SB.BY, November 23, 2019
Olga Kruchenkova
The final of the Belarusian Contest of Modern Choreography IFMC’2019 took place in Vitebsk - published with reductions

Before the final the Jury shared their impressions.
Radu Poklitaru:
– I always note the progress in the performing level of Belarusian artists who come to the festival. It was nice to hear from colleagues and representatives of the western wing of this art that we saw a very modern dance here. And I absolutely agree with this, because I remember very well the times when works of Belarusian choreographers were mainly neoclassical attempts to speak on some modern topics. Now we see very well-designed, high-quality modern dance.

Konstantin Kuznetsov:
– In my opinion, not only the performing level of dancers has grown a lot. The ability of choreographers to convey their own idea to performers and create a finished product has grown as well. In previous years, there were many performances where the idea prevailed, but there was no performer or, on the contrary, the dancer tried to show the wonders of technique but without an idea this didn’t find a response. Everything has changed. Due to the fact that we have Vitebsk festival, there is a selection of specialists who gain certain experience.

Anželika Cholina:
– I don’t understand how in such a small country there are so many modern choreography collectives. And, interestingly, of a fairly high level. This pleasantly surprised me because I am for the first time in Vitebsk and for the first time at a contest of modern dance. I am shocked by the number of participants and love for this type of art. Because we all know how to love ballet but modern dance should always find its audience. I think 32 festival years have done their job and this trend has become popular. You can be envied.

Nicole Said:
– I came to Eastern Europe for the first time to see this kind of dance. I am very surprised by variety of styles, technical level and good understanding of what modern dance can be. We saw many companies, many new ideas and many new movements.