Humans have expressed their inner world through dance in religious ceremonies and memorial services in history.
And this way of artistic expression still applies in this 21st century. The 12 th Busan International Dance Festival is opened under the theme of ‘Discover Busan, A delightful universe of dance.’ This is not about dancing without a meaning. Rather, it is about our emotions such as joy or desire being expressed through dance. Our emotions will be expressed and communicated in this venue of Busan International Dance Festival. And I hope not just citizens of Busan but all people around the world can feel great delight and happiness through dance since communication and sharing feelings are essential to development.

The 12 th Busan International Dance Festival takes place at Haeundae beach, a well-known tourist attraction which Busan citizens take great pride in. 57 dance companies from 11 countries including Denmark, the U.S., Bulgaria, Spain, Singapore, Argentina, India, Japan, China, France as well as Korea participate in the festival to perform folk dances, Ballet, Contemporary dance, and Hip Hop dance. The exuberant festival offers a venue where you can take a glance at the dances of different cultures across the globe.

I hope you can take a small break from your mundane activities to full enjoy your time here in the festival. In particular, this year’s festival will see the first dancing parade in its history where more than 500 participants from 16 municipalities of Busan city to experience and promote dance themselves as good-will ambassadors. We, as BIDF working committee, will work harder to make this event a true community festival reaching out to the general public by using programs such as the dancing parade. I hope many people join and give cheers and support for the parade. Thank you.