4-29 May 2004. After the previous years tributes to Jiri Kylian, Mats Ek and William Forsythe, the contemporary choreographer at the heart of this years event is John Neumeier, who is considered the master of dance drama. The more general theme of the festival is European choreography of the second half of the 20th century. The festival is increasingly successful and this year branches out to new locations such as the deconsecrated church of S. Carlo, the futuristic headquarters of the Aterballetto company, the city parks, and three theatres: the Valli, the Ariosto and the Cavallerizza. German-born American Neumeiers Hamburg Ballet company opens the festival with two works: Bernstein Dances (4 May 2004) and Nijinsky (7, 8 May 2004), and a workshop on narrative dance (5 May 2004). The programme also includes the Israeli Batsheva Dance Company in Naharins Virus (15 May 2004), Les Philosophes with the Josef Nadj Company and performances by the citys resident company Aterballetto.