New opera and ballet season in Sofia

The 2009/2010 season for the National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Sofia kicks off in a promising and ambitious way with ten opera and six ballet productions occupying the daily calendar of the year’s last quarter. Having exported its best production -Léo Delibes’ Lakmé- to Cyprus in September 2009, Bulgaria’s first lyrical theatre presented the programme for October, November and December 2009, which includes both older productions and new premieres.
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Eastern promises, western expectations

Right after the Fall of the Berlin Wall came down, Eastern Europe became a very sexy destination, but the glamour started fading away as the iron curtain started sinking into history. The International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts (IETM) focuses on this fact and organizes its Autumn Plenary Meeting in Vilnius with the theme Eastern Promises. The meeting takes place from 8 to 11 of October at the Menų spaustuvė (Arts Printing House) and various other venues in the Lithuanian capital (European Capital of Culture this year) and includes a very interesting artistic program of 25 theatre and dance performances you must not miss.
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Dancing with the Dutch

The Nederlands Dans Theater has been a cultural ambassador of the Dutch since 1959, when it was founded. Giving sold-out performances all around the world, this is one of the leading dance companies worldwide. If you go to the Netherlands any time after November 2009 and until the end of May 2010, do not miss the opportunity to go to one of he NDT shows given in 24 cities around the country. But even if you cannot make it to the Dutch country, you might be lucky: the NDT may come to you! This season's European tour for the NDT runs until July 2010 and stops to France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, Spain, Luxembourg and Norway.
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Cyprus welcomes top dancers

Cyprus has taken contemporary dance seriously and this is good news for the lovers of the genre, who are nothing but few. A new audience has emerged for this kind of shows and this was obvious last June during the three weeks of the European Dance Festival. This September, dancers and choreographers from some of the crème de la crème of European dance companies are packing suitcases to be in Cyprus for the DanceCyprus Gala, kicking off on September 12 in Nicosia to wrap up the following day in Limassol.
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A little grand festival in the Grand Duchy

And then, just as you thought that the cultural extravaganza in Luxembourg is gone together with the Summer, you realize you’re wrong. The party continues into the Fall with a particularly attractive October and November, thanks to two of the Grand Duchy’s most distinguished cultural institutions, the Philharmonie and the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg, who jointly present the Luxembourg Festival with an artistic programme of the highest calibre.
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Vienna as Europe’s dance Mecca

Europe’s largest contemporary dance festival is turning Vienna into the hub of the international dance elite from July 16 to August 16. The program is top-quality, those hungry for movement are offered over 200 workshops, and the festival lounge becomes a meeting point during the long summer nights. The ImPulsTanz Vienna International Dance Festival is simply the place to find all important professional dancers, choreographers and teachers that exist today in the world.
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La Monnaie season’s ancient Greek scent

Fifteen first class opera productions, five dance performances, fifteen concerts and recitals and two theatre plays make the backbone of the 2009/10 season in Belgium’s most prestigious lyrical stage. Hot on the heels of Bozar, Belgium's National Opera, the Koninklijke Muntschouwburg (de Munt in Flemish), or le Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie (la Monnaie in French) -a reference to its location, the former site of the national Mint- is one of the few cultural institutions which receives financial support from the federal government of Belgium.
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An exciting new season at the Slovak National Theater

The excellent productions of opera, ballet and drama in Bratislava’s Slovak National Theatre have captivated not only the Slovak public but also the Viennese. It is no longer unusual to set out from Vienna to go to Bratislava and attend an opera. It takes about an hour to reach the Slovak National Theatre where people can enjoy performances of the highest quality at reasonable prices. In total, 71 productions go onstage during the 2009/10 season that closes in June.
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