Guiding principles
Dance House Lemesos creates structures and programmes supporting professional artistic development, experimentation, research and presentation of works that focus on body and movement as a means of provoking curiosity, dialogue and expression.
It connects the Cypriot artistic community with the international scene through projects and collaborations, creating a safe environment for artists to communicate directly with the local community through the lens of critical thinking.
Dance House Lemesos brings together artists and artistic mediums to exchange and activate new narratives, practices, and methodologies around the body and the socio-political contexts that surround it. Its community believes in the constant renegotiation of the creative process and resists any stereotypical perspectives that frame contemporary creation.
History
Dance House Lemesos was envisioned, created and organised by 5 Cyprus based dance companies with a common urge: to create a space to serve the professional contemporary dance and to develop the art of performance in Cyprus.
Their vision was to generate an environment that would allow them to be resident artists, but also to support the rest of the dance community and help the community in general, via numerous programmes. The initiative for a space began in 2005 by the choreographer Lia Haraki, when she invited the most active dance companies of Lemesos to come together and share a rehearsal space. Progressively that space transformed into Dance House Lemesos.
Officially the House opened its doors on the 1st of October 2007. As the first cultural organisation on the island dedicated to the development of professional contemporary dance, Dance House Lemesos was recognised and funded by the Cultural Services of the former Ministry of Education and Culture in the field of contemporary dance. Nowadays, the organisation is funded by the Department of Contemporary Culture of the Deputy Ministry of Culture and is supported by the Municipality of Limassol.
