Bitef

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ON BITEF Founded in 1967, throug h the initiative of Mira Trailović of JovanCirilov, BITEF (Belgrade International Theater Festival) has continually followed and supported the latest theatre trends, becoming thus one of the biggest and the most important European festivals. Transcending all political and cultural borders, Bitef has in more than four decades managed to keep its pace with a tumultuous evolution of performing arts. Therefore, the history of Bitef could be identified as a history of contemporary theatre. Through the revolutionary Sixties and Seventies, Bitef spectators could see some of the most courageous stage experiments pursuing the destruction of dramatic forms, but also some significant classical achievements, as well as the examples of the traditional Oriental theatre. In the Eighties and Nineties, Bitef presented highest reaches of the post-modern theatre and dance. Even in the conditions of political-economic crisis and embargo the festival succeeded to promote the ultimate cultural values, bringing to Belgrade some of the biggest names of the world performance, in the first decade of the 21st century, Bitef presents the original and innovative productions of the world mainstream theatre, the performances of post-dramatic, non verbal expression, as well as those realised with the help of new technologies, thus opening its doors to the virtual reality of cyber theatre. In the course of all these years, Bitef has preserved its place in the family of major international festivals. For its continuity and quality Bitef was awarded the Special Prize for 1999. by "Premio Europa per il teatro". The chief purpose of the festival is to present the authors, productions and trends that are the most important phenomena in modern performing arts, in doing so, Bitef initiates and promotes a different approach to theater, expands the boundaries of cultural identities and creates a map of professional contacts. It also enriches and encourages the new Serbian theater scene, contributing towards its greater recognition in the European and broader international context. The Bitef was founded by the Belgrade City Hall, whereas Bitef Theatre is in charge of the production and organization. The theatre was founded in 1989, with the chief purpose of discovering and supporting new theatre tendencies in the local context. Instead of explaining the history of Bitef at great length, it will suffice to list the names of the artists who had presented their work on this festival, in the past 44 years. Some of them were discovered at the festival, while, for others, Bitef has been another in the series of affirmations of their artistic significance and value.

Meredith Monk • Roman Viktjuk • Wim Vandekeybus • Andràs Urban • Theodores Terzopoulos • Lev Dodin ■ Silviu Purcarete • Joseph Nadj • Nigel Charnock • Jagoš Marković • De la Guarda • Frank Castorf - Saburo Teshigawara • Nikita Milivojević • Théâtre de Complicité&Simon Mcßurney • Vito Täufer • Gorgio Strehler • Angelin Preljocaj • Phil Soltanoff • Ivan Popovski • Margaret Jenkins • Valerij Fokin • Sonja Vukićević • Christoph Marthaler • Sacha Waltz • Thomas Ostermeier • Regis Obadia • Biljana Srbljanović • Aleksandar Popovski ■ Michael Nyman • Eric Lacascade ■ Arpad Sopsits • Susanne Linke • Nicolas Stemann • Alisa Stojanović • Dalija Aćin • Grzegorz Jarzyna • Michael Thalheimer • Krystian Lupa • Marius Kurkinski • Krysztof Warlikowski • Rezo Gabriadze • Pjotr Fomenko • Johan Simnos • Oskaras Korsunovas • Egon Savin - Torn! Janežić • lan Grieve • Daniela Nicolo • Enriko Casagrande ■ Yossi Yungman • José Montavlo • Lorenzo Bazzocchi • Matjaž Farič • Robert Alföldi • Rami Be'er ■ Heiner Goebbels • René Pollesch • Alvis Hermanis ■ Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker • Bojan Đorđev ■ Lloyd Newson ■ Marie Chouinard • Constanza Macras • Dmitri Černjakov ■ Stefan Kaegi • Rodrigo Garcia • Kirsten Dehlholm • Lotte van den Berg ■ Guy Weizman • Rony Haver • Ivica Buljan • Maurice Béjart ■ Ohad Naharin • Romeo Castellucci • Emma Dante • Boris Bakal • Katarina Pejović • Lenka Udovički • Meg Stuart • Philipp Gehmacher • Suzanne Osten • Bojana CvejićAurélien Bory • Vida Ognjenović • Sidi Larbi Cherakoui • Robert Lepage • Milena Marković • Ana Tomović • Lola Arias • Urlike Quade • Jo Stromgren • Miloš Lolić • Herman Helle • Pauline Kalker • Arleene Hoornweg • Herald