About Us
This section will provide an overall view of our goals and activities, familiarize you with our vision and mission and present to you our initiatives, but first, a brief history of ESDU from past to present and get a glimpse of what the future holds!
Foundation & History of ESDU
ESDU was founded in 1998, in Klagenfurt, by Prof. Nora Mackh. The intention was to establish a strong and active dance community throughout Europe.
During the years Prof. Nora Mackh and her team set a number of initiatives to build up today’s ESDU. Here are some of the most significant milestones:
1998: Foundation of ESDU in Klagenfurt/Austria and 1st "European
Open" (8 nations taking part)
2000: 1st participation at the “US Open” , member of “I love Dance”
2002: more than 1000 dancers take part at the "European Open"
2004: more than 15 nations participate at the "European Open", 700
performances are presented ,
ESDU is a member of the UNESCO (CID – Counseil International de la
Danse) ,
and a member of IDC (International Dance Challenge, NY)
2005: ESDU becomes a partner of "WORLDSTARS" , Hollywood/USA..
Austria very succesfully takes part at the WCOPA "World Championships of Performing Arts".
2006: About 2000 participants take part at the "European Open".
6 European countries - Austria, Germany, United Kingdom, Croatia, Hungary, Czech Republik - with 48 dancers take part at the WCOPA this year. Europe is the most successful participant in dancing at this World Championships.
2007: ESDU is developing all around the world and will change into a world federation, organizing qualification tournaments and World Championships in other continents.
Aim, Vision and Mission of ESDU
Since the beginning it has been the aim of ESDU to create a strong and active european dance community, which aligns itself with other international dance affiliates.
Our vision is to progress the standard of dance by opening up doors towards interaction, cooperation, competition and networking.
Our mission is to maintain a quality environment for intercultural cooperation and friendship amongst dancers by emphasizing personal and creative development and maximizing the talents and potentials of all participants.
Activities of ESDU
ESDU takes pride in presenting annual competition events for amateur and professional stage dancers. National partner organisations provide competition platforms for national pre-qualifications.
The activities of ESDU can be summarized as the following:
* provide European Championships
* coordinate diverse national championships (e.g. Slovakian Open) for
* qualifying into the european competition
* cooperation with international organisations so that the
* best european dancers can take part at World Championships
Philosophy of ESDU
The spirit of what and how you do things is an important factor for long-term success. As an international entity ESDU would like to extend an invitation for you to participate in our ethical/philosophical concepts in order to create a positive atmosphere of enjoyment, personal development and friendship within our partnership of nations.
Dance is life, art, culture, feeling,
competitions ...
The ESDU
* offers the experience of being on stage
* allows you to learn about different cultures and styles and increase
your tolerance towards diverse national cultural aspects
* brings teachers & students together to exchange ideas and concepts
* opens doors to create new friendships
* offers the opportunity to participate in international seminars
* provides clear and positive feedback on your performance abilities
* you never loose …you only progress!
Our commitments
To guarantee positive results in the sense of pedagogical work, education and personal development for the young dancers, we agree on the following commitments:
* we ensure our events to be judged by a competent and impartial board of judges
* we are politically independent
* we commit ourselves to lifelong learning and improvement
* we support ethical values of tolerance, intercultural understanding and freedom
* we offer young dancers throughout Europe a fair and active platform of exchange
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