{"id":4160,"date":"2025-11-26T16:24:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T14:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newbalticdance.lt\/?p=4160"},"modified":"2025-11-26T16:55:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T14:55:54","slug":"2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newbalticdance.lt\/en\/2025\/","title":{"rendered":"2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The international contemporary dance festival NEW BALTIC DANCE took place from April 23 to May 18, 2025, in Vilnius, Druskininkai, Garg\u017edai, and Ukmerg\u0117. According to the festival\u2019s director, Gintar\u0117 Masteikait\u0117, the program was the strongest of her entire nine-year leadership.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There were 25 events featuring 102 dancers. The festival was attended by nearly 6,000 spectators.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In the festival programme: experiments with raw social themes, a sanctuary of the body, and classical movement.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The festival opened with\u00a0Mont Ventoux<\/strong><\/em>, a dance performance by the Italian\u2013Spanish company Kor\u2019sia, inspired by a historic letter describing an ascent of a mountain \u2014 a journey that symbolizes both self-discovery and a rediscovery of nature. The creators believe that dance is the best medium for drawing attention to the human being, their connection to the world, and inner transformation.<\/p>\n

One of the most sensitive and progressive works in the festival program,\u00a0Harmonia<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 created by Hungarian artist Adrienn H\u00f3d in collaboration with the German company Unusual Symptoms \u2014 invited audiences into an intimate experience dominated by the longing for closeness and the sacredness of diverse dancing bodies. Dedicated to humanity, the piece gains authenticity and emotional depth from the performers with disabilities, offering a sense of a more hopeful world.<\/p>\n

The Swedish\u2013German work\u00a0Unearth<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0by choreographer Jafta van Dinther \u2014 who also performs in the piece \u2014 was a standout gem, described as a manifesto of the body as a sanctuary. This four-hour \u201cphenomenon\u201d breaks down stereotypes of what a dance performance can be. A bold and distilled choreography of body and voice, it invited audiences to reflect on the transience of life and on loss.<\/p>\n

The energy of flamenco, unfiltered authenticity, and burning onstage passion unfolded in the Spanish duo\u00a0La Chachi<\/strong><\/em>, in which dancer Mar\u00eda del Mar Su\u00e1rez and singer Lola Dolores invited audiences into a vivid, raw, and unembellished southern experience. This whirlwind-force duet introduced us to Taranto \u2014 a flamenco style originating in the mining region of Almer\u00eda.<\/p>\n

One of the most anticipated solo premieres in the program,\u00a0When the Bleeding Stops<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0by Icelandic choreographer and performer Lov\u00edsa \u00d3sk Gunnarsd\u00f3ttir, explores women\u2019s experiences during menopause. No matter the country or the age of the audience, this work \u2014 which unites women around the world \u2014 receives thunderous standing ovations, smiles, laughter, and tears.<\/p>\n

The audience was also fired up by\u00a0Mirlitons<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2014 a unique duel-performance between two well-known figures in the French dance and music scenes: beatboxer Aymeric Hainaux and renowned rebel choreographer Fran\u00e7ois Chaignaud. The duel\u2019s main goal is to create extraordinary moments of grace, like a ritual of a new era capable of shaking one\u2019s soul to its core.<\/p>\n

The festival concluded with the cutting-edge work\u00a0Non+Ultras<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0by German choreographer Moritz Ostruschnjak. Drawing on the logic of omnipresent social media, the choreographer examines links between fanatical supporter culture and forms of political protest. Taylor Swift fans and football ultras collide here; politics and protest meet overturned police cars, smoke flares, and plush mascots; Arabic chants mix with anthems sung in English stadiums, the\u00a0Mickey Mouse Club<\/em>\u00a0with Beethoven. A whirlpool of layered meanings illuminating a society captivated by the power of images and torn by irreconcilable division.<\/p>\n

The Lithuanian part of the festival \u2013 with premieres<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lithuanian contemporary dance artist Agniet\u0117 Lisi\u010dkinait\u0117, together with Belarusian artist Igor Shugaleev, who has previously appeared at the festival, presented the premiere\u00a0Clap & Slap<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2014 a dialogue between fear and the necessity to act, between collective and personal responsibility, between personal tragedy and geopolitical catastrophe. Agniet\u0117 also performed in a duet with Greta Grinevi\u010di\u016bt\u0117 in their piece\u00a0Dance for 1000 Years<\/strong><\/em>, exploring the hidden choreographic possibilities present in every person\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

G. Grinevi\u010di\u016bt\u0117, in partnership with the Arts and Science Laboratory, presentedA Dance for a Cigarette and a Best Friend<\/strong><\/em>,<\/strong>a work examining friendship, while dancer Giedr\u0117 Kirkil\u0117 explored questions of constructing and reconstructing identity in the performance\u00a0Dowry<\/em><\/strong>. The dance performance\u00a0<\/strong>Chiaroscuro<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>introduced audiences to part of Liza Baliasnaja\u2019s artistic research, which examines the influence of fear and disgust on political views in an era of increasing societal polarization. Oksana Griaznova, Marius Pinigis, and the company Nuepiko presented\u00a0Moderation<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 a work about the often forgotten and overlooked value of moderation in our society.<\/p>\n

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