a significant cultural event in Lebanon and one of the most important in the region
BIPOD
BIPOD, an annual international contemporary dance festival, founded in 2004 in Beirut. It has developed a new approach to this medium in Lebanon and established a strong international connection. It attracts around 7000 spectators within two weeks and offers a rich local and international program featuring renowned choreographers, companies, and artists. In addition to a selective program of workshops, master classes, exhibitions, talks, discussion panels, and other activities.
It has presented works of World-renowned choreographers such as Alain Platel, William Forsythe, Sasha Waltz, Akram Khan, Wim Vandekeybus, la Ribot, Carolyn Carlson, Nacera Belazza, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and Wayne MacGregor to name a few. Through the Masahat dance Network and Moultaqa Leymoun, the festival has managed to develop strong networks and projects across the Levant.
BIPOD has widely contributed to the development and progress of the Lebanese contemporary dance scene. It allowed more visibility, collaboration, networking and exchange for artists on a local and international level. The festival proved its relevance as a major artistic and cultural event in Beirut. Its solid and excellent reputation raised international curiosity about the dance scene in the region and promoted Beirut to be the center of contemporary Dance in the Arab World. The festival has taken a special significance in relation to the wide public interest, with the artistic quality of its program, the ability to invite well known international companies performing for the first time in the region, the outreach to remote cities, towns, and other disadvantaged communities, the strong motivation for young artists, and the positive atmosphere it creates every year in the capital.
Moultaqa Leymoun
Through Moultaqa Leymoun, BIPOD has presented more than a hundred dance perfromance and co-produced more than 50 creations by Lebanese and Arab Artists. Moultaqa Leymoun, a 4-day platform within BIPOD, founded in 2009, it is a meeting for emerging and established artists from Lebanon and other arab countries.
Moultaqa Leymoun is an unmissable rendez-vous for showcasing contemporary dance across the Arab World. It aims to create a pan-Arab Contemporary Dance collaborative network, that allows the sharing and dissemination of information about the work of Arab dance artists, choreographers, and practitioners, both regionally and internationally. Moultaqa Leymoun focuses on the development and cultivation of contemporary dance in the Mediterranean and Arab Region by providing a platform for exchange, meetings, and training for young dance artists, organizing seminars, talks and discussion panels, performances and informal studio presentations.
It has played a very important role in the development and progress of a regional contemporary dance scene and it created a very strong condition for artist visibility and future opportunities, allowing future artistic residencies, collaborations, co-productions, networking and exchanges for artists. We celebrate the impact of the previous editions with the participation of hundreds of international presenters, festival directors, critics, and dance professionals.
Masahat Dance Network
Founded in 2006, MASAHAT dance network is concerned with developing strong relationships between individual artists, dance associations and companies. The network focuses on the exchange and development of collaborative projects between artists from different cultural, social and artistic backgrounds.
MASAHAT’s objectives are to broaden the space for the exchange of ideas and experiences, and to develop new perspectives of artistic creation. Focusing on contemporary perceptions of the ‘body,’ MASAHAT itself could be considered a new body that aims at building capacities, developing public awareness, encouraging diversity and promoting social themes through the organization of artistic events. In continuing with the collaborative efforts, BIPOD (Beirut International Platform of Dance). RCDF (Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival), DCDP (Damascus Contemporary Dance Platform) and ACDF (Amman Contemporary Dance Festival) have united in making distances closer and experiences bigger.