Guiding principles
Dance Gate Lefkosia (Cyprus) is a non-profit organisation that promotes and supports dance as a contemporary, interactive art form. It works within the vision and framework of the dancehouse model developed by EDN.
Dance Gate Lefkosia Cyprus focuses on three main areas:
1. Creativity and opportunity – supporting both new and established choreographers, and encouraging dance research that connects with other art forms. This helps to broaden and redefine the choreographic field on the island.
2. Advocacy and support – working to ensure that dance and dance artists have the infrastructure they need, reaching across both sides of the buffer zone.
3. Community and exchange – creating artistic and theoretical frameworks for dance to grow in many directions, within the wider contemporary arts scene. We do this through festivals, research projects, seminars, lectures, conferences, publications, exchanges, and a constantly expanding network.
History
Founded in 2007, Dance Gate Lefkosia has been a founding member and active partner of Dance House Lefkosia since 2013. In December 2020, Dance House Lefkosia grew to include five member organisations, now working together under the name L_DH Dancehouse Lefkosia.
Because of Cyprus’ unique location at the south-eastern edge of Europe, Dance Gate has a special role: to promote dance and culture at the crossroads of three continents. Nicosia, the only divided capital in Europe, serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of connection through the arts.
ON _ BODIES Festival
Dance Gate Lefkosia has been running a yearly festival the first Dance and Performance Arts festival “No _ Body Fest” 2008 – 2020 . Now the festival is renewing with a new title : ON _ BODIES Dance / Movement & Performance Arts Festival and shall be now under the umbrella and organization of DanceHouse Lefkosia that Dance Gate is a founding member organization of, as from 2021.
Building and facilities
The Dance House Lefkosia building, once the old food market of Ayios Andreas built in the 1940s during the British occupation, was secured for the arts through the efforts of Nicosia’s dance community. After renovations, it was granted in 2013 to the non-profit organisation L_DH Dancehouse Lefkosia by the Ministry of Education and Culture, in collaboration with the Municipality of Nicosia, to support the growth and development of dance locally and internationally.
