The Spring Forward Festival of the European dance network Aerowaves is an international contemporary dance platform for some of Europe’s most creative and promising emerging choreographers, offering them the opportunity to present their work to performing arts professionals as well as to the general public.
The festival began in 2011 in response to the uncertain economic environment and the challenges faced by emerging dance artists in the early stages of their professional careers.
Like all Aerowaves initiatives, the Spring Forward Festival was developed with the aim of connecting selected artistic works with professionals from around the world. The first festival took place in 2011 in collaboration with the organization EnKnap at Španski Borci in Ljubljana, Slovenia. In 2012, Operaestate Festival Veneto dedicated a significant part of its program (B-Motion) to the presentation of Aerowaves works, leading to the creation of the second Spring Forward Festival.
In April 2022, the festival was held in Elefsina by DAN.C.CE Unitiva, in collaboration with Elefsina – European Capital of Culture and the Aerowaves network, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Aerowaves. Over the course of four days, 25 works were presented and attended by more than 150 professionals from around the world, with the participation of 120 Greek and international artists.
The Aerowaves network includes member countries from: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Switzerland, Estonia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Hungary, Ukraine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, the Czech Republic, and Finland.
