Dialogue with social and political reality, keeping an eye on what is happening in the world, imagining new perspectives of coexistence: this is the horizon of meaning and practices in which he travels Santarcangelo Festival under the direction of Tomasz Kirenczukrecently reconfirmed as artistic director of the event until 2026. Between shows and performances in the 54th edition of the historic festival dedicated to theater and performing arts, among the best known and appreciated in Europe, unusual forms find ample space, such as raves, funeral ceremonies and decolonial practices. Rituals mediated by the gaze of artists significant for the Italian and international performance scene, but also by emerging figures for whom Santarcangelo always reserves an important place. “While we are here – explains Kirenczuk, there are around 180 armed conflicts underway. While we are here one in six people live in an area of active conflict. While we are here in many countries around the world abortion is banned and homosexuality is punishable by death. While we are here, refugees are dying at sea, in the mountains and in the woods. While we are here, the predatory economy continues to speculate on the environment and poorer countries, increasing the population’s economic gap.”
While we are here, as this edition is called, therefore wants to reflect on the present, looking far beyond our borders, asking precisely “what happens while we are here”. In the program, which will be presented in detail at the end of the month, many interdisciplinary proposals stand out and the presence of artists arriving in Italy for the first time. The common thread is their being at the crossroads between performing arts and social changes. Alongside the big international names of performing art such as Dalila BelazaFrench choreographer who investigates the dialogue between ritual dances and abstraction, Rebecca ChaillonFrench director and performer originally from Martinique already in the Santarcangelo 2023 program this year with a new work created together with Sandra CalderanAnd Michelle MouraBrazilian choreographer resident in Berlin, already a guest at Santarcangelo in 2018, we find the Belgian artist Lisa Vereertbrugghenwho conducts his research between hardcore techno sound and danceSamuli Lainefrom Helsinki, who brings his artistic practice to the ridge between care, art and performance, and Marvin M’toumo who with his work overcomes the distinctions between theatre, dance and fashion.
Political activism and art intersect in many ways in the program of the 54th edition of Santarcangelo Festival: in the work of the Polish artist Agata Siniarska, by the Lithuanian choreographer and activist Agniete Lisickinaiteand of Bruno Freire choreographer originally from São Paulo in Brazil. Critical examination of the world, especially challenging colonial and racial structures, is at the heart of Brazilian artists’ work David Pontes And Wallace Ferreira. Still from Brazil, but based in Geneva, Catol Teixeira, already a guest at Santarcangelo in 2022 and 2023: his choreographies have multiple influences, from circus to classical dance through queer aesthetics. Research on the body is at the center of the work of the young Lithuanian dancer and choreographer Lukas Karvelisby the Swiss choreographer and dancer Baptiste Cazaux and the Ukrainian performer, director and choreographer Nina Khyzhna. The body’s reaction to different forms of violence and social constraint is instead the common thread for the Lithuanian artist, resident in Geneva, Anna-Marija Adomaityte.
Among the Italian proposals Stefania Tansini, UBU 2022 award in the “best performer under 35” category, the duo Panzetti / Ticconiwith work on the rituality of the gesture, Sara Sguotti And Arianna Ulianfor research that combines poetry and movement, Parini Second, a group of performers from Romagna whose choreography sublimates pop trends. The work on iconography, connected to our time, is the basis of the research of Giovanfrancesco Giannini, Fabio Novembrini And Roberta Racisbut also of the new proposal of Claudia CastellucciSilver Lion at the Venice Biennale in 2020, and by Valentina Medda, an interdisciplinary artist whose practice unfolds between image, performance and site-specific interventions.
The gaze on the world, at the center of the Festival’s themes, will be explored in depth by the visions of two artists and two artists in exile in Europe: Francisco Thiago Cavalcanti (Brazil / Portugal), Irkalla (Iraq / France), Eisa Baddour (Cyprus) e Liryc Dela Cruz (Philippines / Italy), whose presence is possible thanks to the collective work of the network In Ex(ile) Lab. The project continues this year too BOTTOMa network dedicated to emerging creativity, with the return to the public of the works of Vashish Soobah and of Elena Rivoltini. As always, there will be no shortage of laboratory results Let’s Revolution! / Patalò Theatre And non-school of the Teatro delle Albethe result of four months of work with the boys and girls of the middle and high schools of Santarcangelo.
Santarcangelo Festival is created by the Santarcangelo dei Teatri association thanks to the Municipality of Santarcangelo di Romagna and the Municipalities of Rimini, Longiano, Poggio Torriana, San Mauro Pascoli, supported by the European Commission, the Ministry of Culture, the Emilia-Romagna Region, Visit Romagna, the Chamber of Commerce of Romagna – Forlì-Cesena and Rimini and by the partners Gruppo Hera, Gruppo Maggioli.
