International Contemporary Dance Festival NEW BALTIC DANCE during its existence has grown up into one of the main and most prestigious dance festivals in the Baltic Sea region. It has been organized since 1997 by Lithuanian Dance Information Centre and Vilnius Festivals. Yearly in spring it takes place at different venues in Lithuania.
During its existence the festival has contributed to the growth of the cultural life quality in the country, encouraged development of the variety of stage arts, initiated relevant discussions among the audience and the participants of the festival, initiated networking between the performing arts organizations and independent artists at the national and international level, and strengthened Lithuanian contemporary dance community, and its influence on international dance and performing arts markets. The event also continues to support development of performing art management, criticism of dance and related fields and growth of contemporary performing arts audiences.
The programme of the New Baltic Dance consists of both well-established companies with famous productions and new young companies and choreographers with experimental works. All in all more than 200 companies from 30 countries have been programmed for the festival.
The other goals of the festival are to provide the visibility and possibilities for young choreographers from Lithuania and abroad to show their works; introduce international artists from regions with difficult geopolitical situation; reach the gender equality in artistic programme; present the diversity of dance forms and topics; develop long-term connections between artists and audience, expand the festival and promote partnership between different organizations and institutions.