WEEK 2 — WORKSHOPS
MARISTELLA MARTELLA
Tarantism - The Origins
Dates: 1-2 September
Schedule: 3h, 2 days, Monday & Tuesday
Focus: Folk dance, Improvisation
The workshop "Tarantism - The Origins" combines the ancient practice of Southern Italian Tarantism with contemporary dance and music, providing an intense and dynamic artistic and personal experience. Participants will explore ancient rituals through contemporary choreographic language, merging tradition and innovation. In this workshop, the body represents a medium of creation and a reflection of individual experience, collective memory, and social context. These elements influence movements, postures, and gestures.
Dance, as a non-verbal language, conveys symbolic content, and through it, one can connect to their natural movements and life, expressing the balances and imbalances of their being. Through an intense process, the aim is to renew tradition, exploring popular cultural codes with a critical and creative vision, balancing the past with present dynamics.
This journey offers participants a unique opportunity to learn and create, transforming dance into a means of personal and collective expression.
Andrea Valenti
Catch Me
Dates: 3-5 September
Schedule: 2h30' , 3 days
Focus: Partnering, Tricks, Contact Improvisation
In this partnering workshop, we explore efficient and dynamic movement methods designed to facilitate dancing in pairs and groups. I have developed a series of exercises to foster clear, effective, and trusting communication between movers. This approach enables the creation of a continuous and stimulating connection, which can naturally evolve into acrobatic patterns.
The workshop begins with a thorough warm-up aimed at improving body awareness. Through a gradual and stimulating progression, we will focus on: the use of surrounding space, contact with the partner, disequilibrium, the directions of body weight, engaging with the partner’s body at different speeds, the role of the center of gravity, and the principles of energy conservation and angular momentum in partnering. This phase will culminate in the study of lifts, holds, and more acrobatic jumps.
We will use practices inspired by martial arts, tango, and contact improvisation to overcome traditional and stereotypical partnering roles in dance. Participants will have the opportunity to learn and practice specific lifts, jumps, and principles within a continuous flow of movement, favoring a non-muscular approach and focusing on the role of the skeletal structure in supporting movement.
Part of the workshop will be dedicated to improvisation, using the techniques explored earlier, and may conclude with a choreographic proposal.
Yasmin Iriel Frione
360º Movement
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Dates: 3-5 September
Schedule: 2h30', 3 days
Focus: Improvisation, Acrobatics, Theater, Instant Composition
Yasmin’s workshop is designed to cultivate a dynamic, adaptable body through technical movement and theatrical exploration. Participants will engage with floorwork, contemporary dance techniques, and acrobatics to expand spatial awareness and unlock creativity through improvisation. The focus is on full-body integration, utilizing the backspace and multiple levels to enhance movement fluency. Additionally, the workshop explores performance presence, incorporating physical exercises and group dynamics to refine stage interpretation. Through physical theatre and improvisation, dancers will develop solos, duets, and group work, culminating in a final presentation that merges technique, artistry, and stagecraft into a cohesive performative experience.
