Biennale College Danza 2023: the selected dancers and choreographers

It begins on Monday 8 May the third edition of the Biennale College Danza directed by Wayne McGregor. 16 dancers and 2 choreographers – selected from 244 applicants from 39 countries – will take part in a three-month residency, at the end of which they will make their debut at the 17^th International Festival of Contemporary Dance of La Biennale di Venezia (13 > 29 July).

The selected dancers, all between the ages of 19 and 27, are: Anastasia Crastolla, Giuseppe Iodice, Francesco Giammattei, Giorgio Lombardo, Nicolò Zanotti from Italy; Amanda Peetv, Emilio Wettlaufer, Kehari Hutchinson from the United States; Fernando Pérez from Mexico; Isabella Di Liello from Canada; Daiana Mankovska and Daria Hordiichuk from Ukraine; Kayla Gabrielle Aguila from the Philippines; Jo-Chen Chang from Taiwan; Yume Takojima from Japan; Dipesh Verma from India.

The selected choreographers are: from Australia Scott Elstermann, born in 1994, and Hai-Wen Hsu, born in Taipei (Taiwan).

Starting on Monday 8 May, the dancers and choreographers will be engaged in 12 intense weeks of classes, workshops, masterclasses and rehearsals that will culminate in the 17^th International Festival of Contemporary Dance, with repertory works and new creations. On the one hand, the importance of transmitting knowledge between mentor and student and on the other, of stimulating the contemporary talent for invention, for which the Biennale College Danza will provide not only production support, but also the tools, methods and time required for realisation.

The Festival will therefore present:

• The new production of Dance Constructions in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art of New York (MoMA), the seminal work by Simone Forti, the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement 2023.
  The Dance Constructions will be an integral part of the retrospective exhibition dedicated to the great artist of movement and which Biennale Danza brings to Venice in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art of Los Angeles (MOCA). The historic series of performances by Simone Forti, a perfect synthesis of the research into movement that distinguished the practice of the Italian-American artist since the earliest days of her career, will be performed repeatedly throughout the Biennale Danza 2023 (13 > 29 July) in the same Sale d’Armi that will host the exhibition for and with the dancers of the Biennale College Danza under the mentorship of Sarah Vox Swenson.
• The new production of a fundamental work from the contemporary repertory by William Forsythe, Duo, in the extended version. A work dated 1996 in which Forsythe dissects and rewrites the principles of the pas de deux, building it entirely around a breath score, Duo will be reconstructed by Riley Watts and Brigel Gjoka, formerly dancers with Forsythe who had produced a new version back in 2015 and in 2019, which will now be extended to involve all the Biennale College Danza dancers. The work will premiere on July 28 and 29 at the Teatro Piccolo Arsenale.
• A new creation commissioned by La Biennale to Xie Xin, a key figure in contemporary choreography, who has conquered audiences around the world with her fluid and intangible dance. The new creation will be presented in combination with Duo on July 28 and 29 at the Teatro Piccolo Arsenale.
• Two new creations by the selected choreographers Scott Elstermann and Hai-Wen Hsu, who will develop their respective works with the young dancers of the Biennale College Danza. The new choreographies will premiere on the stage of the Festival on July 25 and 26.

The mentors of the Biennale College Danza 2023, besides Wayne McGregor, Director of the Dance Department of La Biennale di Venezia, will be: Sarah Vox Swenson, choreographer, dancer and specialist of the work of Simone Forti; Brigel Gjoka and Riley Watts, formerly dancers in the William Forsythe company; Xie Xin, director of the Xie Xin Dance Company.

In addition to the rich training programme, during the Festival the dancers and choreographers will participate in mini-residencies with the guest artists and attend the performances and events in the programme.

For the third consecutive year, the collaboration continues with the luxury fashion house Bottega Veneta, which supports the activities of the Dance Department as the main sponsor.