Dance Festival Entitled Body & Eros

　　The Dance section of the Venice Biennale was directed by Carolyn Carlson from its inception in 1999 until 2002. In 2003, Frédéric Flamand was appointed as director, followed by Karole Armitage in 2004 and Ismael Ivo in 2005 and 2006. The 5th International Festival of Contemporary Dance of the Biennale di Venezia, with the theme, "Body & Eros," will run June 14 to 30, 2007, directed by Ivo.

　　Fifteen companies and 31 artists and choreographers will be invited to participate in the festival. It will take place in the traditional spaces of the Arsenale designated by the Biennale di Venezia for live performances - Teatro Piccolo Arsenale, Teatro alle Tese, Tese delle Vergini and Magazzini del Ferro - and at the Teatro Malibran, thanks to the renewed collaboration with the Fondazione Teatro La Fenice, but will also involve several new spaces such as the Palazzo Contarini della Porta di Ferro and the Fadalti showroom (San Lio).

　　Starting last year, the Biennale di Venezia has annually given the award of the Golden Lion for the disciplines of live performances (dance, music and theater) as well. The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement is complemented this year by a Golden Lion for the Best Performance of the Festival, selected by an international jury of experts: Betsy Gregory, artistic director of Dance Umbrella (London); Jin Xing, artistic director of Jin Xing Dance Theatre and founder of Shanghai Dance; Francesca Pedroni, dance critic for the daily newspaper "il Manifesto" and the monthly "Danza & Danza"; Pier Giacomo Cirella, deputy director of Arteven; Karl Regensburger, director, and Andrée Valentin, artistic coordinator, of ImPuls Tanz, Festival (Vienna).