From April 8 to 11, the 4th Annual Meeting of the China-CEEC Dance Culture Union was held in Serbian Capital Belgrade, which was attended by two representatives of Beijing Dance Academy including Vice President Deng Youling. This is the first Annual Meeting of the China-CEEC Dance Culture Union held by a Central and Eastern European country (CEEC) following the accession of 10 Chinese art academies to the Union at the 3rd Annual Meeting held in Beijing. Attending the meeting were also heads and teachers of dance schools of other Chinese members including Minzu University of China, Capital Normal University, Northeast Normal University, Tianjin Conservatory of Music, and Nanjing University of the Arts, etc.

At the meeting, Vice President Deng Youling spoke at the opening ceremony on behalf of BDA, followed up by presentations by member representatives on their own institutions’ unique advantages and desired projects of exchanges and cooperation in future. The participants also had in-depth discussions on the course of future development and arrangements for holding future Annual Meetings following the expansion of the Union so as to better meet the needs of China and CEECs and to improve the efficiency of the Annual Meeting.

During the Annual Meeting, in a bid to facilitate cooperation between different parties and Serbian culture and arts institutions, participants visited the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia, the Ballet Company of Serbian National Theater, the Serbian Folk Dance Kolo Company and the University of Arts in Belgrade, and watched the rehearsals of the Ballet Company of Serbian National Theater, as well as some dance performances by the Serbian Folk Dance Kolo Company and of the Belgrade Dance Festival. Madame Aja Jung of the National Dance Foundation of Serbia has devoted much effort to the organization of these visits.

Meeting with the Assistant to the Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia to learn about Serbia’s dance education

　　Visiting Serbian National Theater and watching ballet rehearsals

　Watching dance performances by the Serbian Folk Dance Kolo Company and inviting the dance group to participate in BDA’s “Belt and Road” Ethnic Dance Performances in October

　　Meeting with the President of the Faculty of Music of the University of Arts in Belgrade to explore possibilities for future cooperation

Under the tremendous support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Beijing Municipal Government, BDA initiated the China-CEEC Dance Culture Union in May, 2016 as the Union President. The Annual Meeting, as a key event for all union members, represents an important mechanism for discussing matters to ensure the continued success of Union partnership. Three previous meetings have been held in October, 2016, April, 2017 and October, 2018 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Skopje, Macedonia and Beijing, China, respectively, with significant outcomes. The Union members have also grown in number from 19 dance institutions from 15 countries to 34 institutions from 16 countries.

The organizer of this year’s Annual Meeting is the National Foundation for Dance of Serbia. The Belgrade Dance Festival, as one of the most successful dance festivals in Central and Eastern Europe, was first sponsored by UNESCO, and has been held thereafter as an annual event for 15 times with the support of the Serbian Ministry of Culture and Information and the City Government of Belgrade among other authorities. The dance festival aims at promoting the art of dance across Serbia and enable young dancers and professionals to learn about and explore latest dance techniques and trends. As this year’s Annual Meeting of the China-CEEC Dance Culture Union took place during the Belgrade Dance Festival, participants were able to appreciate performances by numerous professional dance groups, including Batsheva Dance Company of Israel, Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company of Germany, among others.

(International Office  Text / Zhang Xuelian)