'Italia Danza': the new project by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and CCN/Aterballetto
A new project by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) and the national choreographic centre CCN/Aterballetto of Reggio Emilia started in Prague on November 28: Italia Danza, realised through the MAECI Directorate General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy and developed in co-operation with the Italian Cultural Institutes and with the support of Emilia-Romagna Region and the Municipality of Reggio Emilia.
An innovative project, the core of which is the idea of crossing the symbolic places of Italian culture in the world through site-specific performances imagined to ‘inhabit’ palaces, halls, and auditoriums, but also small monumental or urban spaces.
The MicroDanze (MicroDances) are the symbol of this path. They are short, non-frontal and non-on-stage creations by Italian and international choreographers, that have already been exhibited in some of the main European museum spaces and urban areas, offering something unique: a close-up experience in which the spectator is around and in contact with the dancer, generating unrepeatable emotions and aesthetic visions.
The first phase of the Italia Danza project takes place in the last two months of 2023. After Prague, the next stages are Brussels (November 30), Zagreb (December 4), Stockholm (December 7). London and Dakar will follow, and new destinations that are being planned for 2024.
The choreographies that will set up the different site-specific shows include: Active Motivation by Elena Kekkou, Near Life Experience by Angelin Preljocaj, Eppur si muove by Francesca Lattuada, A Gig by Diego Tortelli, An Echo, A Wave by Philippe Kratz.
In Prague, the MicroDanze were staged in the Baroque Chapel of the Italian Cultural Institute, in Brussels thy will be in Les Halles Saint-Géry, in Zagreb in the spaces of the Zagreb Dance Centre (ZPC), in Stockholm the dancers will move from room to room together with the spectators in the spaces designed by Gio Ponti of the Italian Cultural Institute.
The participation of the European Commission gives special relevance to the Brussels stage. The Commission collaborated on bringing the MicroDanze - as an exemplary experiment of “urban dances”, conceived as a stimulus to the re-appropriation of urban spaces by citizens - into the ancient market of St. Gery, restored by the Municipality of Brussels to turn into a multifunctional space open to citizens. The show is included in the program of activities of the Forum "Cities and Regions for International Partnerships" 2023, co-organised by the European Commission and the European Committee of the Regions, to show Mayors and Presidents of Regions from Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America an interesting artistic proposal for the enhancement of recovered urban public spaces.
Italian Cultural Institute in Brussels
Italian Cultural Institute in Prague
Italian Cultural Institute in Stockholm
Italian Cultural Institute in Zagreb
Fondazione Nazionale della Danza / Aterballetto