Latvian dancers will give a master class for Vitebsk's "Lyavonikha" today

March 24, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Latvian dancers will give a master class today for the Honored Amateur Collective of the Republic of Belarus, the dance ensemble "Lyavonikha". Choreographic lessons mark the beginning of the practical part of the joint Belarusian-Latvian project "Daugavpils and Vitebsk: Cultural Cooperation and Development" under the Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus cross-border cooperation program, the Vitebsk Culture Center informed a BELTA correspondent. The participants of the Belarusian collective will be taught new dance productions by Latvian choreographer Sarmite Teivane and the folklore song and dance group "Svatra". The folklore group has repeatedly participated in various international folklore festivals and concerts in Austria, Belarus, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Croatia. The collective is a laureate of the International Dance Festival "Sudmalinas" (Latvia) and a participant of the International Folklore Festivals "Pulka eimu, pulka teku" and "Baltica". The project "Daugavpils and Vitebsk: Cultural Cooperation and Development", whose participants are the Center of Latvian Culture of Daugavpils and the Vitebsk Culture Center, provides for joint cultural events: celebration of the traditional national holidays of Ivan Kupala and Ligo; organization of concerts; implementation of cultural exchange programs; provision of the Honored Amateur Collective of Belarus, the dance ensemble "Lyavonikha" of the Vitebsk Culture Center, with Belarusian musical instruments, stage costumes, and accessories; training of the collective's participants in new dance productions by a Latvian choreographer; reconstruction of the summer stage of the Soviet Army Cultural and Recreational Complex, a branch of the Vitebsk Culture Center. All this will contribute to the main goal of the project: to provide an opportunity to hold various events, including international ones, aimed at popularizing national cultures, customs, and traditions at a higher technical level. The project envisages that the next event will be a concert of creative groups from the Vitebsk Culture Center in Daugavpils on April 8-9. For the first time in Vitebsk this year, the Ivan Kupala holiday will be widely celebrated, and in November, a brass band "Daugava" will perform in Vitebsk in honor of Latvia's Independence Day. In 2013, master classes by Vitebsk choreographers in Daugavpils and the participation of collectives from the Vitebsk Culture Center in the celebration of the folk holiday Ligo are planned. The project implementation is scheduled for 2012-2013. The total budget is 296.8 thousand euros. The budget for the Belarusian part of the project is 109.9 thousand euros, including 98.9 thousand euros from the European Commission. The overall strategic goal of the Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus cross-border cooperation program, implemented within the framework of the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument, is to improve the territorial cohesion of the Latvian, Lithuanian, and Belarusian border region, ensure a high level of environmental protection, provide economic and social well-being, and promote intercultural dialogue and cultural diversity. -0-