{"id":1132,"date":"2022-02-06T16:39:45","date_gmt":"2022-02-06T16:39:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newbalticdance.lt\/festivalis\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T16:52:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T14:52:20","slug":"festival","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/newbalticdance.lt\/en\/festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row dfd_enable_overlay=”” disable_element=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1740998861007{background: #ffffff url(https:\/\/newbalticdance.lt\/wp-content\/uploads\/nbd-long-v3.png?id=3568) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column]

<\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″]
<\/div>[vc_column_text css=””]On February 26 and 27, 2026, the Big Stage of the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre will host Trag\u00e9die<\/em>, a dance performance by Olivier Dubois, one of France\u2019s most prominent choreographers. The first and most important work of the 2026 NEW BALTIC DANCE<\/strong> (NBD) contemporary dance festival program will be presented to audiences not in spring, during the festival\u2019s usual season, but in February \u2014 a timely response to this year\u2019s cultural field tensions, protest, and the need for solidarity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI created \u201cTragedy\u201d from a simple and terrible sentence: \u201cTo be human does not mean to create humanity \u2014 and that is our human tragedy.\u201d It still resonates, with undiminished violence. In the current Lithuanian context, this sentence takes on a new intensity. But tragedy does not carry only disaster. It also carries hope \u2014 the hope born from what unites us, not from what makes us alike. It is an individual struggle offered to a fight greater than oneself, a gesture of defiance, a challenge thrown to the gods. I would be honored if \u201cTragedy\u201d found its place as the manifesto of the NEW BALTIC DANCE festival \u2014 as a symbol of the fight for dignity, freedom, and culture. With respect and solidarity to the Lithuanian civil society, Olivier Dubois.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gintar\u0117 Masteikait\u0117<\/strong>, the director of the NEW BALTIC DANCE festival, says that the decision to present Trag\u00e9die<\/em> was made in September, as if the future had already been foreseen \u2013 its relevance to the current moment is simply astonishing: \u201cThe Lithuanian cultural community is going through a difficult period \u2013 people are protesting the value-based stance of those working in the cultural field, the funding situation, and the need for a free and dignified cultural ecosystem. In dance, the body is always political. And Trag\u00e9die<\/em> is a rare work that, without using words, speaks about struggle, fragility, and resilience. I believe it is very important that audiences can experience this performance right now, as it touches on essential questions: who we are and how we preserve our humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trag\u00e9die<\/em> embodies next year\u2019s festival mission \u2013 to explore the body as a form of communication and resistance, and to look at the contemporary world through dance. Presented in February, the work in a way extends the cultural discussions taking place in an atmosphere of protest.<\/p>\n

The remaining performances of the contemporary dance festival program will take place at the usual time \u2013 in April 2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″]

<\/div>[vc_column_text css=””]As the largest event of its kind in the Baltic states, NBD fulfills a triple mission: to inform, educate, and bring together people interested in the art of dance. Each year, the festival is attended by more than 7,000 spectators. It has become a space that brings artists together, nurtures a new generation of dance professionals, and cultivates its audience by offering the opportunity to experience world-class works and premieres alongside creations by Lithuanian artists.<\/p>\n

Since 1997<\/strong>, the festival organisers have presented dance companies from all Nordic and Baltic countries, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Israel, Canada, Slovenia, Serbia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Poland, Switzerland, Greece, South Korea, Lebanon, Portugal, Taiwan, China, Senegal, Brazil, the Netherlands, and Cape Verde. In total, New Baltic Dance has hosted over 250 dance companies from 35 countries, presenting over 470 dance performances.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The festival organisers are proud to have featured companies such as the Ballet national de Marseille (France), Dimitris Papaioannou (Greece), Catherine Gaudet (Canada), Eun-Me Ahn (South Korea), Yoann Bourgeois (France), Marlene Monteiro Freitas (Portugal), Oona Doherty (Ireland), Euripides Laskaridis and Osmosis (Greece), Les Ballets C de la B (Belgium), Nederlands Dans Theater II (Netherlands), Club Guy and Roni (Netherlands), Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (Taiwan), Compagnie Marie Chouinard (Canada), Louise Lecavalier (Canada), La La La Human Steps (Canada), Cullbergballet (Sweden), Aterballetto (Italy), Liquid Loft (Switzerland), Kibbutz Dance Company (Israel), Russell Maliphant Dance Company (UK), Ballet de Lorraine (France), Danish Dance Theatre (Denmark), Christos Papadopoulos (Greece), Frederic Gravel (Canada), Cherish Menzo (Netherlands, Belgium), Marco da Silva Ferreira (Portugal), Jefta van Dinther (Germany), La Chachi (Spain), Fran\u00e7ois Chaignaud (France), Moritz Ostruschnjak (Hermany), Lov\u00edsa \u00d3sk Gunnarsd\u00f3ttir (Iceland), KOR\u2019SIA (Spain\/Italy) and others.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Festival organiser:<\/strong> Lithuanian Dance Information Centre.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Festival directors:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1997\u20132016 Audronis Imbrasas<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since 2017 Gintar\u0117 Masteikait\u0117<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]

<\/div>