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Event hosted by the National Theatre from Bucharest. The responsibility for the quality and content of this event lies solely with the organizer!

"Dance Me", "a visual feast", "a joy of sound"

The dance company Ballets Jazz Montréal is coming to Romania for the first time, at the 24th edition of the JTI Meetings, with the show Dance Me, which will be performed on November 16 and 17, 2023, at 7:30 pm, on the stage of the National Theatre of Bucharest.

"Dance Me" is inspired by the rich and profound work of Montreal poet, artist and songwriter Leonard Cohen. Enjoying Cohen's acclaim, the show is a fascinating tribute to the renowned artist.

A team of renowned creators combine scenic, visual, musical, dramaturgical and choreographic concepts in "Dance Me" to pay tribute to Montreal's greatest ambassador. According to https://www.bjmdanse.ca/en/dance-me/, dance, music, lighting, set design and videography come together in an "unforgettable" performance for which the company has been granted exclusive rights for five years.

Three choreographers with complementary traits and personalities, Andonis Foniadakis, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Ihsan Rustem, create an intense and profound universe. The artistic direction is by Louis Robitaille and the intense and bold dramaturgy by Éric Jean.

"Three world-class choreographers, 14 exceptional dancers, a breathtaking stage production by Éric Jean, with sumptuous lighting, thrilling video footage and thousands of spectacular effects [...] Ingenious and sophisticated staging makes this complex and varied piece a visual feast and a joy of sound," writes the Huffington Post about "Dance Me".

"We are impressed by the fluidity of the dancers in the group scenes. [...] The dancers show flexibility, speed, precision and sensuality [...]" (Radio Canada).

"Dance Me - with music by Leonard Cohen is smart, oblique and exploratory. It comes at you like a flurry of song and thought. It belongs in the Canadian pantheon of dance treasures." (Paula Citron, arts critic and journalist, has written for over 25 years about dance for The Globe, The Mail, Opera Canada magazine, etc.).

"JTI is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, a history that is part of what has been good in Romania since 1990. We are proud to have been able to organize an event like the JTI Meetings continuously since 2000. It has not been easy, over the years, that together with our team of collaborators, Valerian Mares and Silvia Ghiata, we have maintained very high standards and brought to Romania famous bands or performances presented for the first time in our country. But the joy with which the audience waits for a new performance, the standing ovation for minutes on end, the packed halls for the audience that is getting bigger every year, shows that we are doing the right thing and that it is good to continue", said Gilda Lazar, Director of Corporate Affairs and Communication at JTI Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria.

Join us at the 24th edition of the JTI Meetings!

Tickets are available at the National Theatre Box Office and online at Eventim.ro and Bilet.ro.

Launched in 2000 by the famous ballet company Bejart Ballet Lausanne, the JTI Meetings have been dedicated to dance in particular, hosting famous choreographers and companies, including Nacho Duato and Compania Nacional De Danza, Joaquin Cortes, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Tango Pasion, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, Sylvie Guillem and Russell Maliphant, Gigi Caciuleanu and the National Ballet of Chile, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Vortice Dance Company, Maria Pagés and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Akram Khan Company, Gala-Mats Ek Quartet, Ana Laguna, Susanne Linke and Dominique Mercy, in 2017 Noism, Japan's leading contemporary dance company, in 2018 Martha Graham Dance Company, and in 2019 IT Dansa, a company from the Barcelona Theatre Institute. The 2020 and 2021 JTI meetings have been postponed due to the pandemic taking place with a one-year delay. The 2020 edition, held in 2021 featured Wynton Marsalis, the greatest contemporary trumpeter and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. In 2022, the Jean-Claude Gallotta dance company presented My Ladies Rock in Bucharest and Sibiu as part of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, and Aterballetto, the largest Italian dance company performed Don Juan.

The JTI Meetings with Ballets Jazz de Montréal are organized as usual by the Art Production Foundation, under the artistic guidance of Silvia Ghiata.

General producer: Art Production Foundation

Media partners: Radio România Cultural, Radio France International, BlitzTV, AmosNews, WebCultura

Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu