Kaunas Dance Theatre Aura is the professional theatre of

contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in ...

based in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

History

Dance Theatre Aura first started as an amateur dance group back in 1980. It was founded by the current theatre director

Birutė Letukaitė Birutė (died 1382) was the second wife of Kęstutis, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and mother of Vytautas the Great. There is very little known about Birutė's life, but after her death a strong cult developed among Lithuanians, especially in Samogi ...

and several other young dancers. In 1982 they gave their first performance. Under the leadership of B. Letukaite who remains Aura’s managing and artistic director this small group of dancers has grown into and has become the best known contemporary dance company in Lithuania with strong international troupe of professional dancers from China, France, Italy, USA, Philippines and more. In 1995 the City of Kaunas awarded Kaunas Dance theatre Aura the status of a municipal theatre. Since 1989 Kaunas Dance theatre Aura is the organizer of the International Modern Dance Festival, which was recently changed into International Dance Festival AURA. Though the International Modern Dance Festival is first of all an integral part of cultural life and a meaningful tradition in Kaunas, the Festival is being brought to other Lithuanian towns too. The unique feature of the Festival is the night performances shown at alternative spaces in Kaunas. Dance theatre Aura has more than 50 awards, have performed in more than 160 festivals in 26 countries by now.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1980 establishments in Lithuania Performing groups established in 1980 Theatres in Kaunas Dance in Lithuania Modern dance companies