Dance Gate Lefkosia

Dance Gate Lefkosia (Cyprus) is a non-profit organization that actively promotes and supports the development of dance as a contemporary and interactive art forms working closely within the vision and framework of the dancehouse model drafted by the European Dance House Network. Dance Gate Lefkosia Cyprus is one of the founding members and active participant at the Dance House Lefkosia since its creation in 2013. Dance Gate Lefkosia is happy to announce that since December 2020 Dance House Lefkosia consists now of five member organizations to constitute the L_DH Dancehouse Lefkosia.

Due to Cyprus’ geopolitical position as a European country on the furthest of South Eastern Europe, Dance Gate’s particular vision and aim is to promote dance and culture at the crossroads of cultures and between three continents, Nicosia still remaining the only divided capital of Europe.

Dance Gate Lefkosia Cyprus strategies are threefold:

• The enhancement of creativity and the promotion of young and more established choreographers, giving opportunities for dance research within the fluid borders with the other performance arts so as to redefine and expand the choreographic field on the island.
• The mobilization of political power for the necessary infrastructures to support dance and dance artists from both sides of the buffer zone.
• The creation of the necessary artistic and theoretical support for the dance to grow in multitude ways at the crossroads of cultures within the wider contemporary arts context, through festivals, research, seminars, lectures, conferences, publications, exchanges and a growing network.

Since its foundation in 2007, Dance Gate has organized numerous workshops and performances with guests such as Julyen Hamilton, Henrietta Horn, Eduardo Fukushima, Sofia Mavragani, Mafalda Deville, Alexandra Waierstall, and yearly conferences on the Dynamics and Prospects of Contemporary Dance with international renowned speakers. Important audience development project has also been the BODY & SOLI – a presentation of  8 invited Cypriot choreographers to share their working processes mentored by the invited guest dance artist Angus Balbernie, UK.

From 2010 to 2014 it was partner of the EU funded project modul-dance bringing to Nicosia important events film screenings, residencies, performances and Carte Blanche with artists such as Nuria Font, Fearghus O’ Conchúir, Jurij Konjar, Alexandra Waierstrall, Arno Schuitemaker, Lilly Mihajlović and Jasmina Krizaj (SI) & Cristina Planas Leitão, amongst others. Within modul-dance, Dance Gate also organised the conference Dance/Body at the Crossroads of Cultures, with keynote speakers Rustom Barucha, Guy Cools with consultant Dorinda Hulton and numerous guests performers and presenters from all over the world.

In 2017 Dance Gate hosted a ten-day hands-on EDN Atelier "Nature Embodied" concerning the theme of ecology and the arts with gues speakers Denise Kenney and Nancy Holmes. 

Dance Gate Lefkosia has been running a yearly festival the first Dance and Performance Arts festival “No _ Body Fest” 2008 – 2020 . Now the festival is renewing with a new title : ON _ BODIES Dance / Movement & Performance Arts Festival and shall be now under the umbrella and organization of DanceHouse Lefkosia that Dance Gate is a founding member organization of, as from 2021.

The venue has been given by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the building belongs to the Municipality of Nicosia and was to conceded to the Ministry of Education after the efforts of the dance community of Nicosia.

The building of the Dance House Lefkosia used to be the old food market of Ayios Andreas in Nicosia, purpose-built in the mid-40s during the British occupation.

In 2013, after the necessary renovations, the building has been conceded to the non-profit organization L_DH Dancehouse Lefkosia by the Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education and Culture in collaboration with the Municipality of Nicosia for the support of dance and its development in Nicosia and on the island on a local and international level.