The International Festival of Modern Choreography opens today in Vitebsk

November 24, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. The XXIII International Festival of Modern Choreography opens today in Vitebsk, Marina Romanovskaya, Deputy General Director for Special Projects of the Vitebsk Culture Center, told a BELTA correspondent. 26 creative teams from Belarus, Germany, Israel, China, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Switzerland, Estonia, and Japan will perform in the competition. They brought 13 one-act ballets and 24 choreographic miniatures to Vitebsk. The participants will be judged by a representative jury, headed by the honorary chairman of the International Dance Council UNESCO (CID-UNESCO), laureate of international competitions Dietmar Seyffert (Germany). Together with other renowned jury members, he will determine the winner of the Grand Prix, the best one-act ballet and choreographic miniature, and also name the best choreographer, who will be awarded a special prize named after Evgeny Panfilov. The award ceremony will take place on November 28. In addition to the competitive component, diverse in theme and performance technique, fans of modern choreography will be offered an extensive guest program. Thus, today, the Kyiv Modern-Ballet theater of modern choreography (Ukraine), headed by one of the most famous young ballet masters in Europe, Radu Poklitaru, will perform the phantasmagoric ballet "The Nutcracker" in the Vitebsk Concert Hall. The performance, staged according to the laws of classical ballet, involves 30 artists. Scenery and costumes for them were delivered by a special truck. At the same time, residents of the capital will also be able to appreciate this large-scale project. On November 29, the Ukrainian team will show it on the stage of the National Academic Grand Opera and Ballet Theater. According to Marina Romanovskaya, the ballet Downshifting by the Italian Spellbound Dance Company, the solo performance Solo con piano by Jeanfranco Celestino (Luxembourg), and the productions of the beloved festival guest, the Perm State Theater "Ballet of Evgeny Panfilov," are no less interesting. The rich program of the forum also includes photo exhibitions, highly popular master classes, and press conferences with participants and guests. The International Festival of Modern Choreography in Vitebsk aims to popularize the work of the best Belarusian contemporary dance companies and promote Belarusian choreographers in the European and world cultural space. Over 22 years of its existence, it has gained recognition from the creative elite of more than 40 countries. Since 2009, the forum has become a full member of CID-UNESCO. The founders of the festival are the Ministry of Culture of Belarus, the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, the Vitebsk City Executive Committee, and the National Academic Grand Opera and Ballet Theater. The organizer is the Vitebsk Culture Center. -0-