A cultural hub

As well as being home to many UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as Vieux Lyon, Croix-Rousse and Presqu’île it is also the birthplace of cinema and plays host to many arts festivals throughout the year. This includes the world famous Biennial Dance Festival and this year, is a particularly special year, as it is celebrating its 15th anniversary.

The Biennale Festival

As lively and bustling as you would expect, Lyon is home to 470,000 people and hosts a number of festivals, cultural events and sporting affairs throughout the year.

Photo by dancetechtv

Lyon’s Biennale Festival features over 50 choreographic works in 30 different venues throughout the city as draws in thousands of visitors to the city each time it visits. For three weeks in September, visitors can enjoy an opportunity to see their favourite up and coming acts in a series of one off performances and recent works.

Biennial acts as a training facility for public art, and is aimed at a broad and diverse audience, from those who are new to dance, to connoisseurs.

A celebration of dance

But clarity of intention aside, the biennial is one of the most ambitious and important dance festivals in the world, and its largeness of scale and intention is splendid to see at a time of ever-shrinking financing for the arts.

The festival has showcased some of European dance’s most famous pieces such as Les Ballets C de la B’s “Aphasiadisiac” and Angelin Preljocaj’s “Snow White”. Set to music by Mahler, costumes for the performance were designed for none-other than Jean-Paul Gautier himself.

“Les Petites Pièces de Berlin,” choreographed by Dominique Bagouet and first performed at the biennial in 1988, went on to become one of the best-loved dance performances of the year, consistently selling out in auditoriums all over the world.

Celebrity spotting

Dance lovers staying at hotels in Lyon can also look forward to a little bit of celeb spotting.

The festival has attracted many famous faces in its 15 years, with the likes of French choreographer Dominique Hervieu who is the creative director and leads the way for the parade which marks the opening and closing ceremonies of the festival.

Last but not least be sure to reserve your hotel in plenty of time, as Lyon gets very busy around this time of year. Tickets sell out quickly too, so book them as soon as you can.

What are your favourite forms of dance?

Catherine Halsey writes for a digital marketing agency on a range of subjects. This article links back to https://www.radissonblu.com/hotel-lyon

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