Albania Dance Meeting, Tirana
January 17 – 19, 2025

After the one in Florence in October 2024, a new stage of the project SHIFT Shaping Harmony, Innovating Forms & Thought, promoted by Cie Omar Rajeh & Maqamat (France), Fabbrica Europa (Italy) and Albania Dance Meeting (Albania).

From 17 to 19 January 2025, THE BIG DANCE LAB, an event curated by Peggy Olislaegers, took place in Tirana, in collaboration with Albania Dance Meeting. The two-day gathering brought together dance artists, experts, and researchers from across Europe and the Mediterranean, alongside local cultural organizations in Tirana. It has created as a platform for building a foundational theoretical framework to consolidate and share knowledge in the field of contemporary dance.

Discussions and presentations focussed on the key themes, methodologies, and goals of SHIFT, with an emphasis on how to transition from ‘visual aesthetics’ in traditional performance spaces to an ‘aesthetics of action and participation’ in non-conventional settings.
THE BIG DANCE LAB offered a critical space for in-depth analysis, allowing participants to evaluate processes, exchange insights, and refine ideas on innovative performance formats, particularly in non-dedicated performance spaces.

SHIFT continues in Beirut, from 4 to 10 April 2025, with Telescope Beirut, a week of dynamic exchanges, workshops, experimentation, open presentations and creation. With guidance from a local and international team of experts, participant artists will explore creating for non-dedicated performance spaces and challenge conventional creative approaches.

SHIFT is funded by the Culture strand of the Creative Europe programme of the European Commission.