International Dance Day
April 29, 2009
In 1982 the International Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute, UNESCO, created International Dance Day. This celebration is held every year on April 29th to honor the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), the creator of modern ballet.
Every year a message from a well-known dance personality is circulated throughout the world. The intention of International Dance Day and the Message is to unite the field of Dance by celebrating this art form and reveling in its universality, to cross all political, cultural and ethnic barriers and bring people together in peace and friendship with a common language.
The International Dance Committee of ITI collaborates with World Dance Alliance and the International Dance Council to promote this event.
International Dance Day Message: April 29, 2009
by Akram Khan
This very special day, International Dance Day, is dedicated to the one language that everybody in this world can speak, the inherent language of our bodies and souls of our ancestors and of our children.
This day is dedicated to every god, guru and grandparent that ever taught and inspired us.
To every song and impulse and moment that's ever moved us to move.
It is dedicated to the little child that wishes it could move like its star, and to the mother who says, 'you already can.'
This day is dedicated to every body of every creed, colour and culture that carries the traditions of its past into stories of the present and dreams of the future.
This day is dedicated to Dance, to its myriad dialects and its immense power to express, transform, unite and delight.
Khan delivered his address on April 30, 2009 at a celebration at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
Akram Khan is an acclaimed choreographer working in Britain today. Born in London into a family of Bangladeshi origin in 1974, he began dancing at the age of seven. He studied under the great Kathak dancer and teacher Sri Pratap Pawar, later he became his disciple. He began his stage career at the age of 14, when he was cast in Peter Brook’s legendary production of Mahabharata, touring the world between 1987 and 1989 and appearing in the televised version of the play broadcast in 1988.