Companhia de Dança de Almada is a partner of the European project “CLASH! - When classic and contemporary dance collide and new forms emerge ”, led by Balletto di Roma (Italy), along with its other partners; 420PEOPLE (Czech Republic), Polish Dance Theatre (Poland), Art Link Foundation on behalf of Derida Dance Centre (Bulgaria) and La Sapienza Università di Roma (Italy).

The CLASH! project proposes to study the state of art in Europe with regards to the encounter between classical and contemporary dance in the different sectors concerned with aesthetic and artistic issues, addressing not only the training of dancers, but also the policies for the development of audiences and management of dance companies. This study also included seminars and public meetings with cultural players active in these areas, which took place mainly during 2019.

Thus the great challenge for the CLASH! project has been to develop a Professional Training strategy, using a common approach in confronting the problems arising from the three macro areas of the project: Dance Training; Audience Development; Marketing and Communication. The partner teams worked in dialogue seeking to achieve this goal. We recognize as a principle the body as a place of knowledge capable of providing models and valuing the social commitments and community exchanges that the practice of dance can produce. The contemporary partners are focusing on exploration, understanding, feeling and research in the field of dance with and within the body as a tool of human expression.

Thanks to the project, the investigation underlined the need to redirect artistic practices in order to rethink the pedagogical approach used in the field of dance. The aim of which is developing ways to combine various techniques capable of leading us to processes of discovery, producing new ways to express ourselves and communicate with others. Within this strategy, the role of a teacher was recognized as crucial to the dancer's training. By educationalist, we understand a specialist with theoretical and practical training in the subject, capable of developing a training regimen that combines tradition and innovation, providing the dancer with tools to improve not only their physical skills, but also creativity and ability to talk about the practical dance experience in order to value and develop the importance of this knowledge base in the local and international community.

The five dance companies involved in the CLASH! project have studied ways of combining the good practices learned during the workshops held in Europe with the requirements that each organization considers important, in order to improve the impact of the dance culture in their own country.

In 2020, in addition to some of the dissemination events already presented, most attention is being paid to the artistic creation project resulting from the previous research which should result in a touring festival to be presented in the host cities of the partner companies between October and December. In view of the difficulties created by the current health crisis, we are now studying new ways to present the resulting developed choreographic work which will be announced in due course.

The CLASH! project is co-financed by the European Union's Creative Europe Programme (Grant Contract No. 2018 – 2032 /001 – 001) and, in Portugal, by the Portuguese Government | Ministério da Cultura, through Direção-Geral das Artes.

Get to know and follow the activity of CLASH!
http://clashproject.eu/
https://www.facebook.com/clashprojecteu/ 

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