The theatrical concert "Through the Ages" is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Song Festival, and invites people to recall the history of the event, which began in 1924. One of the main participants of the festival, the ensemble "Lietuva", created most of the repertoire in its time. The directors, composers, choreographers and ballet masters who worked there choreographed the main dances and composed the musical programmes that are still performed by various ensembles today. The centenary of the Song Celebration has inspired a new musical project, which, through the eyes of the renewed ensemble, will reveal the treasure trove of the national repertoire - the works of J. Shvedas, J. Lingis, V. Buterlevičius, L. Povilaitis and other renowned creators of "Lithuania".
For many, the Song Celebration is a nostalgic memory, but it is a ritual in which we want to engage with thousands of Lithuanians around the world. This programme looks back at the tradition and origins of the 100-year-old Song Festival, and not only traces the birth of the national mobilisation to sing between the two world wars, the transformation of the identity of our singing community, the ways in which the community responded in song to a difficult period in Lithuania's history, and the beginning of the Singing Revolution, but also re-establishes the community in Lithuanian song and dance itself. In these songs, in their sound and in the singing of all of us (audience and performers), the history of our nation is encoded, and it is worth singing again and again, because by performing this ritual our identity is strengthened.