The festival, coordinated by the Goethe-Institut, has successfully contributed to raising awareness on contemporary dance in Vietnam since 2011.
“Europe meets Asia in Contemporary Dance”, an initiative of EUNIC – the Network of European cultural institutes and embassies in Hanoi, is organized this year by the Goethe-Institut, L’Espace, Embassy of Spain, Embassy of Switzerland and the Consulate General of Canada in HCMC, in cooperation with the Youth Theater Vietnam and the HCMC Dance School. Dance, an important artistic medium worldwide, is an artistic language which tells stories, expresses mental and emotional conditions in our life, and gives us new perspectives. Topics and techniques, feelings and thoughts, creative energy and perseverance are expressed.
Artists perform an important task in society and for all of us. They ask about humanity and the essence of being human. They open our eyes and hearts. They strengthen our empathy and compassion. Dancers evoke positive energy which transcends from the stage or other spaces of performance onto the spectators, draws us into their action and occupies our minds beyond the time of the performance. And their performance demands an attitude of respect and reflection from us.
This year, we are supporting two exciting Vietnamese productions, one by the Wintercearig Project and one by the dance company Arabesque. The spirit of co-production has motivated two other performances, one with Belgian-French and one with German-Vietnamese participation. The festival also showcases the multifaceted dance world outside of Vietnam, and brings dance performances from Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland and Canada.
Three exhibitions on dance and body enrich our festival this year. They show, among other things that dynamic movements in a space can also emanate in to very special new visual forms for the dance – either in stills or moving pictures.