First participation of Bulgaria at Tanzmesse, the world forum for contemporary dance in Düsseldorf
For the first time in 3 decades, Bulgaria will participate in Tanzmesse, the world's largest professional contemporary dance forum. Tanzmesse 2024 will take place in Düsseldorf, Germany, between 28 and 31 August, and more than 60 countries will be present. The project for the first Bulgarian participation, entitled "Bulgarian Dancescapes", is implemented by Plovdiv - European Capital of Culture 2019 Foundation and One Dance Festival with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria.
The Agora of Tanzmesse is the most visited, vibrant and representative part of the forum, where each exhibition booth presents countries, public and educational institutions, organizations and artistic companies from the field of contemporary dance and performance. The professional audience of the forum numbers over 1,500 people. Held once every two years, it also includes a platform for discussions, presentations and lectures, a studio programme for works in progress as well as an artistic programme.
Bulgaria's stand under the name "Bulgarian Dancescapes" will provide up-to-date information on the Bulgarian contemporary dance and performance scene to artists, curators, cultural managers, organizations and interested parties. Besides representatives of the organizers, the Bulgarian delegation includes five artists - Yanitsa Atanasova, Alexander Georgiev, Deyan Georgiev, Kosta Karakashian and Neda Ruzheva from the Trevoga collective.
Our country will also be represented with an alphabetical catalogue of Bulgaria-based and related dance artists and collectives with productions from the last two years. The digital edition presents over 30 productions by 21 dance companies and choreographers, including established names such as Ivo Dimchev, Galina Borisova, Iva Sveshtarova and Willy Prager and DUNE Dance Company, and emerging artists. It also features Katerina Radeva, who has developed a multi-genre practice in the UK, and her performance 40/40 has been selected for Tanzmesse's artistic programm.
See the catalog here
СAlso, the first-ever Bulgarian participation will be celebrated with a Bulgarian party featuring live performances by Bulgarian Cartrader and DJ GENTOFUNK. Daniel Stoyanov, whose creative name is Bulgarian Cartrader, set a record for sold-out concerts in Germany and won the Music Moves Europe 2024 award with his indie music with a twist of pop, poetry and 80s and 90s nostalgia.
Tanzmesse
Founded in 1994 as Tanzmesse NRW, the international tanzmesse nrw concentrated primarily on the marketing and distribution of dance productions in its founding years. In the following years, it developed into the most important international meeting place for contemporary dance. Today, its focus is on networking between dance professionals, sharing ideas, and knowledge exchange.
This year's edition will also feature 19 performances from Germany, the UK, Portugal, Italy, Zambia, Korea, India and other countries. Among them is the co-production of ONE DANCE - VAGABUNDUS by Idio Cichava, whose world premiere was in Plovdiv three years ago. Since then, the performance has not stopped touring the world stages. The piece opened the international festival Kunstenfestivaldesarts 2024 in Brussels.
