dancEUnion: Great Dance Talent From Across Europe
15-17 March, 2011. Further to the success of its first outing, dancEUnion returns to Southbank Centre with three mixed-bill evenings, each featuring a selection of excerpts from full-length performances. Discover 21 rising stars of the European dance scene coming together for three unique days sampling from the best contemporary dance on offer today. Among them will feature Lithuanian choreographer Loreta Juodkaitė with one of her latest works "Prayer in the Sand". With physical theatre, exclusive UK premieres and a free programme of events, this is a packed dance festival from emerging choreographers eager to engage, make you think or simply make you smile.
Loreta Juodkaitė. Prayer in the Sand
This latest work by the choreographer Loreta Juodkaitė was inspired by Turkish motifs and traditional Turkish music. Prayer in the Sand exudes passion, energy and the heat of the southern sun. The work is full of contrasts: hot sun and cool water, endless spaces and closed vessels, the heights of love and bottomless depths of suffering, the power of love and the fragility of sand.
Loreta Juodkaitė is one of the most interesting young Lithuanian contemporary dance artists. She learned the basics of contemporary dance at Vytis Jankauskas’ modern dance studio, as well as at various contemporary dance projects and seminars. In 2001, she got a BA in set design at the Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts. In 2005, she graduated from the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance. Juodkaitė works as an independent choreographer and dancer. She debuted on the professional Lithuanian stage in 2006 and has been widely acclaimed by audiences and critics alike.
dancEUnion will also include a four-day residency-style masterclass for the choreographers and artists in the lead up to the performances. The residency will be run by Jonathan Burrows, a renowned British choreographer and dance teacher.
dancEUnion was first piloted in 2008 and the festival is presented by the EU Commission in UK, European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) and Southbank Centre, with the participation and support of all the participating EU countries, their cultural institutes and embassies.
Participation of the Lithuanian dance artists is supported by the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture, the Lithuanian Cultural Foundation and Arts Printing House in Vilnius.
16 March, 7.45 pm Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London SE1 8XX. Tickets - £13, festival pass for three days - £30. For more information please visit:
http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/series/danceunion
