The first dança em foco event was held in 2003, breaking fresh ground as a Brazilian event dedicated exclusively to the interface between video and dance.  This festival focused on French works, presenting the videographic career and the choreographic performance of Portraits Dansés by choreographer Philippe Jamet and videomaker Philippe Démard, together with a workshop run by these two creative spirits exploring the possibilities of on-stage use of audiovisual facilities; and a commented videodance exhibition and a round table session on contemporary dance and its relationships to virtual images (cinema and video).  The organization of the event that year was backed by the Rio de Janeiro Chapter of SESC, with the support of the Alliance Française and the French Consulate General. 

In 2004, dança em foco featured two performances by Austria’s Cie.  Willi Dorner - treeseconds and no credit; two workshops, one with videomaker and choreographer Tamara Cubas (Uruguay), and the other with choreographer Willi Dorner (Austria).  Additionally, this event brought together for the first time the Festival Internacional de Videodanza del Uruguay and the Festival Internacional de Video-Danza de Buenos Aires, launching the Mercosur Videodance Circuit (CVM) and including Brazil in a network presenting titles from Latin America, Europe, the USA and Canada.

The second event was held at the Espaço SESC, with the support of the Austrian Consulate, Cie.  Willi Dorner, Itaú Cultural, Art Light, the Festival Internacional de Videodanza del Uruguay, the Festival Internacional de Video-Danza de Buenos Aires, the Supportive Actions and Studies Center for the Maré Community (CEASM) and the Education Through Movement Program (PEM).

Held in 2005, the third event firmed up its status as an international exhibition venue, with French and Latin American videodance and cinedance productions being particularly noteworthy.  The program included workshops given by Zaven Paré (France) and Silvina Szperling (Argentina); a lecture by Patrick Bensard, the director of the Cinématèque de la Danse de Paris; a round table on the topic of Videodance: Production and Circulation; and the presentation of the International Videodance Exhibition (MIV).

In 2005, dança em focowas once again supported by the Rio de Janeiro Chapter of SESC and partnerships with the Mercosur Videodance Circuit; the Festival Internacional de Videodanza del Uruguay, theFestival Internacional de Video-Danza de Buenos Aires; backed by support from the French Consulate, Psicodesign and the ZIT printshop.

In 2006, the fourth festival launched the first Brazilian publication on this topic: dança em foco - Dança e Tecnologia.  As an extension of this occasion, it presented a special event in São Paulo with speeches by Michelle Bargues (France), the coordinator of the Centre Georges Pompidouand also by researcher and lecturer Armando Menicacci (Italy / France); in addition to launching the dança em foco - Dança e Tecnologia book.  Additionally, a workshop on Portrait / Landscape: Poetics of Interactivity was given by Armando Menicacci, with a presentation of the MIV and films from the Centre Georges Pompidou and the Mercosur Videodance Circuit (CVM), with videos from Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.  This same year, there was a German edition of dança em foco, sponsored by the Culture Cup (Ministry of Culture) with the support of the Halle Dance Theater (Berlin).  The program was prepared specially to showcase Brazilian dancevideo output in the German capital.

Since 2006, the main supporter of dança em foco has been Oi Futuro.  Linked to this institution, which is deeply concerned with the interface between art and technology, this festival firmed up its footing on new foundations, extending and diversifying its publics of spectators and participants.

In 2007, the program for the V Festival included the MIV (with a widely diversified program featuring 229 Brazilian and international works, totaling almost 500 exhibition hours); the publication of the book entitled dança em foco - Videodança, as the second volume in the dança em foco series; and a series of round tables, lectures, workshops and mini-courses given by leading Brazilian and international names linked to the dance, cinema, video and contemporary art: Alex Reuben (UK), Daniel Miracle (Spain), Alexandre Veras and Andrea Bardawil (Ceará), Marcus Moraes, Ivana Bentes and Fernando Cocchiarale (Rio de Janeiro), in addition to Silvina Szperling (Argentina) and Tamara Cubas (Uruguay), who took part in the São Paulo version of this event, held for the second consecutive year at the SESC facilities in Vila Mariana, simultaneously with the Rio event.

Supplementing the actions undertaken by the project in 2007, dança em foco issued a tender announcement calling for one-minute works designed specially for mobile telephones, used here as a real platform for disseminating videodance.  The entries submitted in response to this announcement were presented during the MIV, and can be seen by clicking on: library.

This same year, in parallel to the event activities, dança em foco also encompassed the II Latin American Videodance Forum Meeting, which welcomed local guests as well as festival directors from Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay.

In partnership with the CVM, this festival launched its second videodance compilation, as well as a residency exchange program for works and professionals in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.

The sixth dança em foco was held in Rio de Janeiro from August 7 through to September 2, 2008, consisting of four weeks packed with activities at Oi Futuro in Flamengo and the Espaço SESC in Copacabana.  Its program included a workshop, a mini-course, three lectures, a round table, a creative residency, two special programs presenting films and video, and also the presentation of the MIV, which opened up that year to include commented programs where choreographers, directors, producers and curators of international festivals chatted with the public. 

Additionally, the dança em foco – Entre Imagem e Movimento book was published in English, Spanish and Portuguese; similar to the 2006 and 2007 editions, it featured essays by researchers Andréa Bardawil (Brazil); Christiana Galanopoulou (Greece); Cristiane Wosniak (Brazil); Luis Cerveró (Spain); and Robert Wechsler (USA / Germany); as well as a list of websites all over the world for reference and research purposes.  It was distributed in Brazil and several other countries.

Scheduled for August 7 – 24, the MIV sessions showed 486 hours of video from 25 countries at simultaneous displays in three interactive areas that covered the entire fourth floor of Oi Futuro.  This year, MP4 players provided the sound for two of the screens, with loudspeakers in a separate room for the third screen. 

The activities run parallel to the MIV on the fourth floor of Oi Futuro included presentations of commented programs throughout the entire event, attended by international directors, producers and curators invited specially to discuss their works with the public, displayed at the MIV.  On August 21, videoclip director Luis Cerveró (Spain) gave a lecture; with a round table held on August 23 on the topic of Between Stage and Screen, featuring Octavio Iturbe (Spain), with Marcus Moraes, Paulo Caldas and Eduardo Bonito all from Rio de Janeiro, discussing the current paths of videodance. 

The Espaço SESC hosted the following educational activities: a workshop with Octavio Iturbe (Spain) on A edição do movimento, held on August 18 – 23; and a practical mini-course with Tomas Aragay and Sófia Ascencio - Sociedad Doctor Alonso (Catalonia, Spain), during the weekend of August 30 and 31.

On August 23, the third year of the special display series was held at the Espaço SESC, entitled Trajetórias, presenting films from the Acervo Mariposa collection, in parallel to a discussion with its director Nirvana Marinho and her collaborator Rita Tatiana Cavassana; as well as two lectures: one with film director Philippe Barcinski, presenting his work and the other with Tomas Aragay and Sófia Ascencio, discussing their work on On Bodies or it was...  as the outcome of their residencies in Brazil.

For the third consecutive year, dança em focowas presented for two weeks in parallel to the Rio program at SESC Pinheiros in São Paulo, including the MIV and two workshops: one with Andréa Bardawil and Alexandre Veras (Fortaleza) and the other with Octavio Iturbe (Spain); a lecture by Luis Cerveró; a Master Class with Octavio Iturbe; and a round table with Sônia Sobral, Octavio Iturbe and Paulo Caldas.

The main innovation in 2008 was the organization – through a tender announcement published by the Caixa on organizing the modules of dança em foco during the second half of 2008, with a lecture, a round table and the MIV presented in four States: Belém, Salvador, Manaus and Teresina.

Since it was first established, dança em foco has been backed by other important partners including: the AFAA, the Arts Council(UK),theBritish Council, theCentre George Pompidou(France), the French Consulate, Dance East(UK), the Festival de Video-Danza de Buenos Aires, the Festival Internacional de Videodanza de Uruguay and the Cinemathèque de l’Ambassade de France(France); Dance Sweden (Sweden); Media.net (Canada); Frame, Direcção das Artes, the Instituto Camões and Fábrica de Movimentos (Portugal); Reeldance (Australia); the Instituto Cervantes in Rio de Janeiro, the Institut Ramon LLLL, Gobierno de España, Generalitat de Catalunya, the Centro Cultural Espanha/SP (Spain); the Goethe Institute (Germany); the Centro Cultural de São Paulo; the Caixa Cultural (Salvador); the Fundação Cultural do Estado da Bahia; the Laboratório Contemporâneo (Manaus); the Fundação Monsenhor Chaves and the Teatro Municipal João Paulo II / Centro de Criação do Dirceu (Teresina); and the Instituto de Artes do Pará - IAP (Belém).

Above all, it has been supported by the Rio de Janeiro Chapter of SESC, with this institution being credited for the appearance of dança em foco: this festival has been hosted by the Espaço SESC in Copacabana since it was first presented in 2003.