The recently-begun Season of Lithuania in France 2024 will acquaint the French audience with contemporary Lithuania and its culture over the next three months through various cultural and artistic forms, discussions and presentations. The bold contemporary dance of Lithuania has a prominent place in the Season’s programme, making its way through French cities, theatre spaces, museums and even screens on various media.
“For the first time, Lithuania’s dance artists are being so widely presented in contemporary dance and performing arts centres and festivals of the highest calibre in France. It is a joy to see dance featured so prominently as part of the image of the Season of Lithuania; in all of the Season’s advertising, you see a rising star in contemporary dance, the dancer and choreographer Dovydas Strimaitis. We are very pleased that various Lithuanian dance artists and the projects of Lithuanian dance companies and organisations will be seen in France,” says Gintarė Masteikaitė, Director of the Lithuanian Dance Information Centre (LDIC).
Dovydas Strimaitis, the main poster of the Season of Lithuania in France 2024
In the LDIC dance programme – more than thirty performances
LDIC first began to prepare for the Season of Lithuania in France in the spring of 2023. At that time, Teatro informacijos centras (Theater Information Center, TIC) joined forces with Operomanija and LDIC, and, in cooperation with the Lithuanian Culture Institute and the Institut Français, jointly organised the first Lithuanian performing arts platform in Vilnius. During the platform, LDIC performed the role of a facilitator: French performing arts experts were given the opportunity to become better acquainted with Lithuania’s dance community and production. Later, LDIC participated in meetings with French colleagues, who enquired about dance performances and artists, and considered LDIC’s recommendations.
Thanks to this joint work, LDIC will present the following creative artists in different formats in France: Agnietė Lisičkinaitė in the performance Hands up and her workshop How to protest?; Lukas Karvelis in his latest performance She Dreamt of Being Washed Away to the Coast; Vilma Pitrinaitė in the solo work When you’re alone in your forest always remember you’re not alone; Dovydas Strimaitis in two versions of the performance Hairy and in a youth workshop; Dansema dance theater in the performance World Without Eyes; Povilas Bastys and his embodied character Miss Plastica. Povilas will hold cabaret events and moderate meetings with international and Lithuanian creative artists. Dance artists Greta Grinevičiūtė, Liza Baliasnaja and Agnietė Lisičkinaitė will present their creative work to the Parisian professional dance community at the Atelier de Paris studio. This space also welcomed the artist Vilma Pitrinaitė; she participated in a residency at the studio. During the Season of Lithuania in France, participants in the LDIC dance programme will appear on stage or meet with French viewers and dance professionals more than thirty times.
Artists in the LDIC programme will appear at the most prominent French festivals and dance institutions. Thanks to the opportunity to appear at these venues, artists from other countries have been noticed and have gone on to find success in international careers. Lithuania’s dance can be found in the programme of Atelier de Paris / CDCN (Paris), at the international contemporary dance festival Actoral (Marseille), and at the performing arts biennale (La Biennale) in Toulouse. Lithuania’s dance will also appear in prominent centres including Maison de la Danse (Lyon), Centre national de la danse (Paris), Le Gymnase CDCN (Roubaix), L’Espace 1789 de Saint-Ouen (Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine), and the NEUFNEUF Festival in Toulouse.
Lithuania’s dance companies and organisations invite viewers to experience dance in a variety of ways
French audience and performing arts professionals will experience Lithuania’s dance in a variety of formats and ways; Lithuania’s dance theatres and cultural organisations have prepared a diverse dance programme, for presentation at the most prominent festivals and on stages in Marseille, Nice, Chambéry, Caen and other French cities. The Vilnius City Dance Theatre Low Air invites viewers to the premiere of the dance performance Together Alone at the Nice International Film Festival and draws viewers into the action and discussions of the dance performance for (non)teenagers me two/Savoj krūvoj. The Šeiko Dance Company presents the Lithuanian-French contemporary dance cooperation programme KlaipeDAnse and the dance performances Audros akis and Flocking, and the dance film Under the Skin, created in collaboration with French choreographer Mathilde Monfreux and video artist Trécy Afonso. A project by the dance troupe ULNA, Iš tylos (From the silence), will premiere; dance intertwines with the works of four female artists of the Lithuanian diaspora in the exhibition Tik tyloje tave girdžiu (Only in the silence do I hear you). Dance students and teachers of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre participate in the contemporary dance creative camp Camping in the city of Paris. The Theater Information Center presents a broad programme of Lithuania’s performing arts, Focus Lituanie, which will be held at the prestigious Théâtre de la Ville in Paris. The programme features Lora Juodkaitė (a Lithuanian dance artist living and creating in France), the Dansema dance theater, and the dance artists Dovydas Strimaitis and Agnietė Lisičkinaitė.
Guests of the Season of Lithuania in France will have the opportunity not only to see dance performances on a variety of stages, but also to experience the synergy of dance, architecture and cinematography in the project Dance Plus City (Šokis plius miestas). The project’s dance films have been quite popular in Lithuania, and have later been shown on ARTE, the European culture channel. The newly-created dance film cycle (main producer: Just a moment) allows viewers to experience the architecture of five countries through contemporary dance and authentic cinematography. Two dance films with Lithuanian dance artists have been produced in France especially for the Season of Lithuania in France, and the project is to be broadcast on the ARTE channel.
Cultural professionals will have roundtable discussions
On 4-5 October, the performing arts biennale in Toulouse, in cooperation with LDIC and TIC, invites cultural professionals from Lithuania to roundtable discussions. The organisers expect more than 200 representatives of performing arts to attend, including festival organisers, producers, creative artists, and art critics. These meetings and network-building events will be a unique opportunity for cultural professionals from different countries to get acquainted, discuss timely matters related to the performing arts and international cultural cooperation, and look for ways to build new partnership strategies.
The LDIC director notes that the Season of Lithuania in France is a wonderful opportunity to get acquainted with a variety of French cultural institutions and independent professionals working in the performing arts, and to deepen existing relationships and expand cooperative efforts. LDIC will seek more extensive participation by French professionals in the Baltic dance and performing arts platforms, in which Lithuania’s dance community is represented by both experienced and rising figures. LDIC will also continue dialogue with existing French partners, encourging them to include Lithuania’s creative dance artists in their artistic programmes.
The entire programme for the Season of Lithuania in France 2024 can be found here: saisonlituanie.com
The presented projects and events are a part of the Season of Lithuania in France 2024. The Season is organised by the Lithuanian Culture Institute and the Institut Français in Paris.
The projects are partially funded by: the Lithuanian Culture Institute.
