Zagreb Dance Centre on October 26th, 2009

[Gilles Jobin]

Dear Friends and Colleagues in Dance,

We are pleased to announce the opening of Zagreb Dance Centre on October 26th, 2009.

This long awaited moment is the highlight of our many years of engaging as Croatia’s primary dance organization and the engagement and endeavors of Zagreb’s contemporary dance community.

This 1500 sq meters of space on the location of an abandoned movie theatre, only 100 meters away from the very heart of downtown Zagreb, is now renovated and comprises of three multifunctional studios which includes a black box theatre with retractable seating for 140. Ancillary content includes a summer terrace conducive for outdoor events and film projections (retaining the functionality of the previous only outdoor movie theatre in Zagreb), office space, change rooms, a mediatheque, a meeting room, dance information service desk (Dance Contact Point) and a caffe. The courtyard also offers opportunity to host events. This transformation of an old cinema into a purpose built dance venue was financed solely by the City of Zagreb through the Office of Cultural Affairs. The project of the Zagreb Dance Centre was delivered by the award winning group of architects of 3 LHD studio (www.3lhd.com).

The Zagreb dance community was waiting for this moment for a very long time and now it is here! A weekend of dance activities of all sorts, free to all interested to engage in dance activity (October 24 and 25) including film projections and lectures on the history of Zagreb/ Croatian dance, and an intro into how to watch contemporary dance for those new to the art form - leads into the official opening on October 26 which comprises of a dance gallery type tour of the venue – culminating in the presentation of excerpt of works by local dance companies. All concludes with an all night dance party for the dance community and citizens of Zagreb.

The Zagreb Dance Centre fulfills the vision to establish a centre for choreographic research but also a production house for small scale contemporary dance works, nurturing a new generation of Croatian choreographers and contributing to the maturing of the local scene within its multilayered involvement with the international world of dance. Within its mandate HIPP will also continue to offer opportunities for professional development to dance makers in conjunction with a broad based world-wide web of partners. In addition and because of its central location the Zagreb Dance Centre will also seek to create engagement with audiences and to develop the dialogue between artists and audience members as well as to establish a deeper appreciation for the art form among a broader public including funding bodies and media.

The Zagreb Dance Centre will be operated by the Croatian Institute for Movement and Dance (Hrvatski institut za pokret i ples/ HIPP) , established in 1990, a not for profit organization. HIPP is also the producer of international festival of contemporary dance Dance Week Festival (Tjedan suvremenog plesa) – Croatia’s primary festival of dance which in 2010 celebrates 27th edition.


We with to invite you to join us in celebrating this moment and hope that perhaps you might join us. If not now – then sometime in the future. To all of you we express our thank you for your supportive collaboration and encouragement which inspired us to pursue this dream now a reality.

We look forward to furthering our partnerships as well investigating new opportunities in enhancing the collaboration between Zagreb/ Croatian dance community and the international world of dance. With this we invite you to consider us as potential partners in future deliberations of projects and initiatives. Please continue to inform us about your activities!

For more information and to learn more about the Zagreb and Croatian dance scene as well as to follow activities of the Zagreb Dance Centre moving forward look us up at:
www.danceincroatia.com

With best regards,

HIPP team: Mirna, Nikolina, Nora, Bojan, Dora, Nada, Mirzada…..and from our
Diverse and multitalended dance community as well as our many volunteers who cheers us along!




Mirna Zagar
artistic director

CROATIAN INSTITUTE FOR MOVEMENT AND DANCE
DANCE WEEK FESTIVAL
Biankinijeva 5
10000 Zagreb
tel. [phone]
+0385 1 4621 969
fax. [phone]
mail. [e-mail]
www.danceincroatia.com