International Dance Day 
29th April 2001

• 2001  International Dance Day Message 
• Background - International Dance Day - 29th April
• Biographical Information - William Forsythe
• Authors of the International Dance Day Message 1982 -2001
• International Dance Links 
• International Dance Committee of the ITI

“ It seems as if we were beginning to walk.

It seems as if we were going as far as the earth is good.”

In 1982 the InternationalDance Committee of the International Theatre Institute, UNESCO, created International Dance Day to be celebrated every year on the 29th April. 

The date commemorates the birthday  of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727 - 1810), the creator of modern ballet. 

Every year a message from a well-known dance personality is circulated throughout the world. The intention of International Dance Day and the Message is to bring all Dance together on this occasion, to celebrate this art form and revel in its universality, to cross all political, cultural and ethnic barriers and bring people together in peace and friendship with a common language - DANCE. 

The International  Dance Committee of  ITI is collaborating  with  World Dance Alliance for the celebration of International Dance Day. 

Over the next seven years Forsythe made over 20 ballets for the Stuttgart Ballet and other companies, including the Basel Ballet, Munich Ballet, the Deutsche Opera Ballet in Berlin, the Joffrey Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater. One of Forsythe's best known works from this period is “ Side 2-Love Songs ”, which was later filmed for television.

In 1984 Forsythe became the Director of Ballett Frankfurt, a year after creating Gänge.  He set out to create challenging original works which were removed from conventional ballet without denying the traditional ballet technique. Since this time, Forsythe has developed a unique ballet aesthetic which does not reject traditional ballet technique but which both deconstructs/constructs, broadening and challenging the lexicon

Forsythe continues to stage pieces for companies around the globe. His work is in the repertoire of New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, Royal Swedish Ballet. These works tend to focus primarily on ballet dancing. In January 1999 Forsythe also became Director of  Theater am Turm/TAT (Frankfurt am Main).
 
 
 

1. 1982: Henrik NEUBAUER 
2. 1983: anonymous 
3. 1984: Yuri GRIGOROVITCH 
4. 1985: Robert JOFFREY 
5. 1986: Chetna JALAN 
6. 1987: Dance Committee Board 
7. 1988: Robin HOWARD 
8. 1989: Doris LAINE 
9. 1990: Merce CUNNINGHAM 
10. 1991: Hans VAN MANEN 
11. 1992: Germaine ACOGNY 
12. 1993: Maguy MARIN 
13. 1994: Dai AILIAN 
14. 1995: Murray LOUIS 
15. 1996: Maïa PLISSETSKAÏA 
16. 1997: Maurice BEJART 
17. 1998: Kazuo OHNO 
18. 1999: Mahmoud REDA
19. 2000: Alicia ALONSO, Jirí KYLIÁN, Cyrielle LESUEUR
20. 2001: William FORSYTHE

Some International Dance Links : 

Events under the auspices of the ITI International Dance Committee :
1. Varna International Ballet Competition (Bulgaria) email : varna_ibc@bulgarianspace.com website : http://www.bulgarianspace.com/music/varna_ibc 
2. USA International Ballet Competition, Jackson, Mississippi.(USA)  http://www.usaibc.com 
3. Helsinki International Ballet Competition (Finland).  anneli.kurki@teatteri.org    Website :  http://www.teatteri.org/balkilp.htm
4. New York International Ballet Competition (USA) nyibc@nyibc.org   website http://www.nyibc.org

1. Switzerland : http://www.tanznetz.ch/welttanz 
2. World Dance Alliance : http://www.idanews.com 

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