Sport 4 Art

We started the project as partners; we finished it as friends – “Sport in Art”

We are grateful for the financial support of the Erasmus+ program for the implementation of this project

Gannat is a small, picturesque town in the Auvergne region of central France, located in the Allier department. It is located about 20 minutes by car from the popular spa resort of Vichy. The town has a population of only 5,600 people and yet manages to become a true center of world cultures for one week every year. This happens thanks to the International Festival “Cultures du Monde”, which has earned its place on the UNESCO list of festivals. The festival presented its 52nd edition this summer with dance, music, lights, and arts by performers from different countries and continents.

Three European universities are already part of the Festival’s history. The project „Sport in Art“ has completed its implementation on the scene – a 36-month project under the Erasmus+ higher education program, which runs from 2023 to 2026 and unites sports science with the arts to create a new professional qualification called „Sports Performance Specialist“. The development of the new qualification is a joint Master’s program, uniting three partner universities – NSA „Vasil Levski“, Charles University in Prague and the University of Leon, Spain in partnership with the National Association „Cultures du Monde“ of Ghana, France. Through the project, the joint master’s program was created, students from the three universities were trained, and to demonstrate the results of the new qualification, each university prepared a half-hour performance on stage with its students. The performances of the three universities had a common theme – „On Planet Earth – with love“, which also gave the idea of joint creativity and a European spirit.

These three performances were presented at the Festival „Cultures du Monde“ by the partner universities in the celebration atmosphere created by the project partner – the National Association „Cultures du Monde“. All three performances were carriers of the idea of the project, the youthful dedication of the students and the high professionalism of their teachers. In the theater space there was not a single empty seat in the rows for spectators, the performers enjoyed prolonged applause, professionals from other ensembles competed to express their congratulations. And the very next day the organizers asked the university groups to perform their performances again. And again on the stage were the beautiful sports and artistic movements, expressing the idea that nature is a gift that must be valued and preserved – with the beauty of youth, the excellent sports preparation, which showed some young people ready for professional performances.