28th Edition of the International Dance Theatres Festival in Lublin is approaching! November 4–11, 2024

The International Dance Theatres Festival (MSTT), since its inception in 1997, has been dedicated to showcasing the most intriguing contemporary dance artists from Poland and abroad. Every year, MSTT brings to Lublin artists with significant achievements in dance, world-renowned companies such as Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch or Batsheva Dance Company, as well as avant-garde creators often working on the border between dance and performance art. These include emerging artists and trendsetters like representatives of the AEROWAVES European contemporary dance network. The artistic, educational, and social projects presented during the Festival are often interdisciplinary and promote a broad definition of dance as a form of art that is both elite and egalitarian.

The 2024 edition will once again bring together an INTERNATIONAL roster of outstanding dance artists, who we will MEET on stage, in workshop rooms, and during evening discussions about dance and DANCE THEATRE. These three “key-words” will stay as the Festival’s focus for the next three years, because thanks to the continued support from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the City of Lublin, and numerous local and international Partners, we are (again!) privileged to be able to plan and organise the Festival with a three-year perspective. So each year, as we enjoy the incredible dance performances and talented artists, we will also reflect on the Festival’s future direction: “bearing” the heritage of a long-standing event with its almost 30-year history, remaining committed to the original name (MSTT), but also believing that this is still… the beginning of our adventure with contemporary dance in Lublin and Poland.

So join us, dear Audience, this year and in the years to come! Admire the INTERNATIONAL stars, MEET them in both traditional and unconventional performance spaces, and help us, the organisers, rejuvenate the Festival if you feel that the term DANCE THEATRE no longer fully describes the wide range of dance phenomena presented at MSTT. Especially in the context of Lublin’s upcoming title as European Capital of Culture in 2029, we are curious to know what dance you would like to see, which artists you would like to admire, and what experiences you hope to have with dance on the road to celebrating ECoC in five years. We already have our dreams and visions, we keep our eye on new talents, and we are in talks with prominent dance personalities from across Europe and beyond. At the same time, we strive to build a stable and active artistic community in Lublin and Poland, not least through our “Spaces of Art – Dance” (Przestrzenie Sztuki – Taniec) programme, which has been running for several years. But we want to realise these plans in dialogue with our Audience and active Participants, who we hope will increase in number as we approach ECoC 2029. Together, let’s explore how dance matters and has the potential to transform people and the world around us.

As for the 28th edition of MSTT, exceptional artists will perform on the stages of the Centre for Culture in Lublin (Centrum Kultury w Lublinie), the Old Theatre (Teatr Stary), the Centre for the Meeting of Cultures (Centrum Spotkania Kultur), and at the Labyrinth Gallery (Galeria Labirynt).

Two companies will represent the Dutch dance scene: INTRODANS, with their latest repertoire, “HEROES”, a four-part evening featuring choreography by Robert Battle, Inbal Pinto, Regina van Berkel and the duo Paul Lightfoot & Sol Leon, will perform on the Opera Stage of Centre for the Meeting of Cultures (Centrum Spotkania Kultur); and VANDEUTEKOM Collective, led by Patricia van Deutekom, featuring Anna Mikuła, already familiar to Lublin audiences. We are proud to present both the Companies for the first time in Poland.

Representatives of the AEROWAVES network, with which Lublin Dance Theatre has been a long-standing partner, will include Yotam Peled and the Free Radicals from Germany, as well as Benjamin Kahn and his team representing Belgium and France.

Ukrainian artists will appear in international projects: Yana Reutova, currently working in Prague, will perform in collaboration with Czech artists, and Daria Koval will dance an award-winning solo piece created by Polish choreographer Maciej Kuźmiński.

Hygin Delimat, a Polish artist involved in the Austrian and Dutch dance scenes, will lead a week-long project called “Bridges: choreoLAB” with students from Fontys Academy in Tilburg, Music Academies in Łódź and Katowice, as well as freelance performers from Lublin. In addition, we will see “House Beating”, choreographed by Hygin Delimat in collaboration with Austrian artists Anna Maria Chlebus, Voland Szekely, and Elias Choi-Buttinger.

Inna Aslamova (Belarus) and her team will return to Lublin with a new version of the performance “Whispering the Sun”. Meanwhile, in collaboration with the Old Theatre (Teatr Stary), we will inaugurate a new series of meetings with senior figures in Polish dance on the first day of the Festival. This series will kick off with Ewa Wycichowska in “Sybillewo”, Paulina Wycichowska in “Gorgona”, and Ryszard Kalinowski in “The last solo of K.”.

The voices of younger choreographers will be heard in the “Young Generation” Festival’s module, represented this year by Jakub Mędrzycki, Izabela Zawadzka, Berenika Woś, Natalia Drozd, Agnieszka Sikorska, and Anastasiya Yembulayeva.

“Mov(i)e Flow – Polish Dance Film Showcase & Mentoring”, will appear as a new element at our Festival and will include a presentation and discussion about a series of dance short movies produced lately by Polish authors.

Thanks to the support from the National Recovery Plan (KPO), many festival events will be available online through the project “MSTT in the Global Network” (“MSTT w globalnej sieci”). Discussions, photo and video reports, mini-documentaries, and an opinion forum will be accessible during and after the Festival. We encourage you to actively follow the Festival’s online presence and become part of its virtual dance community.

As we invite you to embark on this year’s festival adventure with dance, we extend our heartfelt thanks to our Partners, Patrons, Supporting Institutions, and Friends. Without your support and goodwill, this Festival would not be possible. To our Audience, for whom we anticipate a strong presence at the performances and festival events, we promise to repay you with an abundance of unique experiences and the joy of conversations with the artists and encounters with dance at its finest.

 

Skip to content