Summer Dance Intensive Vilnius Open Classes
Lithuanian Dance Information Centre and Summer Dance Intensive Vilnius invite residents and visitors of Vilnius to open classes of different contemporary dance styles!
From August 18 to 26, 2026 open dance classes in contemporary dance, contemporary dance for couples, kuduro style, and dance classes for babies will take place at the Arts Printing House (Šiltadaržio street 6, Vilnius).
They will be led by six experienced contemporary dance teachers: Christina Mertzani and Fábio Krayze, as well as Lithuania-based artists Dansema, Dominyka Markevičiūtė and Povilas Jurgaitis.
No previous dance experience is required, and age or professional background do not matter.
The price for all “Summer Dance Intensive Vilnius Open Classes” workshops is 30 EUR (for 3 days × 1 class) with an exception of Dansema, where each seminar costs 15 EUR (price is per child and per adult).
The classes are continuous, so registration and payment are for the full course (3 days × 1 class) with an exception of Dansema, where each seminar is paid separately.
The Summer Dance Intensive Vilnius Open Classes is partly funded by Vilnius City Municipality.
REGISTRATION:
Registration to the classes – HERE.
Below are descriptions of the classes and the teachers.
August 17 – 19, 10:00 – 11:00
Dansema Dance Theatre – Dance Classes for Children
Studio 2, Arts Printing House
The classes are led by the team of educators of Dansema Dance Theatre – an award-winning choreographer and artistic director Birutė Banevičiūtė and dancer Giedrė Subotinaitė.
The dance classes are based on a unique early childhood dance education methodology developed by the associate professor dr. Birutė Banevičiūtė, who holds a PhD in Social Sciences. She has more than 30 years of teaching experience working with children of all ages, from infants to young adults. Dance educator Giedrė Subotinaitė has completed training in dr. Banevičiūtė’s methodology and has over 10 years of experience working with children. Both educators have been conducting classes and teacher training seminars for many years in Lithuania and abroad, including Estonia, Latvia, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Ukraine, Palestine, Germany, US, and other countries.
It is very important that adults bringing their little ones to dance classes follow the recommended age of children, as this enables the educators to ensure a high-quality learning experience for little ones.
Comfortable clothing suitable for movement is recommended for all classes.
*Registration is available for separate classes based on the children’s age.
August 17, 10:00 – 11:00
Dansema Dance Theatre – Dance Class for infants of 8-14 months
Studio 2, Arts Printing House
Duration: 45 minutes
During the dance class for infants of 8-14 months, children together with the dancers-teachers explore various objects and movements, developing their imagination and physical abilities such as coordination, balance, sense of rhythm, and fine motor skills. They learn movements they may not yet have mastered, including crawling, creeping, sitting, walking, rolling over, turning, swaying, and more. They also experience the joy of movement and interaction. Through these experiences, infants gain their first encounters with dance, which are important for understanding and expressing dance as an art form based on movement.
During the sessions, adults learn how young children perceive and express dance. It is very important to respect infants’ need for time and silence. Therefore, accompanying adults are kindly asked not to talk, not to use mobile phones, not to direct children by telling them what to do or where to look during the class. When given sufficient time, infants notice and accomplish things on their own, at their own pace, often delightfully surprising their parents with newly emerging abilities.
August 18, 10:00 – 11:00
Dansema Dance Theatre – Dance Class for toddlers of 15-30 months
Studio 2, Arts Printing House
Duration: 45 minutes
The dance class for children of 15-30 months and their caregivers deepens children’s understanding of dance while developing their physical abilities, including coordination, balance, and flexibility, and expanding their movement skills. During the sessions, the dancers-educators perform movements and movement combinations together with the children, creating opportunities for their first meaningful dance experiences. Combining different movements forms the foundation not only for body coordination and proper posture, but also for understanding dance as a kinesthetic (movement-based) art form.
During the sessions, adults learn how children understand and express dance. For parents who wish to nurture their children’s creativity, it is important to observe their responses and allow time for them to react, whether through words or movement.
August 19, 10:00 – 11:00
Dansema Dance Theatre – Dance Class for children of 3-5 years
Studio 2, Arts Printing House
Duration: 45 minutes
The dance class for children aged 3-5 years and their caregivers further develops children’s understanding of dance, enhances their physical abilities (coordination, balance, and flexibility), expands their movement skills and imagination. During the sessions dancers-educators and children improvise together on themes inspired by natural phenomena that are familiar and meaningful to children of this age.
During the sessions, adults learn how to improvise, create, and dance together with their children, experiencing the joy of communication, creativity, and discovery.
August 18 – 20, 18.30 – 19.30
Yuval Pick – Enjoy Dancing Together, Open Level
Studio 2, Arts Printing House
Contemporaray Dance Class: Yuval Pick’s method, ‘Practice’ celebrates the collective essence that lies at the heart of dance. This contemporary dance workshop gives tools to be able to live the movement in real time and share its expressiveness with others.
Highlighting its fundamentals, the ‘space in between’, ‘Practice’ invites dancers to develop altruism and contributes to the creation of a bond within a group.
This approach encourages dancers to (re)discover and to cultivate a freer relationship with space and with others.
“My research is guided by the idea that each person holds an innate knowledge that dance has the power to reveal”. – Yuval Pick.
Appointed to head the Centre Chorégraphique National (CCN) of Rillieux-la-Pape in August 2011, Yuval Pick has a long career as a performer, teacher and choreographer. Trained at the Bat-Dor Dance School in Tel Aviv, he joined the Batsheva Dance Company in 1991, which he left in 1995 to embark on an international career with artists such as Tero Saarinen, Carolyn Carlson and Russel Maliphant. He joined the Lyon National Opera Ballet in 1999 before founding his own company, The Guests, in 2002.
Since then, he has created pieces marked by an elaborate writing of the movement, accompanied by important collaborations with musical composers and where, in a form of ritual, the dance proposes a balance constantly questioned between the individual and the group.
August 21 – 23, 18.30 – 19.30
Dominyka ir Povilas Jurgaičiai– Dance Classes for Couples, Open Level
21 August – Studio 2; 22–23 August – Studio 3, Arts Printing House
Dance Classs for Couples: Relationships in a couple often invite us into daily efforts to find a shared rhythm of life. But how often do couples actually dance together?
Couples of various ages and experience levels often hesitate to start dancing together: “First we need to learn the steps or the rules so we don’t step on each other’s feet…”
Dance dates are a safe space where you can confidently take your first steps, whatever they may be. During the sessions, a warm and welcoming environment is created in which couples can strengthen their connection through non-verbal communication and experience that dance is born not only from learned movement phrases, but from closeness, attentive listening, gentle touch, and humble trust. Although specific movement sequences and steps are sometimes taught during the sessions, the focus is more on deeply experiencing the relationship itself. Through various contemporary dance practices, contact improvisation, partnering tasks, and creativity-encouraging games, participants learn to better sense each other and communicate through movement. The main aim of these encounters is to discover a unique couple’s dance that emerges from sensitive being together.
We are Povilas and Dominyka Jurgaičiai, contemporary dance artists, performers, and dance educators. Povilas: “I am a stage performer, creator, contemporary dance/solo jazz teacher, and a dance movement therapy practitioner. I obtained my education at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, the Iceland University of the Arts, and Vilnius University. In recent years, as a performer I have toured in Denmark, performed at international festivals such as ‘New Baltic Dance’, ‘Contempo’, ‘Gaida’, and ‘Fringe’, and collaborated with ‘Granhøj Dans’, ‘Šeiko Dance Theatre’, ‘MMLAB’, and ‘Be kompanijos’. In my educational work, I curate the Contemporary Dance Association’s school education project ‘#Observations’, teach at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, lead dance and movement classes for adults and seniors, conduct dance movement therapy sessions, and organize summer camps for children and teenagers”.
Dominyka: “I am a dancer, creator, and teacher. I obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree and a teaching qualification at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. After my studies, I entered the professional dance scene as a performer. I collaborate with Lithuanian and international choreographers: Lukas Karvelis, Liza Baliasnaja, Palle Granhøj, and Vytis Jankauskas. With performances, I have toured in Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Scotland, the Netherlands, and Italy. In 2024, for my performance in the dance solo ‘Kur krantas’ (choreographer Lukas Karvelis), I was nominated for the Golden Stage Cross (Auksinis scenos kryžius) and recognized by the Contemporary Dance Association as the most memorable dancer of 2024. Alongside my creative work, I am actively engaged in educational practice: I teach contemporary dance to professionals, dance students, beginners, and seniors, and contribute to organizing and implementing activities of the Contemporary Dance Association that strengthen the field of contemporary dance in Lithuania.”
August 24 – 26, 18.30 – 19.30
Fábio (Krayze) Januário – Kuduro Style, Open Level
Studio 3, Arts Printing House
Kuduro Style Open Class. Kuduro emerged in the late 1980s, first as a dance and later evolving into a music genre an African House style that blends electronic elements with traditional folklore. It was created and practiced by the poorest communities in Luanda, using the limited resources they had available. The music is distinctive for its use of breaks and funk influences, widely used in the 1980s to create melodies, combined with loops and movements that ultimately reflect much of the population’s reality.
The name of the dance refers to a peculiar movement in which dancers appear to have “hard hips” or a “stiff butt,” simulating an aggressive and energetic style of dancing, inspired by movements similar to Van Damme’s kicks.
Fábio Jorge Januário was born on 18 August 1988 in Luanda, Angola. He came to Portugal in 2002 where he began his dance career. In 2015 he completed his degree in Dance at Escola Superior de Dança (Lisbon).
He developed his knowledge of urban dances in hip-hop, house, popping and locking, frequently giving Kuduro workshops and masterclasses in Portugal and abroad, such as in France, Switzerland, Slovakia, Belgium, Hungary etc.
Since 2022, he has been a performer in Marco da Silva Ferreira’s play CARCAÇA and Fuckin Future which premiered on 21 October 2021 and is currently on an international tour. Fábio’s research is always in the area of Kuduro and for projects associated with other artists, from music videos to TV shows. created his first play, Musseque, for an institutional theatre, Teatro do Bairro Alto in Lisbon and was part of Aerowaves Spring Forward 2026. For him, the research is an ongoing process in Kuduro and other urban dances, as well as contemporary dance.