The Vitebsk ensemble "Lyavonikha" will perform today with a big concert in Daugavpils

April 9, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. The Vitebsk ensemble "Lyavonikha" will give a big concert today at the Latvian Culture Center in Daugavpils (Latvia), the Center of Culture "Vitebsk" informed a BELTA correspondent. The concert program of the Honored Amateur Ensemble of the Republic of Belarus will introduce the audience to the best examples of folklore from Belarus, Poland, and Russia: it will feature folk songs, choreographic sketches, and vocal-instrumental compositions reflecting the national culture of Slavic countries. The Latvian folk song and dance group "Svatra" will also take part in the concert. The participants of the "Lyavonikha" dance ensemble met them at a joint master class on March 24-25 in Vitebsk. This folk group has repeatedly participated in various international folklore festivals and concerts in Austria, Belarus, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Croatia. The ensemble is a laureate of the "Sudmalinas" International Dance Festival (Latvia) and a participant of the "Pulka eimu, pulka teku" and "Baltica" International Folklore Festivals. The performance of "Lyavonikha" in Daugavpils is a new stage of cultural exchange established within the framework of the LLB-1-072 project "Daugavpils and Vitebsk: Cultural Cooperation and Development," whose participants are the Latvian Culture Center of Daugavpils and the Center of Culture "Vitebsk." The project provides for joint cultural events: celebration of traditional national holidays Kupala Night and Ligo; organization of concerts; implementation of cultural exchange programs; provision of the Honored Amateur Ensemble of Belarus, the "Lyavonikha" dance ensemble of the Center of Culture "Vitebsk," with Belarusian musical instruments, stage costumes, and accessories; training of the ensemble's participants in new dance productions by a choreographer from Latvia; reconstruction of the summer stage of the Soviet Army Cultural and Recreational Complex, a branch of the Center of Culture "Vitebsk." All this will contribute to the main goal of the project: to provide an opportunity to hold various events, including international ones, aimed at promoting national cultures, customs, and traditions at a higher technical level. The project implementation is planned 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 project is part of the Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus cross-border cooperation program, implemented within the framework of the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument, aimed at improving the territorial cohesion of the Latvian, Lithuanian, and Belarusian border region, ensuring a high level of environmental protection, economic and social well-being, and promoting intercultural dialogue and cultural diversity. -0-