VITEBSK, 20 November (BelTA) – The 26th International Festival of Modern Choreography (IFMC) will officially open in Vitebsk on 20 November, BelTA has learnt from the Vitebsk culture center.

Partaking in the festival will be Evgeny Panfilov's ballet company from Perm, Modern Choreography Theater D.O.Z.S.K.I from Minsk, STREET JAZZ ballet company from Moscow, Arts printing house from Vilnius, Kyiv Modern Ballet, and the ballet company of the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater of the Republic of Belarus that will perform Six Dances ballet.

Evgeny Panfilov's ballet company from Perm (Russia) and Fresco Dance Company (Israel) performed on the stage of the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater on 17 November. The first performances in Vitebsk were given on 19 November, and here the festival will last till 24 November. The participants of the IFMC will perform on the stages of the Vitebsk Concert Hall and the Yakub Kolas National Academic Drama Theater.

The highlight of the festival will be a modern choreography competition. The 2013 edition of the event will feature Belarusian dance companies only. 13 out of 22 groups succeeded in the preliminary qualifying video round. The jury of the contest will be headed by winner of international contests, creative director of the theater Kyiv Modern-Ballet Radu Poklitaru (Ukraine), while co-chair will be ballet critic, musicologist and chairperson of the expert council of the Russian national theater award Golden Mask Larisa Barykina (Russia). The jury will include Yuri Troyan (Belarus), Svetlana Gutkovskaya (Belarus), Karl-Josef Nelles (Germany), Ingrida Gerbutaviciute (Lithuania), and Alexander Pepelyayev (Russia).

The founders of the festival are the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee, the Culture Ministry of Belarus, the Vitebsk City Council, and the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater. The organizer of the event is the Vitebsk culture center.