One of the highlights of dance anywhere® is sharing diverse performance styles and aesthetics from around the world. Italy, a country known for delicious cuisine and visual art has also proven to be a fruitful ground for site-specific dance artists. In this blog we feature a few of this years innovative dance anywhere® projects from Italy.

Art Garage Napoli

Puzzuoli, Napoli, IT

Art Garage

Art Garage

Art Garage

Art Garage is an Italian Production Company that promotes contemporary dance and dance research. After hearing about dance anywhere® from one of their company members several company members decided to perform for dance anywhere® 2014. The dancers created a site-specific contemporary dance piece that they performed in an art gallery. The dancers were inspired by Michaela Ricciardi’s paintings and by chairs and people who mingled within the space.

For more information about Art Garage Napoli visit their website or dance anywhere page.

Benjie Lasseau

Lucca, IT

IMG 6191 from Benjie Lasseau on Vimeo.

Benjie Lasseau

Performance artist Benjie Lasseau performed with friends, Taddeo and Elias in “the wings of the hallway” during her stay in a Lucca Italy home. Each dancer performed a slow, ghostly solo, wearing a white mask as they moved through the hallway. Said Benjie, “It has been wonderful to collaborate and create a dance during my stay in Lucca”.

For more information on Benjie Lasseau visit her dance anywhere® page

Osvaldo Cibils

Trento, IT

Osvaldo Cibilis

Osvaldo Cibils, an artist from Trento, IT performed with his friend Fiorella Alberti. Together they created a visual and musical sculpture with 12 glass jars, adhesive tape and black acrylic paint. The sculpture danced as Osvaldo and Fiorella continuously turned it, creating dancing shadows of the two figures and the statue on the wall.

For more information on Osvaldo Cibilis visit his website or dance anywhere® page.

Tina Dance Company

Ascoli Piceno, IT

Tina Dance is a contemporary company from the Marche region of central Italy. For dance anywhere® 2014 the company invited youth dancers from the Miniera delle Arti Dance Center to perform with them at an architectural site in the outskirts of Ascoli Piceno. Nadia Cois choroegraphed the dance, inspired by the geometry of the stone and marble site.

For more information about Tina Dance Company visit their dance anywhere® page

Diana Gargano

Naples, IT

Diana Gargano danced in the Metro Station, Naples, IT

Diana Gargano lives in Naples, Italy where public performance art is thriving. “In Naples thanks to some talent show and television broadcasts, love for dance is spreading even among the very young. In fact we organize many flash mobs where people meet together and dance to express an idea, or protest.” Since 2011 when she heard of dance anywhere® while living in Berkeley, Diana has been a dedicated participant, dancing in public spaces throughout her hometown. One year she danced at the Piazza Dante Naples Metro Station in the center of the city. She continues to participate because “I’m not a dancer but I love art in all its forms and the idea that the world will stop to dance is amazing…dance anywhere® is the most extraordinary and creative flashmob before the flash mob was invented.”

For more information on Diana Gargano visit her dance anywhere® page.