Summer Dance Intensive Vilnius

This year, Summer Dance Intensive Vilnius once again invites dancers to wrap up the summer with a series of dance workshops led by internationally recognized choreographers and teachers from August 17–28.

The intensive classes are designed for both professional dancers and dance enthusiasts and will be taught by acclaimed choreographers and educators from across Europe. The program also includes open-level classes, organized for the third consecutive year, giving participants with little or no dance experience the opportunity to explore different dance styles.

Last year’s open-level classes attracted significant interest from people eager to try dancing for the first time. As a result, this year’s program has expanded to include four new workshops. Participants can join contemporary dance classes for couples led by Lithuanian choreographers and dancers Dominyka and Povilas Jurgaitis, dance sessions for children of different age groups conducted by Dansema Dance Theatre, solo contemporary dance classes with Greek teacher Christina Mertzani, and kuduro workshops led by Portuguese choreographer Fábio Krayze. All open classes will take place over three consecutive days.

This year, eleven professional choreographers and teachers from Greece, the United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Sweden, and Lithuania will lead workshops for dancers of various skill levels. Many of them have previously visited Lithuania to present their work or teach workshops and are already familiar to the local dance community.

Two instructors from previous editions will return to Vilnius this year: Yuval Pick, who participated last year, and Theo Clinkard, who taught two years ago.

Y. Pick’s teaching method, “Practice,” attracted many young dancers last year, making his classes among the most popular in the program. This year, the French choreographer and educator once again invites participants to explore the practical application of the method and rediscover the joy of dancing.

Theo Clinkard, from the United Kingdom, is an experienced choreographer, performer, and teacher who has already earned the trust and attention of Vilnius’ dance community. His contemporary dance classes focus on enhancing spatial awareness and sensitivity to both one’s own body and the bodies of others in motion.

The Swedish duo Land Before Time (choreographers Joanna Holewa Chrona and Yared Tilahun Cederlund), who presented their work at the New Baltic Dance Festival 2024, return to Vilnius this time as teachers. They will introduce participants to their slow-motion dance practice.

Portuguese dancer Fábio (Krayze) Januário, who appeared at the festival two years ago in choreographer Marco da Silva Ferreira’s performance CARCAÇA, will lead kuduro workshops during the intensive.

French choreographer and dancer Chloé Beillevaire, who worked with choreographer Olivier Dubois on TRAGÉDIE, the opening performance of this year’s New Baltic Dance Festival, will teach contemporary dance workshops. Her classes will explore floorwork practices through spiraling movements, inertia, and fluid transitions.

One of the most experienced teachers in the program is Christina Mertzani from Greece. Over the past twenty years, she has taught and created choreography around the world, collaborating with dance companies, universities, national theatres, festivals, and professional dance studios. In Vilnius, Christina will lead technical contemporary dance and partnering workshops, which are especially popular among Lithuanian dancers.

Summer Dance Intensive Vilnius classes will take place August 17–28 at Menų Spaustuvė in Vilnius.