The region of Balkans (ex‐Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Greece) is known for huge political turbulences, heart‐warming people, good food and great party. In the last decade(s) the contemporary performing art scenes have developed into the formats of independent scenes, public‐private and international‐local forms of cooperation as well as the clusters of artistic‐entrepreneur organisms. Some significant new festivals and new spaces have been established, which enable new artistic expression to grow and that are worth seeing.

The idea of this Encounter is to share information and enable practical physical experience, by visiting places and getting to know people and structures and program with the aim of getting acquainted with existing potentials, as opposed to the idea of looking for what is lacking in the region.

The important aim of this activity is to connect with Nomad Dance Academy – Balkan network for contemporary dance. This is a systematic process designed to establish strong, recognizable, unique Balkan contemporary dance scene which is professional, socially relevant and influential, open and connected.

NOMAD Dance Academy is: platform for collaboration in contemporary dance, self‐refreshing organizational model, tool for promotion of contemporary dance, intense programme for education and creation.

Documentation of the Encounter

Get a glimpse into the Balkan Encounter through the video of the trip!

Visits in five countries

Starting in Ljubljana and ending in Sofia, the bus trip enabled EDN members to visit different actors of the Balkan contemporary dance scene:

The programme of Kino Šiška related to performing arts represents a diverse range of contemporary theatre and dance creativity as well as premieres of international and domestic productions and co‐productions. The focus is placed on festival events: the successful coproducing CoFestival created as part of the first European dance project and the Austrian‐Slovenian focus on contemporary performing arts – At. Šiška!

Tala Dance Center is a non‐profit arts organization, establishedin 2000. Its founders are Larisa Navojec and Tamara Curic, artists who have been successfully active in the world of modern dance for many years, as professional dancers, choreographers, dance pedagogues, organizers and leaders of projects connected to developing contemporary dance.

The institution’s core activity is the popularization of contemporary dance with children, the youth and adults by preparing and performing various programs related to contemporary dance.

Zagreb Dance Center (ZPC) is the central space of contemporary dance in Croatia, which supports Croatian and foreign dance artists in their creation and encourages a propulsive and dynamic dance scene. The main tasks of Zagreb Dance Center are to secure adequate conditions for rehearsals and performances; to program highly professional dance shows and their repeat performances; to encourage new trends in artistic production; to collaborate on local, national and international level; to strengthen the interaction between dance scene and cultural public; to educate young audience; and to raise awareness and appreciation of contemporary dance amongst the general public. It supports various innovative initiatives, advocates diversity and plurality of artistic visions, and encourages artists, audience and the community to explore and analyze choreographic and other concepts together.

STATION is a bottom‐up initiative of the contemporary dance and performing arts community in Serbia, established in 2005. It has been working towards making that community strengthened, structured, and recognized by cultural policy makers, state institutions, cultural operators, educational policy makers, Balkan and European partners and funding bodies, as well as by broader audience. One of the ultimate goals of STATION is to provide reasonable and professional working conditions to all active parties on the art scene in Serbia and the Balkan Region through programs for education, professional development, production, promotion, advocacy and cultural policy. Because of that wide range of activities, Station has an extensive network of national and international partners: Nomad Dance Academy, Life Long Burning, Association of Independent Cultural Scene of Serbia, advanced performing arts project and many other individuals and organizations. Since 2007 STATION operates in the independent cultural center Magacin where they have an office, exhibition space and one small studio.

Lokomotiva ‐ Centre for New Initiative in Arts and Culture was founded in 2003 in Macedonia, Skopje as a non‐profit organization playing the role of a multi‐purpose platform for education, reflection, discussions, creative projects and critical thinking. The organization is very active participant in the building and development of the democratic socio‐cultural space in Macedonia and ex‐Yugoslavia region. Through its activities, Lokomotiva aims to widen the access of citizens to arts and cultural events and projects and to influence the development and support of the contemporary, dynamic art and culture as incentive in the development of the democratic society.

Lokomotiva is one of the most reputable non‐profit organizations in the field of arts and culture in the region of ex‐Yugoslavia with well‐developed network of partners from EU. Its reputation is due to development and successful implementation of many projects, such as films, performances, education, capacity building and training programs, debates, discussions, exhibitions, researchers, advocacy activities and events etc.

Lokomotiva has co‐established in 2015 together with Theatre Navigator Cvetko, KINO KULTURA ‐ space for contemporary performing arts and culture.

Antistatic International Festival for Contemporary Dance and Performance started in 2008 as the first festival in Sofia with this profile. It was initiated in the context of the efforts of the Balkan network for contemporary dance Nomad Dance Academy to promote and to develop this art form in the Balkan region and to make it one of the vital dance centres in Europe.