Between October 9 and October 30 Plovdiv welcomed international artists and choreographers shaping the directions of contemporary dance and performance today. The ninth edition of ONE DANCE WEEK featured companies from all round the globe – USA, Canada, Switzerland, Spain, Korea, Taiwan, Czech Republic and France. The event will present various creative approaches, styles and viewpoints, introduced by the most established names in the field.

The festival starts on October 9 with BLOODLINES a remarkable project which pays tribute to the great masters of postmodern dance, who influenced profoundly the artistic path of a whole generation of choreographers. The repertoire, which Stephen Petronio Company presented, included two iconic pieces: Glacial Decoy and Rainforest, created by some of the most prominent figures in the history of dance – Trisha Brown and Merce Cunningham. An original piece by Stephen Petronio himself called Locomotor, which marks the company’s 30th anniversary, was also part of the repertoire.

For the first time the festival presented performances from Canada and Taiwan. Frédérick Gravel, a key figure on the Canadian scene, known for his rebellious style and experimentation is the choreographer of the performance ALL HELL IS BREAKING LOOSE, HONEY. Anarchy Dance Theatre presented SECOND BODY – a 360-degree projection which invited the audience on an expedition in search of a new definition of the body.

The closing performance was UP by the choreographers – Jozsef Trefeli and Mike Winter. The show was a real physical challenge for the six dancers who use dynamic vocabulary of movement.