Scene

In brief. For quite some time, “Aura” festival was commonly considered to be more of a modern dance festival rather than contemporary, but this year’s programme seemed to be more diverse and much more relevant than the one offered by the Vilnius festival “The new Baltic dance.” What Lithuanian festivals have in common is that their organizers, annually, try to fit the events to specific themes. Truth be told, it is worth mentioning, that not even a single festival in Lithuania is arranged according to a certain theme. Organizers have to rely on the principles of exchange and affordability. This year’s “Aura” announced theme of masculinity was pushed to the background by the abundance of countries and cultural exchange, which, by itself could have been quite a good concept for the festival. First of all – in Kaunas dance theater itself.

International contemporary dance company was assembled in Lithuania for the first time. No wonder it happened precisely in “Aura” – the only dance theater which is able to bring the dancers together for more than a single project and work consistently and regularly with foreign artists.

The dance companies as well as the quality of performances were diverse – from Poland to South Korea; from conceptually relevant to old fashioned.