Tales of Other Dances and Courtyard Dances

The Festival Tales of Other Dances returns this year with its eighth edition dedicated to contemporary dance. The Festival will take place from October 11 to November 10, but, as has been the case for several years now, the event conceived by Chelo Zoppi and Atelier delle Arti will be opened by Courtyard Dances, now in its third edition. With Courtyard Dances, contemporary dance returns to the northern neighborhoods of Livorno to meet and involve citizens and residents. Four events, all free of charge, will combine music, dance, and visual art. This year, there is also an important innovation: from November 22 to 24, there will also be an exhibition at the Granai di Villa Mimbelli titled “Courtyard Dances – The Bridges of Art” with the works produced during the performances held in the northern neighborhoods of our city.
“After creating projects that have placed dance within the Museums and Libraries of our city,” say the organizers, “we felt the need to connect with that part of the territory that has difficulty encountering this type of artistic proposal. We want to connect with people, bring contemporary dance out of theaters. Starting from an investigation of the northern neighborhoods of our city, Shangai, Corea, Fiorentina, and Stazione, we observed how many of the social housing complexes had the characteristic of the Courtyard Building, an architectural choice inherited from ancient Rome, revived in the ’20s in Italy, and in the ’50s/’60s. The suburbs as places where contemporary artistic languages, and in particular of dance, can reside and become outposts of a path towards change, shifting the axis of culture by drawing a renewed geography of places, moving from social regeneration towards a sustainable vision of the city.”
The first appointment with Courtyard Dances is set for September 24 at 6 pm in the Shangai neighborhood (San Giovanni block), with Asia Pucci and Nicola Cisternino dancing; music by Nino Pellegrini on double bass. With the participation of Visual Artist Valentina Restivo.
The following meetings are scheduled for September 27 at 6 pm in Corea (Isolated Garden), October 1 at 6 pm in the Fiorentina neighborhood (Guglia-Barriera Garibaldi n 3,4,5,6), and October 5 at 11 am in the Stazione neighborhood (Courtyard via Badaloni 28).
The month of October will be dedicated to the numerous events of the Festival Tales of Other Dances, which will kick off at the Teatro Goldoni on October 11 (9 pm) with Hyperactive choreographed by John Scott. Also at the Teatro Goldoni on October 13 (6:30 pm) Virgilio Sieni will be the protagonist with Blind Dance.
The next events of Tales of Other Dances will move to Atelier delle Arti and on stage, there will be big names like: Nicola Cisternino, Sara Sicuro, Collettivo Giulio and Jari, Aurelio di Virgilio, Collettivo_A with Asia Pucci and Emiliano Nigi, Elisabetta Consonni and Chelo Zoppi together with Giulia Oblo, the participants of the workshop The Vibration of Green, and the Artists Oami – within the project “A Lesson in Fragility” with the guests of the Oami Family Home.
Supported by the Tuscany Region and the Ministry for Social Policies.
A special feature of the 2024 Festival will be held at the New Theatre of Comedies (Hall of the former Night Nurseries) where on November 8 (9 pm) the sixth edition of the Visioni Intime call will take place, with a show featuring four artists selected from the National Call: Sorelle di damiano, Collettivo Dare To Share, G. Re, and Michela Pegoraro.
The Festival Tales of Other Dances and Courtyard Dances are curated by Atelier delle Arti.
Constellation Pass – An important novelty of this edition is the Constellation Pass which offers the possibility of a discount on some shows, specifically a 40% discount on the October 13 show of Virgilio Sieni Blind Dance and on the October 27 show of C.G.J. Collettivo Giulio and Jari Pas de Deux. Constellation is the Association born last year that brings together companies, theaters, spaces that have been working in the city and nationally for years in the field of live performance, theater, and research dance. All the shows adhere to the initiative sponsored by the Municipality of Livorno for the shows organized by the associations belonging to Constellation entitled “Biking to the Theater”: 1 euro discount on tickets + the possibility of collecting points on a CARD (one point per show). For the Festival Tales of Other Dances, the person who collects the most points will receive a free subscription to the 2025 edition of the Festival.
Partners and collaborations – The Festival Tales of Other Dances is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Tuscany Region, Municipality of Livorno – Department of Culture, and is in collaboration with Fondazione Teatro Goldoni, Nuovo Teatro delle Commedie. Its partners are: Fondazione Armunia, Fondazione LEM, Coop Itinera, University of Pisa – Faculty of Civilizations and Forms of Knowledge, Niccolini Palli Institute.
Courtyard Dances in collaboration with the Festival Tales of Other Dances is supported by: Municipality of Livorno – Department of Culture and Department of Social Policies, Livorno Foundation, National Dance Production Center Virgilio Sieni, Casalp, Center for Reciprocal Development, Nuovo Teatro delle Commedie, and Constellation.
Tickets for Tales of Other Dances are paid with mandatory reservation by calling 338-4322616 or writing an email to atelierdelleartidanza@gmail.com.
Information: 0586-882319.