Three trips provided snapshot views of numerous, primarily young (but not all) choreographers in short works. The Nordic-Baltic Dansolution, organised by Dansescenen in Copenhagen, winnowed approximately 50 applications down to 17 artists from the Nordic (Denmark, Norway and Sweden) and Baltic (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) countries. Works of up to 17 minutes were presented to nearly full houses over three nights. The six finalists chosen by the jury — John Ashford (The Place, London); Roberto Casserotto (OperaEstate, Bassano); Lars Eideval (Dansstationen, Malmo, Sweden); Laura Kumin (El Certamen, Madrid); Louise Seibaek (Director of Dansescenen); and myself — were then seen on the final night. Two choreographers – Icelandic Steinunn Kettilsdottir (whose work Crazy in love with MR PERFECT was presented during DDF 2008) and Alan Oyen from Norway were selected to receive production support to create new works for the Short Stories series at Dansescenen in the spring. These two works plus another by Kiristin Hjort Inao and Yoshifumi Inao were also invited by Cassartto to Italy in December and by Eideval to be shown in progress in Malmo (Sweden). For more information on The Nordic-Baltic Dansolution, click here.

In March 2008, I served on the preliminary jury for the 2008 Place Prize (supported by Bloomberg). For eight days over three weeks John Ashford, Eddie Nixon (Associate Director at The Place) and I met in London, first cutting 174 applicants (who each sent three minute DVD’s) down to 40, then meeting with these 40 (and often their creative teams) to hear more about their proposed projects. Twenty semi-finalists received �5,000 plus rehearsal space to create a new15-minute work. From September 10-13, the twenty semi-finalists presented these works at The Place. A new illustrious jury, then chose five of these twenty artists for the finals which took place from September 17-27. The Winner of the 2008 Place Prize was Adam Linder with Foie Gras. For full details of the Place Prize 2008 click here.

The Plateux de Val-de-Marne, unlike the above, is not a competition. A biennial event held just outside Paris at the Maison des Arts de Creteil, it is a curated showcase meant to give French and other European presenters a glimpse of the work of interesting French artists who may be less visible on the Festival circuit. Selected by Michel Caserta, the 14 artists ranged in age and experience but all are working in smaller forms. The underlying theme seemed to be investigation of the body itself, studies of its limitations as well as its possibilities.� In addition to the performances, a panel comprised of Jean-Marc Granet-Bouffartigue, (CND, Paris); Solange Dondi (ONDA, Paris), Stefan Schwarz (Tanzhaus NRW, Dusseldorf), Michel Lefevre (Centre des Bords-de Marne) and Alberto Magno (Fabrica de Movimentos, Porto) discussed ‘Programming today’s dance.’

Such trips provide an amazing overview of the huge range of contemporary dance artists and aesthetics working in the first decade of the 21st century. It was an honour to witness their work.