At the cocktail party arranged jointly by the EU Delegation to Serbia and the Belgrade Dance Festival, held at the National Dance Foundation, young Serbian dancers performed an excellent choreography by maestro Marco Ferrini, and thus announced the fourteenth edition of the Belgrade Dance Festival.

After a week of hard work and rehearsals held by one of the leading pedagogues of classical ballet in Europe, Marco Ferrini, 50 young dancers from several professional ballet academies in Serbia performed the choreography at the cocktail party organised by the EU Delegation to Serbia and the Belgrade Dance Festival.

Ahead of the 14th edition of the Festival, the EU Delegation to Serbia once again supported the organisation of a master class aimed at encouraging the development and education of both young students enrolled in professional ballet academies in Serbia and their teachers.

Maestro Ferrini, an excellent dancer and pedagogue, a jury member of numerous ballet contests around the world, once again held three master courses of classical ballet and repertoire for 72 young dancers from Belgrade, Novi Sad and Pancevo. Students were divided into three age groups: beginners (9-12 years), intermediates (13-15 years) and advanced-professional level students (16-25 years). Together with renowned ballet pedagogues from Serbia, Ivanka Lukateli, Marija Jankovic and Jelena Cirica, maestro Ferrini shared his knowledge of classical ballet and the most contemporary tendencies of European ballet and dance scene.

At the cocktail party held at the National Dance Foundation, representatives of the diplomatic corps, media, Festival sponsors as well as prominent figures of Serbian culture enjoyed the performance of young dancers.

The EU Delegation to Serbia supports the Belgrade Dance Festival for the fifth consecutive year. Through the promotion of exchange of artists and pedagogues between Serbia and the EU, the Festival fosters European values such as multiculturalism, diversity, tolerance and exchange of ideas among different cultures and generations.

Visit the EU Info Centre Facebook page to see the 2017 master course: https://www.facebook.com/euinfo.rs/

Or revisit the last year’s master course at the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsKoyql5SQ8

More about Marco Ferrini

Marco Ferrini is a former student of the famous prima ballerina Liliana Cosi of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and a pedagogue at renowned Italian dance academies, including Accademia Teatro alla Scala and Rome National Dance Academy, as well as the company Aterballetto from Reggio Emilia. Maestro Ferrini is coming to Belgrade for the fourth time to work with young gifted dancers from Serbia.

More about the Belgrade Dance Festival

Under the slogan The Great Dance, the fourteenth edition of one of the most influential festivals of artistic dance, running from 24 March-11 April, will bring an excellent selection of performances to its audience. A total of 15 dance companies from 10 countries will perform over 30 choreographies in Belgrade and Novi Sad. The Festival is preceded by a mini festival under the title Days of the Dance hosted by the Yugoslav Film Archive, numerous workshops, master courses and exhibits. The performance Brodsky/Baryshnikov directed by Alvis Hermanis and performed by famous Mikhail Baryshnikov will also be performed as a part of the Festival.

Shortly after its foundation, the Festival won the Jelena Santic Foundation Award and was named the leading cultural project in South East Europe by UNESCO (2006). The Festival then joined the World Dance Alliance the same year. In 2011, the Festival was organised under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Serbia and was awarded Belgrade Star Award by the European Integration Agency. In 2012, the Berlin magazine Ballet Tanz described the Belgrade Dance Festival as “the most representative dance event of the Old Continent” and “a dance trendsetter.” The tenth edition of the Festival was marked by the presentation of the monograph titled Decadence and published by Sluzbeni Glasnik. For five consecutive years the Festival has been organised in cooperation with the EU Delegation to Serbia, whereas this year’s edition marks the third year of the Festival being held under the auspices of the Serbian Ministry of Culture and Information.

Download the Festival programme at http://www.belgradedancefestival.com/