Dance artists from China and the CEE region will join forces for three weeks in exploring and learning contemporary dance. The first Summer dance camp China-CEE, created due to the initiative of the Chinese Ministry of Culture, will bring together 80 dance professionals, mostly students, teachers, choreographers, producers and representatives of cultural organizations, with purpose to exchange and share knowledge, professional and cultural experiences under the mentorship of European dance professionals, among them also Slovenian, Nataša Zavolovšek.
Participants of the Dance caravan will explore three main themes: “Body, mind and space”, “Silk Road – where are we today?” and “Oral tradition.” The organizers have prepared an interesting program with a variety of learning techniques, which will require the participants to be active throughout the entire camp duration. Through workshops, lectures, performances, improvisation and socializing, both in the studio as well as on the streets among the people, the participants will be discovering the capabilities of body and mind, sharing experiences and expanding their dance and cultural horizons.
The first Summer dance camp China-CEE, will be held under the patronage of Bureau for External Cultural Relations, Chinese Ministry of Culture, Culture Department and Shannxi Province. The organization of the camp was entrusted to Xi’an Conservatory of Music and China Arts and Entertainment Group (CAEG), in collaboration with three European professionals in the field of contemporary dance, Nataša Zavolovšek, Exodos Ljubljana (Slovenia), Olga Zitluhina, Olga Zitluhina Dance Company (Latvia) and Risima Risimkin, Dance Fest Skopje (Macedonia), who have prepared the camp program and will also be responsible for its implementation.
Nataša Zavolovšek, director and producer, Exodos Ljubljana, said: “China has only just begun to discover the contemporary performing arts, and I am very happy and exciting that we will be able to walk this path of discovery together. I am confident that our cooperation will also positively contribute to the creation of good Slovenian-Chinese relations in general. “
Summer dance camp is a continuation of China dance exchange, which started in autumn 2014, when Chinese Ministry of Culture invited 20 art directors and managers from Central and Eastern Europe to visit China. The project goal is to establish a dialogue between the Chinese dance professionals and their counterparts from the CEE region, with the aim of exchanging professional and cultural experiences and knowledge, and the promotion of Chinese dance. The project is also part of a broader agenda, “EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation”, which anticipates the strengthening of strategic cooperation between the EU and China in the fields of peace and security, prosperity, sustainable development and people-people exchanges.