Universitatea “Lucian Blaga” din Sibiu

The proactive partnership between the local academic community and the artistic community has successfully functioned since 1997 – the year marking the setting up of the Department of Drama and Theatre Studies at Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu. Ever since then, the two communities have incessantly developed and thus further contributed to creating a highly positive context for all beneficiaries and stakeholders: students, artistic community and civil society, i.e. the Department of Drama and Theatre Studies has successfully enabled LBUS to become a traditional partner to the Sibiu International Theatre Festival (ranking third in the world, according to its size), of Radu Stanca National Theatre (the most active one in Romania) and the Performing Arts Open Market (a vital platform for international artistic dialogue).

Meanwhile, the close collaboration between LBUS and Sibiu International Theatre Festival and Radu Stanca National Theatre has also opened up two important avenues for development, worth mentioning: Sibiu International Theatre Festival has provided LBUS a higher degree of openness and interaction with the audience: the great majority of both tenured and associate teaching staff affiliated with the Department of Drama and Theatre Studies are actors constantly performing on Romanian and international stages. Hence, the large audience of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival (cca. 60,000 spectators/day, for the past years) have developed a perception of LBUS’s openness to the civil society – a close nexus between town and gown – thus testifying to the high significance of research in the field of performing arts.

Since October 2017, we started a dance program that focuses on combining traditional Romanian folklore with contemporary elements. Our dance students will study for three years and will be involved in performances for Sibiu International Theatre Festival. On the other hand, they will be encouraged to develop their own independent dance companies, in order to meet expectations of the local (and regional) community.