To apply, choreographers must submit the following:

• a video sample of their work (choreography does not have to be finished)
• application form: https://www.danceinart.nl/netherlands-choreography-competition/
• application fee: 25 euro
• an updated CV
• a letter of motivation explaining your rationale for wanting to participate in NCC

E-mail: info@danceinart.nl
Deadline: 27 November 2022

Full details available here.

Galina Borissova’s module is over, and the Academy of Dance and Performance is left with the fresh memory of two weeks of playful searching.

It is on this guiding energy that Laura Aris starts working with the students today, a workshop in which, stirred, creative impulses will find new opportunities for expression. Laura Aris is a performer, choreographer and contemporary dance teacher. She has been leading workshops worldwide since 2001. Currently, she is working as a freelance artist, developing her own creative practices, commissioned works, several solos, and many collaborative performances. Her performing experience includes a decade as a member of Wim Vandekeybus’s dance company Ultima Vez, Juan Carlos García’s Lanònima Imperial and General Elèctrica artists collective (1996-1999). In the past years, she has been Wim Vandekeybus’ assistant choreographer and movement coach in several performances directed by Ivo Van Hove (at Dutch National Opera & Ballet in 2017, Comedie Francaise in 2019, and International Theatre Amsterdam in 2021). More infor here.

Double nominee for the Ikar Prize for Performance, gold medalist at the Serbian Solo Competition, with over 50 stage projects (from Sweden to the USA and everything in between), the second teacher at the Academy of Dance and Performance wants to train students in releasing excessive tension. Dance imagery, experimenting with different movement qualities and a lot of hard work. Тhe workshop offers basic body training that addresses anatomical functions in a context that promotes personal expression and full psycho-physical functioning as an integral part of total body mobilization. 

Galina Borissova is a dancer and choreographer whose work has a strong theatrical aspect. She first made a significant impression at the American Dance Festival’96 where she was participating in the International Choreographers Residency Program. In 1998 she received the first prize for her performance “A Never Ending Story” in Groningen/Holland at the International Choreographer’s competition. Galina is an author of the book “Dance Images and Artistic Preferences” published by New Bulgarian University.
She is an active blogger writing criticism and dance texts, you can read her blog here.