13/02/2026
Side Step Festival and Zodiak had the pleasure last week to host a group of international artists as a part of the Visiting Artist Programme (2025–2027).
Visiting Artist Programme (VAP) is an initiative uniting 23 leading contemporary dance festivals and organisations across Europe. VAP is set to foster creative exchange, artistic development, and valuable networking opportunities for early and mid-career dance artists.
Side Step Festival was very happy to offer seven artists from across Europe the opportunity to meet and network with both Finnish and International artists and programmers within a three- day. And of course to experience some energizing and impactful performances at the festival.
Meet our visiting artists:
✨Tetiana Znamerovska, a Ukrainian choreographer, performer, and dancer, working partly in Wuppertal.
✨Jérôme OUSSOU, a Lyon-based dancer and choreographer.
✨Marion Darova, a choreographer and performer from Sofia, Bulgaria
✨Enad Marouf, a Syrian artist based in Berlin, working with choreography, video, text and installation.
✨Toby Kassell, an artist who teaches his own methods of improvisation, creates and performs in Göteborg (Gothenburg), Sweden.
✨Martina Apostolova, a theater and film actress from Sofia, Bulgaria.
✨Valgerður Rúnarsdóttir, an Icelandic dancer and choreographer.
Thank you also for our programme partners, who made these particular visits possible: One Dance Festival Danscentrum Syd Tanz im August - Internationales Festival Berlin La Biennale de Lyon / Danse Reykjavík Dance Festival
Visiting Artist Programme is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
Photo: Annukka Pakarinen / Zodiak
