Ashgabat, 10 May 2025 – As part of the European Union Day celebrations in Turkmenistan, the world premiere of RITUALS took place at the Mukam Palace. This unique choreographic and digital performance blended Turkmen ancestral traditions with contemporary European dance and multimedia art.

Created by Jean-Marc Matos (France) and Margherita Bergamo (Italy), in collaboration with the State Dance Ensemble of Turkmenistan, the Mengli State Dance Ensemble, and the Ak Yayla Folklore Ensemble from Balkan province, RITUALS opened with a performance of kushtdepdi, a UNESCO-listed element of Turkmen intangible cultural heritage.

The project was organised in partnership with the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan, the Delegation of the European Union, the Embassies of France and Italy, the Goethe-Institut Kazakhstan, and implemented by the French Institute in Turkmenistan. It is supported by EUNIC (EU National Institutes for Culture) under the European Spaces of Culture programme.