Belgrade Dance Festival Spreads Its Wings

Always an ambitious affair, the Belgrade Dance Festival is pushing the envelope even more in 2015. And, although the 12th annual dance festival is slated to begin on March 23, in some ways it has already been going on for over a month.

In association with the Yugoslav Film Archive, the festival sponsored a cinema-themed programme in late January designed in a way to announce the festival.

The five-day event was composed of movies related to the art of dance, hand-picked by the Belgrade Dance Festival's organizers.

Another feature of the Belgrade Dance Festival, which closes on April 9, is that it is not staying in Belgrade. Performances are scheduled for other towns and cities in Serbia, including Pancevo, Vrsac and Novi Sad.

As is the case every year, the festival will feature prominent guests from all over the world representing both traditional and cutting-edge dancing traditions. Thirteen dance companies will be coming this year from 11 countries, including Israel, Spain, Italy, Norway and the United States.

Several city venues will be in play during the festival, with performances slated for the Sava Centre, the Belgrade Drama Theatre, Atelje 212, Madlenianum in Zemun, and more.

One of the biggest names in international dance in the last century will be opening the festival. Carla Fracci is widely considered one of the most influential and important ballet dancers of all time.

An interesting fact this year in terms of organization and funding is that the festival is being supported for the first time by the Serbian Culture Ministry. The EU Delegation to Serbia has been a supporter for three years already.

The slogan of the 12th festival, meanwhile, is "Catch the Light," which the organizers say conveys a message...