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© Mehmet Kerem Özel GöteborgsOperans Danskompani (Gothenburg Opera Dance Company), which celebrates its 30th anniversary in the current 2024-25 season, has evolved over the past 10 years from a classical ballet company to a company that performs exclusively contemporary dance pieces. The company's general strategy is not to have a resident choreographer, but also not to have a choreographer as artistic director. Instead, the artistic directors commission pieces from choreographers of their own choosing, and this strategy ensures that the company's repertoire is full of world premieres. Very rarely does a piece created for another company become part of the repertoire. Katrin Hall, the company's artistic director since 2016, follows in the footsteps of her predecessor, Adolphe Binder, and continues to bring the company a repertoire of original pieces by today's most sought-after choreographers, as well as young choreographers just emerging on the international dance scen...

© Pinelopi Gerasimou  Greece has had, and continues to have, important creators in the field of contemporary dance over the last 20 years. Dimitris Papaioannou, who became known with his work in a squad in Athens in the second half of the 80s, peaked with his extraordinary creation for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, and has continued to mesmerise audiences with his subsequent pieces. In addition to Papaioannou, Ioannis Mandafounis, who studied dance and has been choreographing since 2004, has been at the head of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company, which was founded by William Forysthe, since last season; Euripides Laskaridis, whose work we had the chance to see in Istanbul two years ago, has been travelling the world from Chile to Finland, from the Far East to London with his pieces in which he blends the grotesque and pop with his unique style and in which the use of sound and material stands out; Dancer and choreographer Andonis Foniadakis n...

J ulien Faveau, BBL Boléro  ©  Clarissa Lapolla Bari One of the most important choreographers of the 20th century, Maurice Béjart's company Béjart Ballet Lausanne returns to Istanbul 37 years after its first visit in 1988 and 18 years after its last visit in 2007. This time in Istanbul, the company will perform Béjart's 1996 piece Ballet for Life ( Le Presbytère n'a rien perdu de son charme, ni le jardin de son éclat , originally in French), which uses songs by the legendary rock band Queen, compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and costumes by Gianni Versace.  In this piece, Béjart has translated his love for Queen into the language of dance, inspired by their songs.  "A ballet about youth and hope, as hopeless and optimistic as they are. In spite of everything, I believe that 'the show must go on', as Queen would say ."  On the occasion of Béjart Ballet Lausanne's tour of Istanbul, we interviewed Julien Favreau, who was appointed artistic director ...