Ashgabat, May 10, 2025 — The Ashgabat Cultural Stage will host the world premiere of the choreographic and digital show RITUALS, a unique artistic project that combines ancient traditions of Turkmenistan with contemporary dance and digital arts. This event will be an important milestone in the development of cultural ties between Europe and Turkmenistan.
The performance is the result of collaboration between French choreographer Jean-Marc Matos, Italian dancer and choreographer Margherita Bergamo, as well as the State Dance Ensemble of Turkmenistan and the State Dance Ensemble “Mengli”. RITUALS is an artistic dialogue between European and Turkmen cultures.
The first part will feature the kushtdepdi dance ritual, included in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It will be presented by the folklore ensemble “Akyar” from the Balkan velayat, where this dance originates.
An ambitious European project
This project arose in collaboration after the performance in Ashgabat in 2023 of the choreographic and digital performance Myselves by Jean-Marc Matos as part of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the EU and Turkmenistan. The artists who took part in that event were deeply impressed by the richness of Turkmen culture and, in particular, the kushtdepdi dance. It was this impulse of inspiration that gave rise to the RITUALS project, built at the intersection of tradition and modernity.
The project is organized in partnership with the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan, the Delegation of the European Union, the Embassies of France and Italy, the Goethe-Institut of Kazakhstan and is implemented by the French Institute in Turkmenistan. This initiative is supported by EUNIC, the network of national cultural institutes in the EU countries, within the framework of the European Spaces of Culture programme, which experiments and implements innovative models of cultural cooperation between European actors — EUNIC members and EU delegations — and local partners in non-EU countries, implementing the EU’s strategic approach to international cultural relations. This is the first European cultural project in Turkmenistan, selected among the most advanced initiatives of 2025.
Dialogue between cultures
The implementation of the project coincides with important dates — the first EU-Central Asia Summit in April, at which the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov reaffirmed his commitment to strengthening cultural and educational cooperation between Turkmenistan and the European Union. The project also fits into an important diplomatic context, marked by the official visit to Paris this week of the National Leader of the Turkmen people, the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty. The project has received additional support from the Franco-German Cultural Foundation and the French Institute in Paris, which underlines the active cooperation of the European cultural communities in promoting intercultural exchange.
The performance RITUALS, an artistic dialogue between Europe and Turkmenistan, embodies the spirit of mutual respect and understanding. The world premiere will take place on Saturday, May 10, 2025, at 19:00, at the Muqam Palace of the National Cultural Center in Ashgabat.
Admission is free and open to all, providing everyone with a unique opportunity to get acquainted with this outstanding project. /// nCa, 10 May 2025 (in cooperation with French Institute in Ashgabat)