Venezuelan Larissa Vesci will represent Venezuela and Spain at the 61st World Dance Congress in Athens, Greece.

Athens, Greece will host the 61st edition of the most important dance event organized by the International Dance Council (IDC) of UNESCO. The event will take place from July 3 to 7, 2024, featuring prestigious artists, dancers, teachers and dance researchers from countries across five continents, such as Greece (host country of the congress), Italy, Slovakia, France, Germany, Romania, Switzerland, Croatia, Spain, China, Turkey, India, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Congo, Algeria, Australia, Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico and the United States.

In this edition, Larissa Vesci, a dance artist born in Venezuela, who is currently temporarily in Greece and is also a member of the International Dance Council at UNESCO (chaired by the eminent engineer, sociologist and dance historian, Dr. Alkis Raftis), has been invited to simultaneously and for the first time represent two countries that are part of her roots at this congress: Spain and Venezuela.

Larissa Vesci, through performances and demonstration classes, will unify what she calls “the two Spains of her blood”: European Spain and American Spain, having as a common thread the didactic and scenic work called “Tierra de Gracia”, inspired by the name that Christopher Columbus gave to Venezuela during his third voyage to America in 1498.

As a specialist and one of the pioneers of the oriental flamenco style in the world and knowledgeable about the fundamental bases of the folklore of her homeland, this internationally renowned dancer will be responsible for offering a large group of experts, professionals and dance scholars from many parts of the world, workshops on the fundamentals of Oriental Flamenco and Venezuelan Drums, as well as performances in the most important dance theater in Greece, the “Dora Stratou” Theater, located in the Acropolis sector of Athens.

Through the educational-scenic proposal, “Tierra de Gracia”, Larissa will fuse elements of Andalusian, Venezuelan Aboriginal and sub-Saharan African folklore that constitute the source of the expressions of Venezuelan dances and will do so through her own concept and personal style.