Dancescapes is a 360° VR dance film directed by Enya Belak, created within the international Danube Dance Alliance project. The film brings together five choreographic works filmed at locations in Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, connecting them in a shared virtual experience.

From the chimney of the former power station in Trbovlje and the coal mine in Velenje, to the Youth Fountain in Belgrade, Žlinja in San Vincenti and the abandoned Bentbaša swimming pools in Sarajevo, Dancescapes moves through spaces whose architecture, history and identity provided the starting points for new choreographic works.

Filmed using virtual reality technology, the film also changes the usual position of the viewer. Through a VR headset, the viewer is placed within the filmed environment and can choose where to look, experiencing the dance, performers and architecture from close proximity.

“The film is an escape into dance, an ode to silent spaces and forgotten presence. In a full-circle view, as one continuous momentum, we embrace the stories of the past while, through the dance, we reimagine the future. The dance breathes life back into these spaces, like an echo travelling through landscapes. Some movements carry threads of the past, while others move through the rush of everyday life.”
Enya Belak, director

Duration: 35 min

DANUBE DANCE ALLIANCE

Danube Dance Alliance is an international project that takes contemporary dance beyond traditional cultural venues, connecting it with local environments and abandoned public spaces. The project has created five new dance productions in Trbovlje, Velenje, San Vincenti, Belgrade and Sarajevo, which have also been brought together through the 360° VR film Dancescapes.

The project brings together 12 organisations from eight European countries and more than 50 international artists, connecting contemporary dance, local communities, architecture and new technologies.

Project partners: Delavski dom Trbovlje | Zavod Iskriva, iskrišče za razvoj lokalnih potencialov | Festival Velenje | The Collective Foundation | Zagreb Dance Company | Institut za umetničku igru | Sarajevski Ratni Teatar SARTR

Associate partners: Europäische Donau-Akademie | Donaubuero | Ars Electronica | MOME Budapest | Stiftung HfG Ulm

In collaboration with: Balkan DANCE project | New European Bauhaus on the Danube | Udruženje Živimo Balet Sarajevo | Mediterranean Dance Center

The project is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.

With financial support from the Ministry of Culture of Slovenia, Ministry of Public Administration of Slovenia, Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, National Culture Fund of Bulgaria, and Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Fund.

Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.