Baltic Dance Platform announces the contemporary dance artists and performances selected to participate in the Baltic Dance Platform, which will take place on April 22–25 next year in Vilnius. A total of seventy-six dance projects from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia took part in the open call. The programme will feature twenty-three dance projects selected by an international jury, along with open discussions and networking events for dance professionals.
The Baltic Dance Platform, which will take place in Vilnius next year, is a strategically important and significant event, says Gintarė Masteikaitė, Director of the Lithuanian Dance Information Centre.
“Hosting an international event of this scale means greater attention to the Baltic region. It is a great opportunity to present Baltic contemporary dance creators and their works—addressing relevant topics—to international dance professionals and local audiences, as well as to engage in discussions on important political and social issues. During the Baltic Dance Platform, a Dance Congress is also planned, featuring discussions on the situation of the Baltic countries in the geopolitical context and its impact on the development of culture and the arts,” says G. Masteikaitė.
She also adds: “I believe these conversations will spotlight the urgent political challenges cultural community in Lithuania is facing today and invite global reflection and solidarity”.
The Pulse of Baltic dance – meet the selected performances
The following artists will represent Lithuania in the Baltic Dance Platform: Agnietė Lisičkinaitė and Igor Shugaleev / BE COMPANY with the performance “Clap & Slap”, Vilma Pitrinaitė / WE Compagnie – “When You’re Alone in Your Forest Always Remember You’re Not Alone”, and Lukas Karvelis / BE COMPANY – “Kur krantas”.
The selected Latvian artists are: Vladimirs Goršantovs / SIXTH with the performance “Voluntary Servitude”, Rūta Ronja Pakalne and Laura Gorodko – “Freedom to Lose Control Together With Many”, and the dance organisation Tuvumi / artist duo IevaKrish with the work “Oblicus”.
Estonia will be represented at the event by: Netti Nüganen with Pire Sova and KISLING – “Ash, Horizon, Riding a House”, and Nele Tiidelepp with the performance “10 Ways to Dance”.
Agnietė Lisičkinaitė and Igor Shugaleev / BE COMPANY performance “Clap & Slap”, photo by. D. Ališauskas.
New Format at the Platform – Open Studios Presentations
Next year, for the first time, the Baltic Dance Platform programme will include open studios presentations. In these up-to-one-hour presentations, held in a studio space, artists will have the opportunity to showcase a completed dance performance or present the ongoing creative process of a work to both international and Lithuanian audiences. Discussions with the attending guests will follow each presentation.
The artists selected for the open studios presentations are: Lithuanian Liza Baliasnaja / Be Company with her newest work “Shield is a Weapon”, Latvian Marija Saveiko with “Neither Of”, and the Estonian artist team KOOSSEIS presenting their creative process “x=5”.
The programme will also feature twelve pitch presentations by artists from the Baltic countries. Each project will be presented in 15 minutes, after which attending dance experts and professionals will have the opportunity to ask questions.
The artists selected for the pitch presentations include Lithuanian dance theatre Dansema, Greta Grinevičiūtė / MMLAB Theatre, Dovydas Strimaitis and Afra Al Dhaheri / STILL WAITING / BE COMPANY, and Šeiko Dance Company; Latvian artists Rūta Pūce, the collective LDM5, Andrejs Jarovojs / SIXTH / Theatre on Gertrude Street, and Ģirts Dubults; and Estonian artists Rūta Ronja Pakalne and Laura Kvelstein, Sveta Grigorjeva, the collective United Dancers of Zuga, and the artist duo Maria Solei Järvet and Juulius Vaiksoo.
Šeiko Dance Company performance ONOS, photo by K. Meliauskas.
PRE-REGISTRATION is officially OPEN for dance professionals — join us at the Baltic Dance Platform: https://forms.gle/qbpGu61mK4CRpPa16
Strengthening the Baltic Contemporary Dance Scene
Dance projects from the Baltic countries are demonstrating increasing creative maturity and growing artistic quality, says Gwen Hsin-Yi Chang, one of the jury members – producer, curator, and Artistic Director of Tanztriennale (Hamburg, Germany). She is also pleased to emphasise that the selection included both emerging artists and more experienced dance creators and companies.
Gwen Hsin-Yi Chang has actively followed the Baltic dance scene in recent years and was also one of the jury members involved in shaping the programme of the 2022 Baltic Dance Platform in Estonia.
This year’s international jury also included prominent experts and leaders from the global dance field: Birgit Berndt (Norway) – producer, curator, dramaturg, and Artistic Director of the international contemporary dance festival CODA, and Samme Raeymaekers (Belgium) – long-time director of Dansens Hus Oslo (until 2024), international producer and curator, and developer of international dance projects.
Origins of the Baltic Dance Platform
The Baltic Dance Platform – a biennial event held in a different Baltic capital since 2019 – consistently and purposefully showcases contemporary dance from the Baltic region and its artists in both international and regional contexts. At the same time, the Baltic Dance Platform provides opportunities for collaboration among cultural professionals and the exchange of knowledge and experience.
The event took place in Vilnius in 2019, in Tallinn in 2022, and in Riga in 2024. Previous editions of the platform attracted significant interest from international guests, with around 80–100 cultural professionals participating in each, including festival directors, curators, critics, cultural policy makers, representatives of the academic community, and specialists from regional centers. The platform has received strong support and participation from the Baltic dance community.
In 2026, more than 200 international and Baltic dance experts and professionals are expected to attend.
The organisers of the Baltic Dance Platform are the Lithuanian Dance Information Centre, the Latvian Dance Information Centre, and the Estonian contemporary dance development platform Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava.