12th Dance Days Chania

The International Contemporary Dance Festival “Dance Days Chania” will take place this summer for the 12^th consecutive year. The program of the festival consists of performances, workshops, the “New creators and Public space” section, the Video Dance section, open discussions, events in the city etc..

The Dance Days Chania is organized with volunteer work of the Syn-Kinisi association of expressive dance members, the co-organization of the Region of Crete, the Municipality of Chania and the KEPPEDICH-CMA. During its past editions has received the support of J. F. Costopoulos foundation, the Flux Laboratory of Athens, Embassies as well as the donation of Stavros Niarchos foundation and local and international institutions. Furthermore, it has received funds by the Ministry of Culture in Greece for the years 2017 – 2021. The festival is certified with the EFFE Label 2017 -2018 and EFFE Label 2019 -2021 by EFA.

The aim of the festival is to promote the diverse choreographic and creative approaches of the contemporary dance scene, as well as to offer equal space both to emerging and to established creators. The participation of the community plays a core role in the programming and realisation of the festival through workshops and events in the city, offering the possibility to non “dancing” audience to get introduced to the art of dance. In our view, dance should be accessible to everyone.

From 2011 to 2021, Dance Days Chania has hosted in total 137 contemporary dance performances, 14 site specific projects by new creators, 102 workshops by choreographers and artists, 17 master classes, screenings and presentations of more than 200 video dance projects, the Athens Video Dance Project, 13 lectures as well as 2 conferences. Events have been realised in theatres, a designed open air stage, cultural venues, archaeological sites and neighborhoods of the city, with the participation of artists from Europe, Asia, Africa and the USA. More than 165 choreographers, 330 dancers/performers, 65 artists-musicians and 20 academics- researchers. Finally, we estimate that more than 2000 people attend each year the festival’s events.