The 2021 Florence Dance Festival, Act 2

 

A scene from the 2021 Florence Dance Festival

The 2021 Florence Dance Performing Arts Festival continues through July with the best national, Tuscan and Florentine companies. Featuring new dance artists and choreographers, the 32nd edition of the festival brings excitement and energy to the stage of Santa Maria Novella’s Great Cloister (Chiostro Grande di Santa Maria Novella). 

This year’s theme, “Future Perfect Squared – la potenza in atto,” celebrates the renewed energy emerging from the pandemic. 

“This 32nd year is even more exciting because we’ve been able to come out of the darkness and be in the light,” Florence Dance Festival co-founder Keith Ferrone said. “This time around I feel like it’s really been refurbished.” 

Week Four: July 19 to July 24

The final two weeks of the festival will begin with BTT Balletto Teatro di Torino (Monday, July 19 at 9:30 pm). The group will perform “Studio per Anemoi,” an artistic piece choreographed by Manfredi Perego and artistically directed by Loredana Furno. In the performance, the wind (Anemoi) will flow through the dancers as they perform to the musical beats of Paolo Codognola.

Sticking to the theme of nature, the Kinesis CDC Contemporary Dance Company will perform “Moon … the new paradise” (Wednesday, July 21 at 9:30 pm). The Divine Comedy (La Divina Commedia) inspired show will take attendees through space in a performance honoring the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death. “Moon … the new paradise” is reflective of the company’s emphasis on stylistic research and projects with national cultural institutions. 

Following Kinesis’ performance, the Florence Power Tryptic features three emerging Florentine companies: Mystes Dance Company, Lyric Dance Company and Project 2.0 Company. The three companies will present a triptych of shows (Friday, July 23 at 9:30 pm). The first of the three will be “Generations”–a blend of urban, narration and instinctive dance–performed by Mystes Dance Company and choreographed by Gigi Nieddu. Succeeding Mystes will be Lyric Dance Company in their performance “Ritratto di Frida” choreographed by Alberto Canestro. Through a neoclassical language, the dancers will paint a portrait of the artist Frida. The final performance of the Florence Power Tryptic will be “Emotional Geographies” by Project 2.0 Company. The show, choreographed by Massimiliano Terranova, will explore the map of human emotions and its constantly changing territories. 

Week Five: July 24 to July 29

Prior to the two final dance performances, Elio and Francesco Bianconi will be on stage Saturday, July 24 at 8 pm. The evening is dedicated to the Meyer Pediatric Hospital Foundation and will include special guests Elio and Gianpaolo Donzelli, president of the Meyer Foundation, and Dario Nardella, the mayor of Florence. The event will be accompanied by video inserts by Teen Academy and end with the concert “Pinocchio!” directed by Francesco Bianconi. 

The Florence Dance Festival finale will recommence July 27 and July 29 with two performances dedicated to the innovation of Italian national dance. Welcoming two new companies to the stage, the finale will bring attendees a glimpse at the future of Italian art. 

“This is really where the Florence Dance Festival is able to push through on a cultural level as far as dance is concerned in Italy,” Keith Ferrone, co-founder of Florence Dance Festival, said. 

The first of the two groups, RBR Dance Company Illusionistheater, will perform “IllusionisTheater” on Tuesday, July 27 at 9:30 pm. The multimedia show choreographed by Cristiano Fagioli, Cristina Ledri and Alessandra Odoardi will engage the audience in the magical illusions of dance, lights and theatrical techniques. 

The second of the two groups, Equilibrio Dinamico Dance Company, will close the festival with a show called “Confini Disumani” (Thursday, July 29 at 9:30 pm)

“This is a company that is a good example of who’s going to be on stage tomorrow because they’ve been able to develop their craft,” Ferrone said. “It’s not only a product of the stage but formation and dances.”

The emerging company’s performance is artistically directed and choreographed by Roberta Ferrara and inspired by the text “Solo Andata.” Rooted in the theme of migration, “Confini Disumani” will create a raw picture of society. The dancers will cascade through the realities of our world – broken and suffering. The world will come crumbling down in this final of the 2021 Florence Dance Festival.

The music fades. The dancing stops. The curtains close. 

For more information and tickets, which must be reserved online, visit the website. (rachel pellegrino)