The 3rd annual meeting of the "China-CEEC Dance Culture Union" was held on October 26th at Beijing Dance Academy. The school leaders and guests attending the meeting included Mr. Guo Lei, Chairman of the Union and President of BDA, Mr. Xu Rui, Vice President of BDA, Mr. Zhang Zhongzhi, Counselor of the Ministry of Culture of China, and Mr. Yin Fei, Inspector of Foreign Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, as well as the representatives from various league schools and art institutions. New members of the Union were announced at the meeting, and both the exchange programs and cooperation projects were introduced.

　　

　　Mr. Guo Lei, Chairman of the Union delivered a speech on behalf of the "China-CEEC Dance Culture Union" and the faculty and students of Beijing Dance Academy, he began by expressing warm welcome to all the school leaders, guests and friends for attending the meeting. In his speech, he expressed his hope for providing an important communication platform for China and Central and Eastern European countries through this annual meeting, in a bid to promote dialogues in the international communities of dance and art in general toward even more successful partnership in future.

　　

　　Mr. Zhang Zhongzhi, Counselor of the Ministry of Culture of China, extended his gratitude in the speech. He encouraged all participants to freely share ideas and experiences, and pool wisdom and creativity, so that dance can become an even more important part of our life, as it cleanses our spirit, and enhances our friendship and emotional bonds.

　　

　　Mr. Yin Fei, Inspector with the Foreign Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, said in his speech that Beijing has always given great importance to cultural exchanges with Central and Eastern European countries. In recent years, we have actively advanced China-CEEC 16+1 cooperation and have held the 3rd Capital Mayor Forum. Beijing Dance Academy is the most distinguished institution for dance education in China. Over the years, it has made ceaseless efforts to promote cultural exchanges of dance art with CEECs. It has also initiated the “China-CEEC Dance Culture Union", which, having 23 professional dance art institutions as members at today, has become an important platform for China and CEECs to for dance art exchanges. He looked forward to ever more professional exchanges and cooperation among Union members.

　　

The annual meeting was hosted by Mr. Xu Rui, Vice President of BDA.

　　

　　Signing ceremony of new members’ joining the Union

　　

　　Mr. Zhang Zhongzhi presenting the certificate to Mr. Guo Lei, President of the Union

　　

　Mr. Yin Fei presenting the certificate to Beijing Dance Academy

　　

　　Mr. Yin Fei presenting the certificate to "Exodos" Modern Art Festival

　　

　　

　　Mr. Yin Fei presenting the certificates to council members and representatives of the Union

New members of the China-CEEC Dance Culture Union were announced at the meeting, namely, Beijing Normal University, Capital Normal University, Minzu University of China, Shanghai Theatre Academy, Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, Tianjin Conservatory of Music, Northeast Normal University, Yunnan Arts University, Northwest Minzu University, Nanjing University of the Arts and Sergei Polunin Foundation of Serbia.

　　

　　

Leaders and guests discussed proposals related to the self-recommendation and sharing of cooperation achievements among Union members. In the speeches of different delegates, we can feel that since its establishment, the China-CEEC Dance Culture Union has built on the strengths of different Union members on the principle of "mutual respect, equality and win-win cooperation", pooling and sharing resources to deepen exchanges, mutual learning and common progress on dance culture and art. The Union has already become an important platform for China to conduct dance exchanges with Central and Eastern European countries. Meanwhile, it has also played an active part in the preservation of cultural heritages in dance.

　　

　　

　　The delegates had fruitful discussions during talks about project cooperation, sharing their ideas about potential future cooperation with Union members. Many projects are under negotiation, which is exactly what Union members wish to see since the Union was established. All members hope that as they promote their dance culture to other parts of the world, they would also be able to introduce foreign dance culture into their own countries, so as to inject new vitality to their dance culture and promote the innovation of traditional dances. It is worth noting that the China-CEEC Dance Culture Union was mentioned in the "Budapest Guidelines for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries" and the "Sofia Guidelines for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries" signed by Premier Li Keqiang and state leaders of Central and Eastern European countries in 2017 and 2018, respectively. In addition, the Third China-CEEC Capital Mayors Forum was held in Belgrade of Serbia on the 16th of this month, where mayors of different capitals had in-depth exchanges on cultural issues. Beijing Dance Academy and the Ballet School of the National Foundation for Dance in Belgrade jointly staged a highly successful dance performance for the forum, wining wide acclaim from the participants.

　　

　　

The China-CEEC Dance Culture Union is an art alliance established to promote the cultural exchanges and artistic cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries in support of the “Belt and Road” Initiative. It represents an excellent opportunity for Chinese culture to go out and boost cultural diversity in the world towards a shared future of cultural glory and prosperity. The Union has greatly strengthened the influence of the Chinese culture, enhanced China's soft power, and promoted friendly exchanges and cooperation among countries, ultimately facilitating the development of the "Belt and Road" Initiative.

(Publicity Department of the BDA Party Committee  Text/Gong Qiutong, Picture/Mou Ke, Yang Dongcai))
(Editor / Du Peng)