Press releases

VITEBSK, 21 October (BelTA) – The 28th International Festival of Modern Choreography (IFMC) will be held in Belarus on 22-19 November, deputy director for special projects of the Vitebsk culture center Marina Romanovskaya told a press conference dedicated to the festival, BelTA has learned.

The festival is expected to present the leading dance companies from Mexico, Switzerland, Belarus, Russia, Sweden, Poland, Italy, Spain and the United States. Some of them will premiere their shows. In this regard, Director General of the Vitebsk culture center Alexander Sidorenko said: "The festival organizers did everything possible to bring the most advanced, the most interesting shows from different corners of the world. The audience who will come to see the festival will make sure that the festival of modern choreography is a really exclusive project.”

The Vitebsk choreography festival has several important components which ensure its longevity, said Larisa Olenskaya, deputy chief of the department for ideology, youth and culture affairs of the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee. There is the mastermind and the main driving force in the face of Marina Romanovskaya. There are also support groups: the audience and the media. There are those who help solve financial and organizational issues: the Culture Ministry, the Vitebsk oblast and city authorities, the Vitebsk culture center and the partners of the festival. "By joint efforts we try to keep the bar high with regards the competitive programs and concerts. We hope that this year all ideas will be materialized,” Larisa Olenskaya noted.

The events of the forum will be held at two venues of Vitebsk (the Vitebsk Concert Hall and the Yanka Kupala National Academic Drama Theater) and at the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater in Minsk (19 November).

The main draw of the festival will be the Belarusian competitions in modern choreography. This year applications for the qualifying tour have been received from more than 20 dance companies of Minsk, Vitebsk, Gomel, Grodno and Mogilev. The contest will be held in several stages. Three winners will be named in the final. They will get diplomas and prize money. Three special awards, including the Evgeny Panfilov Special Prize, will be bestowed upon the best performing dance companies. The international jury and the council of experts will be led by Radu Poklitaru, the art director of the Kyiv Modern Ballet Theater and People’s Artist of Belarus Yuri Troyan.

The program of the festival will include practical and theoretic master classes for dancers and choreographers, open meetings of the international jury, video lectures, press conferences, an exhibition of Viktor Shilko’s paintings. Photo exhibitions Panfilov+Ballet+Ballets will celebrate the 60th birthday of the Russian choreographer, dancer, cultural figure and founder of the Evgeny Panfilov Ballet Theater. The exposition will feature works of photo reporter Vladimir Lupovskoi (Moscow), Anna Moiseyuk (Minsk), Igor Gusakov (Vitebsk).

The festival is founded by the Culture Ministry of Belarus, the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee and the Vitebsk City Hall, the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater. The festival is organized by the Vitebsk Cultural Center. Over almost the 30-year history of the festival, thousands of artists from dozens of countries have performed on the Vitebsk stage.