Dancing Histor(y)ies – Binding Communities and Heritage Through Dance is a European cooperation project which is dedicated to linking communities and cultural heritage through contemporary dance.

Co-funded by the Creative Europe program (Project ID: 101099222), the project focuses on promoting archaeological sites through contemporary dance. The project is set to identify an innovative, effective, and replicable model for enhancing cultural sites, actively involving local communities in artistic production and conscious heritage appreciation, while also promoting the international mobility of European artists. 

The project aims to create a common and adaptable general model to be implemented across Europe. By blending the tangible cultural heritage of the sites with the intangible cultural traditions and stories of local communities, it seeks to bring together through the creativity of dance.

ilDance´s Role 

ilDance’s role in the project is to facilitate workshops with local communities and to create artistic works to be performed at festivals organised by institutional partners across five heritage sites in Italy, Serbia, Spain and Sweden. These performances will be created through residencies in Sweden and the partner countries. The new dance pieces elaborate on the knowledge, generated during the project´s initial research phase, and through the community workshops. For both the artistic work and the community workshops, ilDance aims to feature the perspective of queer and other under-represented communities in a sensitive context of cultural heritage.

The Artistic Work

This year ilDance’s artistic work in Dancing Histor(y)ies explores the concept of time and how its interpretation across different eras, cultures and geographic contexts in which the artists are working this year. Choreographer Israel Aloni describes their inspiration: “In the distant and the proximate time there are stories and histories which gain or lose meaning, depending on the contexts in which they are reiterated.” 

Incorporating poems by local authors and historical references, this work explores senses and sensations of time and how it can be pulled, morphed and transformed through relations and relationships. 

2025 Credits

Concept: Israel Aloni

Choreography: Israel Aloni & cast 

Cast: Elias Khanamidi, Jennifer Wallen and Victor Persson 

Choreographer assistant: Tomer Giat

Original composition and soundtrack:  Didi Erez

Costume Designer: Amanda Wisselgren

Photographs: AdeY

Production manager: Arunas Giambino Mozuraitis

Production: ilDance

Project Objectives

The core objectives of Dancing Histor(y)ies are to design, test and assess a model for the valorisation of cultural heritage sites through performing arts, community engagement and territorial development. 

The project aims to: 

• Promote and enhance international dialogue and cooperation amongst different cultural organizations;

• Create an innovative model for the fruition and valorisation of heritage sites; 

• Involve local communities in the artistic production and in the heritage engagement; 

• Promote the international mobility of European artists.

Dancing Histor(y)ies aspires to provide a model that merges the tangible heritage of local sites with the intangible heritage of local community traditions and stories, brought together creatively through dance. The project will combine these diverse experiences as they develop from different partners, towards an overall common, but demonstrably adaptable model, to be disseminated and exploited at EU level.

2025 Tour Dates 

ilDance will present the new series of works at the Dancing Histor(y)ies Festivals throughout the summer of 2025 in the following cities:

• Rome, Italy – May 22, 2025 

• Viminacium, Serbia – June 08, 2025 

• Merida, Spain – July 04, 2025

• Sardinia, Italy - August 08, 2025

• Gothenburg, Sweden – August 30, 2025

Read more about Dancing Histor(y)ies on the project’s website.