Festivals contemporary dance 2009

The Fringe Festival in Shanghai suffered a ban from the Shanghai Cultural Bureau for procedural reasons, just a week before the festival was due to open. The organisers, the Fringe Festival and co-producers CultureXpress, immediately devised an alternative programme for the activities. The works of Ann van den Broek and anoukvandijkdc were presented through workshops, a performance and a dvd screening at new locations in Shanghai. Also, alternative venues were found for the performance Wervel by Boukje Schweigman and for the screenings of dance films by Cinedans. With these changes, the greater part of the the Fringe Festival was saved.

Boukje Schweigman, Ann Van den Broek, anoukvandijkdc, 2movedc and Cinedans at independent Chinese festivals

Since 2005 CultureXpress has been involved in co-producing various festivals in China: Crossing (Beijing), Fringe (Shanghai), Crossing.Kunming (Kunming).These are independent festivals for contemporary dance and (physical) theatre offering a stage to dance companies from The Netherlands and other countries to present themselves to a mostly young and interested Chinese audience. In 2009 dance from the Netherlands will also be presented in other cities: Kunming and Chongqing. In July 2movedancecompany will be the first to travel to China in order to teach a Master Class during the Guangdong Dance Camp and to perform in the Guangdong Modern Dance Festival. Next it will be Ann Van den Broek and Boukje Schweigman with performances of Co(te)lette and Wervel in the Crossing (Beijing) and Fringe Festivals (Shanghai). anoukvandijkdc will not only perform in the Fringe Festival (Shanghai) with Am I out but will also have the honour of being the first ever contemporary dance company from The Netherlands to perform in the biggest city in the world: Chongqing! The performance there will be hosted by Organ Haus Art Space, the only independent art space in this huge city. 2movedc will be back in October for performances in Crossing.Kunming – their accessible concept which first shows the choreographer at work in a short movie, followed by a duet performed by Kevin Polak and Miquel de Jong, is appreciated very much by the Chinese audience. 2movedc was part of the Crossing and Fringe Festivals in 2007 and performed in Crossing.OCAT in 2008. The festivals will also feature lectures, workshops and screenings of dance films by Cinedans, the dance film festival from Amsterdam.  Janine Dijkmeijer, Cinedans’ director, has been visiting the festivals since 2006.