【Fifth Annual Meeting】Minutes of the Share and Exchange Section (1)
Date of issue:2021-12-31
National Institute of Music and Dance, Poland
I would like to say that we actually have been doing already with members of China even before joining this dance culture union.
Since Autumn 2020 we have been working with Zhejiang Conservatory of Music and its Dance Department in our project called The Roots of Dance. We organized a series of 5 online workshops about traditional dance and music from Poland and making contemporary choreography inspired by one’s own music and dance tradition, including Chinese traditions and heritage. Both our artists and Chinese dancers really enjoyed the collaboration, so we applied for funding to our Ministry of Culture and National Heritage for its continuation. We received it and in August 2022 we are going to invite a few dance students to our festival in Poland and in November 2022 the Polish artists are going to Hangzhou to lead the workshops live. I would like to send you the Youtube link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkVKGq5Y79o&list=PL-vEE7TX3aIdVaHEfI7HY2tq4pf9cMSX9&index=16
from the short trailer of our activities we did last year, including the Zhejiang students of China.
I'm just sending this on the chart for everyone and also about the continuation of the project， which is in the second link.
https://nimit.pl/en/aktualnosci/the-roots-of-dance-korzenie-tanca-project-goes-on-world-tour-for-the-third-time/
It's in because the project we developed exactly also with other partners from different countries, such as Mexico, India, Malaysia, Croatia, Georgia, and Canada and USA. So what we would like to do next, we like to open for any kind of collaboration between college and Chinese dense artists, especially for exchanges of dance teachers because here as a National Institute of music and dance, we can facilitate an open call for polish teachers programmers for willing to work with Chinese dancer.
So if you are interested, I'm really already happy to discuss this individually with around this problem and also talk about the Roots of Dance projects in the next editions for Chinese members, but also for the European members as well. So thank you for your attention. Thank you very much and please watch the video as you can find Information on the website.
Sibiu International Theater Festival/International Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania
Professor Ion M. Tomuș, PhD
So hello back again. Since the start of the pandemic, our dance students have had the opportunity not only to work online, but they had the opportunity to work outside their classrooms, outside the studios. They had the opportunity to work in parks, to work in fields, to work in the open air because when we were in our lockdowns or our professors teaching dance have invited because it was a good weather. Have invited the students to go outside and record themselves and just to try to find all new ways of expressing themselves in the middle of the nature.
From this of view, I think the pandemic and lockdowns have had a very interesting impact on the dance students and also on theater students, on drama students. They had the opportunity to go back to open air spaces, to go back outdoor where essentially is the place where dance and theater started because dance and theater started outside. They started in the open air. So it was this huge opportunity for our students to release in the open air and the outdoor environment. And they had the opportunity to put themselves in a very close and direct contact with the natural environment. The last academic year, our dance students had a production which is called Puzzle. I'm really happy to hear about online dance video festival this year because they will have the chance to show the production that they've had. I'm really happy to hear about the online workshops since we're very interested in participating in these workshops, because we know what kind of advantage would be for the both parties.
I'm really interested in talking to you about the project that the Mr. Constantin Chiriac, the President of Sibiu International Theater Festival proposes. It's called the international platform for PhD studies. Basically it's a network of universities like art universities, dance universities，dance academies, theater academies that meet each summer in Sibiu and we try to find common ground and common denominators in art teaching and in art research so that we can have better PhD studies So I would like to take the opportunity right now to invite PhD professors from all the network, from all universities in the network to stay in touch with us to share our thoughts, and of course to join our PhD platform conference next year in June in Sibiu, which will be a hybrid event. It will be on site and online. But we're hoping for more and more people being able to physically be present at the festival and in Sibiu. So this would be the main things we are interested to develop and we are always open to any new suggestions and any new projects that would challenge the idea of art research. So thank you.
Minzu University of China
Mr. Zhu Yachao
zhuachao@163.com
Hello everyone, on behalf of Minzu University of China, I would like to share some thoughts. Firstly, after hearing your ideas, I believe every member of this Union has conducted great sharing and exchange projects and performing on different online platforms specifically under the situation of the pandemic. But now we lack of knowing what each other is doing, and I believe all the members could a platform for timely sharing of what we are all doing among the Union (similar to WeChat Moments). Some are holding festivals and some are conducting exchange, performance and master workshops internationally like BDA’s Ballet Invitational. We are in the same group so we can share information like festivals, performances as well as conferences, and competitions. As online deletes the distance between us, so we actually have a better way to know each other through online. We can also share the introduction of our own institutions, our website and our onging projects in the format of videos, pictures and words.
Secondly, we would like to carry out meetings in one limited theme upon which academic research and choreography can be conducted afterwards. We will collect all the ideas, beliefs and works into one paper work and share it with everyone through information platform. We welcome everyone who might be interested could contact us after the meeting. Thank you very much!
Tianjin Conservatory of Music, China
Ms. Wang hongyun& Ms. Zhang Xiaotong
896593597@qq.com
Ms. Zhang Xiaotong: Hello everyone. Thanks for this wonderful event and gathering dance experts from different CEE countries. Our Conservatory has Bachelor Degree and Master Degree programs in Dance Performing, Choreography and Dance Studies since founded in 2001. In 2010, Prof Wang Hongyun, proposed a teaching mode integrating research, innovation, teaching and performance and dot-line linkage talent training mode. Now I will introduce the teaching mode using an example of our characteristic course - Jingu Yangko which have been established for 12 years. Jingu Yangko is the general name of folk dance located in Tianjin, which enjoys a history of over 600 years. It is one main component representing Tianjin culture and have great value for international culture exchange. The authentic dance is explored leading by Prof Wang Hongyun and by using the teaching mode above, it has brought into the classroom, onto the stage.
Prof Wang Hongyun: we hope to invite members from the Union to participate in choreography on the Tianjin folk dance.
National Dance Theatre Budapest, Hungary
Mr. Péter Ertl
I'm so happy to join this meeting because I have a wonderful memory and I have a wonderful friendship with all of you that we met in 2016 and after it. So first of all, the National Dance Theater just celebrated the 20th birthday. So this is a very nice time for us. And we also really happy because 2 years ago we were able to open our new theater which is a wonderful new building and we are so happy to perform. We also had 3 times get the Beijing Dance Academy dance performance in Budapest, which was also a really nice memory. Last year we need had to cancel the Budapest festival, but in this September, we were able to organize it and it was a great success.
So this season, the 2021 and 2022, we are organizing two Buddha presents festivals because the next will be in 2022 April. So this is a busy season and we are really hope we are able to perform and we don't have any restrictions, but right now, we have more or less 70% people sitting every night in the theater and the Hungarian dance companies are able to perform. So we really happy to see that.
So we look forward to work together with you. We are open because this building is a brand new building and I think it's really good to organize any other collaborations and look forward very happily to work together. Thank you very much.
Ballet school “Princess Xenia” Montenegro
Ms. Vanja Pantovic, Mr Marko Simovic, Dr Anastazija Miranovic
Ms. Vanja Pantovic: I'm so happy to see you all. I would really like to thank to Chinese ambassador to Montenegro, Mr. Liu Jing for giving a great speech. I would also like to thank so very much to Prof Constantin who gave us such an optimistic speech in which we realize that the warmest and being together is something which we have to really hug in these difficult times.
I would also like to greet especially Risima with a great speech because she always know and she always focus on the key point like now how we can be together and how we can hug this IT technology. She is always like progressive, focused and ready to act and to give the results as she is giving it so many times. I would like also to represent the assistant of me and my school, a young pedagogue and a dancer which as well as a member of our school board. And Mr. Marko Simovic will address to you. So I would just like to say that we are looking forward that our a beautiful highway which is built by CRBC the Chinese company in Montenegro will be finished and then we will make a huge big ceremony of opening with the ballet dancers from China and from all these beautiful countries you are representing. I invite all of you to visit our YouTube channel. Because as I said already，we did like 57 productions in this time period of pandemic. I was locked as we were all locked in the first lockdown with the ballet dancers in my home. And we made a huge beautiful performance teaching our students and trying to promote the spirit of hope and optimism. Now I would invite words from Mr. Marko Simovic which on behalf of Ballet school “Princess Xenia”.
Mr. Marko Simovic: I'm very pleased to be with all of you here today. So many wonderful things are said and so much great ideas which are really needed to be done in the future. So I also would like to say thanks for a wonderful and inspiring speech of professor Cosntantin and a wonderful speech of professor Risima. We had two really difficult years behind us with this pandemic. Everything stopped. We had to learn how to go from analog to digital and we are still learning to doing it. As you saw, now with my microphone. But I hope in the future we will have chances to meet in person and create this wonderful energy which is actually built by music and which is actually built by dance. Those are arts, from which all world understand that you come from Montenegro which is the smallest country in this group but with huge heart. And on platform like this, we have possibility to join projects, show this big heart and these wonderful emotions that we cherish through our art to others and to create wonderful things.
So what I am trying to say, you all said already so much beautiful things but it's quite difficult to do at the end. However, I hope with leadership of China and so wonderful ideas that are coming from all other 17countries, we will have definitely change in the future, of course, through these great projects worked together. That's most as I can say now. As a member of school board, as a university professor, as a concert master of two symphonies, I'm just very happy and glad to be among you. And I absolutely know that we will create and make great things together.
Shanghai Theatre Academy, China
Mr. Zhang Lin
zhanglin213815@hotmail.com
Hi, everyone! Greetings from Shanghai. The dance school of Shanghai Theatre Academy is located in the Shanghai International Dance Center. I hope to build a better platform for artists through Shanghai International Dance Center, and actively invite online and offline performances, master workshops and sharing of teaching experience and creative ideas.
I hope to arrange workshops and exchanges in the Shanghai International Dance Center, so as to share resources more effectively and communicate together.
Bratislava in Movement Association
Ms. Miroslava Kovářová
Hi, everybody. I'm really happy to see you all. I want to share a few ideas but at the beginning, just to remind to those who might not know me so well, I'm the Director of Bratislava in Movement Association, which is the international festival and we are very happy to celebrate the 25th anniversary this October. We had a festival, and we could do it in a full extent. So we are really happy. And I'm also the head of Dance Department at the Academy of Performing Arts. I'm trying to use both of my positions to connect danse wthin Slovakia with those abroad. Our interest is to present contemporary dance from all over the world. So at the festival, we would be happy to host also artists from China. Many years ago, we had a dance theater as a company so if there is any interesting proposal, we will be happy to check it. And I have two other projects, which might be interesting for the colleagues from CEEC as well as from china. We were successfully in the accreditation of dance study program at the university. I got the grant from educational agency in Slovakia and part of this grant will be conference which topic is dance and theory, challenges and tendencies in teaching theory in dance education. Everybody are invited to propose a paper for this conference in this topic. It will take place at the end of next September for those who are interested. I can send more detailed information once is in progress. There is one other we are with many colleagues are now, we are now organizing an international festival of dance universities. It seems like we are getting the money from the arts council. It was just yesterday they were saying, so hope we will get it. I had a small hearing and it seems so quite positive. And there is still one place free, because we have Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, two universities from Czech Republic, and from Austria. But I still don't have anybody from Budapest or Poland. So if you are interested to participate, just contact me and we will be happy that somebody will join us, because nine universities are always like a manageable amount of people.
So I hope all these projects will happen and we can meet in person. And greetings to everybody. I am open for all proposals.
Kalamata International Dance Festival
Ms. Linda Kapetanea
It was great to hear all of you, all members and new members and to get inspired from all the ideas. Because it's already long I will not take too much time. So we have like other festivals. We have too many kinds of exchange projects already. If you follow the last years during the situation that we live in, because of the lack of open spaces and weather in Greece and that the Kalamata Festival always takes part in July, during the pandemic we managed to not cancel the festival and uh and make it through all without any cancellations. We take in all the safety measurements, so it was greatly successful for us, even though it was very, very difficult. It's very important for us to have new collaborations with valued institutions, not only dance, but also art and science and education, opening to all forms of art that are in dialogue with dance. And uh, the main focus for the festival is to be inspiring to the public and the artists.
So we would like to propose an exchange program for students. As I said, it's important for us to not only present performances but also educational part of dance, like exchange of students regarding training programs. And we would like to share a scholarship for the participation of students in the training programs, which combine practice and also many shows observation during the festival. We would like also to bring on the table to examine the possibility of a co-founding tour of performance in Greek, hosted by the Kalamata Dance Festival among the institution members of the Union, and also hosting performances, organized by the members of the Union. I look forward for collaborations, and we are open to any other ideas and exchange because it's very new for us. Thank you.
