The recently past year Monaco was the scene for the grand biennial Dance Forum. The event took place between 14 and 18 December 2004 and was held mostly at Grimaldi Forum. The four days unfolded on various levels:

• Performances,
• Multimedia Forum,
• Dance on Screen,
• The ADvANCE Project,
• First Job Audition,
• Exhibitions - monographic and thematic ones, Karl Lagerfeld's photo exhibition,
• Rendez-vous - great opportunities open for the public to meet famous choreographers from all over the world.

Most notable performances included Orfeo ed Euridice, by Emio Greco/PC and Opera North / Netherlands, UK and Fairy, by Jyrki Karttunen and Co / Finland, Henry Oguike Dance Company from the UK and Compania Maria Pages, a Spanish company that blends flamenco with contemporary jazz standards.

The ceremony of the 2004 Nijinsky Awards was held on December 18 at the Forum Grimaldi in Monte Carlo. The most coveted prizes were awarded to Nicolas Le Riche of the Ballet de l'Opera National de Paris and the Romanian performer Alina Cojocaru of the London Royal Ballet in the male and female dancer categories.

The multimedia forum constituted an innovative way to lead dance beyond boundaries of gravity and scenic space constraints, bonding new ties with other arts - music, film, visual arts.The multimedia projects reunited choreographers, stage designers, musicians, graphic artists etc. Three forms were accepted: software, live choregraphic pieces making use of numeric devices and choreographic installations.

There were 142 candidates from 29 countries. The SACD prize was awarded to the unfinished project "Dont ask the Blond" initiated by Cosmin Manolescu in collaboration with Kira Riikonen and Roberto Casarotto. The project reunites the collective work of choreographers and other artists from Finland, Italy and Romania and will be developed in 2005. The final show will be accompanied by visual and sonorous creations. Ten persons from the audience will be invited to take part in the performance each time. The premiere will be in Finland, in July 2005.

The section Dance on Screen was intended to offer to audiovisual producers and dance companies an opportunity to meet partners such as directors of festivals, theatre programmers, TV broadcasters, general and specialized media journalists with the view of future project development, promotion and marketing.

The results of the ADVANCE Project were presented at a conference during Monaco Dance Forum. This project was initiated three years ago by the International Organization for the Transition of Professional Dancers (IOTPD) aiming to improve the challenges met by the professional dancers when transitioning to a post-dance career.

On December 14 and 15, 100 pre-professional dancers selected from around the world had the opportunity to obtain their first full time contract on the First Job Audition. The audition consisted of one classical ballet class and a contemporary workshop with an invited choreographer. The First Job Audition ended with the Bursary Awards Ceremony which took place on December 16 at "Espace Karrement"(Grimaldi Forum) in the presence of H.R.H. Princess Caroline of Hanover.

Princess Caroline, who is president of the Monte Carlo Ballet, founded by Princess Grace, has worked hard to fulfil her mother's dream of making dance an essential part of Monaco's cultural life. The most important moments of the Forum, culminating with the Nijinsky Awards night at the Salle des Princes of the Grimaldi Forum, were marked by her presence.