The Trey McIntyre Project will bring its unique style of contemporary ballet to Kingsbury Hall this week. It’s easy to see that this isn’t a company that rides on its laurels: All three of the ballets on the program were choreographed in 2012, including "The Unkindness of Ravens," which premiered earlier this month at New York’s highly acclaimed Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Latin dancer, choreographer and teacher Becky Fleming has been encouraging the children at Garran Primary School to learn more about Cuba's musical traditions. "Their learning about the music and the rhythm and the timing and how to be little gentlemen and ladies," she said. "It is teaching them respect for each other.

The U.S. Department of State announced that Haitian performers Compagnie de Danse Jean-René Delsoin will travel to communities across America as part of a cultural diplomacy initiative, Center StageSM, October 16 - November 10, 2012.

The Guangzhou Acrobatic Ballet will perform at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo on September 6 as part of the cultural exchange between China and the Dominican Republic.

Taiwan’s Diabolo Dance Theatre will perform in Latin America to promote the nation’s soft power and public diplomacy, according to the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aug. 29....Yang added that MOFA has been selecting renowned local art groups to perform abroad in recent years to implement President Ma Ying-jeou’s cultural diplomacy.

Israel has unveiled the latest weapon with which it hopes to win over the hearts and minds of people in the former Soviet Union: Interpretive dance. The Public Diplomacy Ministry is sending a group of Israeli artists, including dance troupe Vizavi, on a tour of Baltic countries aimed at improving the country's image in the region.

Whatever the London 2012 opening ceremony includes, I am sure it will effectively communicate to a mass audience more about modern Britain in just one show than politicians have achieved in decades... we must remember that no matter what our countries financial difficulties (or not), the arts have a role to play challenging the idea of what a country is and stands for… So here’s to cultural diplomacy.

DanceMotion USASM builds on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power” diplomacy, which embraces the full use of diplomatic tools, in this case dance, to engage people and create opportunities for greater understanding.