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April is dance month. The official date is celebrated on the 29, but even if International Dance Day had not been established by Unesco in 1982 (in tribute to dancer Jean-Georges Noverre), it would be enough to look around and see the many festivals taking place all over the world. Literally.

The marathon begins with Agite y sirva, an itinerant videodance festival with its first ‘stop’ in Mexico on Wednesday (15/04). Agite y sirva was born at 1ª Muestra Itinerante VideoDanzaBA México 2008 and became independent last year.

This year, the program includes short and feature films, besides a showcase focusing on Brazil. The complete selection of the 2009 festival will be screened for the first time at Performática 2009 – 3er Foro Internacional de Danza Contemporánea y Artes del Movimiento, which will take place in the Mexican cities of Cholula y Puebla (read the complete list of the 31 selected works). Watch the trailer for this year’s edition:

From America to Europe. On Thursday (16/04) the 4th edition of brasil move berlim – Festival de Dança Contemporânea Brasileira starts in Berlin, taking a program mainly composed of Brazilian artists. Besides the performances, the festival offers lectures and workshops with invited artists. On the last weekend of the event, there will be a meeting between Brazilian and German researchers to discuss Dance Reconstruction and Memory. Click here to learn more about brasil move berlim 2009.

Starting on the next day, April 17, Bologna (Italy) hosts the 9th edition of F.I.S.Co. – Festival Internazionale sullo Spettacolo Contemporaneo. With the theme of Tribu, this year the selected works in same way explore concepts related to communities and colonies. The program includes dance shows, performances, installations and plastic art works.

Among the attractions, Antonija Livingstone/Heather Kravas (Can/USA/Fra), with a program divided in four parts; and Olaf Breuning (China) with a videoinstallation called MAMbo Chinese Theatre, which will have its world premiere in the festival. . Click here to read to complete program of F.I.S.Co 09, which will go on until April 23.

Out of breath yet? The next stop will be Manchester (England), where moves09 – International Festival of Movement on Screen will take place between April 23 and 28. Celebrating its 5th edition, the festival will explore the possibilities of movement narrative on screen. There will be over 20 screens scattared over 10 venues, besides the ‘virtual space’ – where internet users can watch videos participating – and the media lab, a lab that allows anyone to create their own videos, bringing artists and audience closer.

Wrapping up the month, on the 30th, praised Kunstenfestivaldesarts starts its extensive program, which will go on until May 23 in Brussels. Boris Charmatz/Association Edna will perform La danseuse malade in the opening night. Also in the program, Jérôme Bel with Un spectateur and The Forsythe Company with Heteropatia. From Brazil, Maurício Dias and Walter Riedweg organize an exhibition with recent works like Funk staden, about the funk scene in Rio de Janeiro, besides developing a project through the Brussels neighborhoods in co-production with the festival. Check out everything happening at kunstenfestivaldesarts.

From Mexico to Germany, passing by Italy and Brussels, the mother tongue doesn´t matter, the language spoken in all of them is universal: dance.