Biennale College - Danza

Conceived to promote young talents by having them work in close contact with the masters to develop creations, during the festivalthis year Biennale College – Danza will present the results of two intensive and structured experiences, one dedicated to the art of dance, and one dedicated for the first time to the art of choreography; the latter offers 3 new choreographers the unique opportunity to develop an original creation at least 12 minutes long. The 3 new choreographers will work with professional dancers who have significant experience, for a period of 6-weeks, ending with a presentation to the public of the 3 original creations in one single evening, as part of the 11th International Festival of Contemporary Dance of the Biennale di Venezia.

On June 28th at the Teatro Piccolo Arsenale (at 9:30 pm), 3 short original choreographies will be presented, created by Irina Baldini, 29 years old, from Italy; Chloe Chignell, 24 years old, from Australia; Joaquìn Collado Parreño, 26 years old, from Spain.

The three choreographers will be in Venice from May 16th to June 27th. Following a preliminary phase in which they will study William Forsythe's creative process, for 6 weeks each of them will work on their own creation with 7 professional dancers. Throughout the different phases of research, elaboration, and development of the 3 creations, Irina Baldini, Chloe Chignell, Joaquìn Collado Parreño will have the opportunity to work with experts such as Elizabeth Waterhouse, trained at the American Ballet and for 9 years a dancer with the Ballet Frankfurt/The Forsythe Company; Hildegard de Vuyst, a dramaturgist for Platel's les ballets C de la B then for the Royal Flemish Theatre; Catherine Schaub Abkarian, actress, director, dancer, who worked for many years with Ariane Mnouchkine's Théâtre du Soleil.

On June 26th in the Sale d'Armi (at 7:30 pm) the 15 selected dancers will make their debut as the protagonists of an excerpt from the work on Sider by William Forsythe and a new creation that Benoît Lachambre has conceived specifically for the Biennale College.

The selected dancers (22 Italian, 2 American, 1 French, 1 Australian) will be in Venice from April 4th to June 26th to follow an integrated process of training and interpretation. The training will focus on the awareness of the body or somatic approach, with Judith Koltai (Authentic Movement), Tom Koch (Alexander Technique), Nora Benian (Yin Yoga), Maria Raffaella Dalla Valle (Feldenkrais). The training will consist in the practice of contemporary dance techniques, focusing on the Forsythe method, and an exploration of movement with Katja Cheraneva, Frances Chiaverini, Josh Johnson, Roberta Mosca and David Kern, all former dancers with William Forsythe, who will guarantee the transmission between master and student. For the interpretation, the dancers will work with Benoît Lachambre on a new work and with Forsythe's former dancers on the interpretation of a work in the repertoire.