Paolo Baratta

The three departments of Dance, Music and Theatre, each within its own autonomous sphere, move in coherent parallel directions.

All three festivals are highly focused: the themes they have chosen for their research are all three in some way an expression of the desire to explore boundaries, or even the desire to reduce boundaries to the point where they are no longer considered as such, and of course the point is not to pursue greater popularity through a loss of rigour, it is to seek the most open rigorous acknowledgment of the qualities that exist in the vast world of artistic creation.

In Theatre, Antonio Latella explores the boundary between actor and performer, and I might add the boundary between the director, in the many ways this role is understood, and the inventor of performances. Performance is an expression that we also find in the field of visual arts in our Art Exhibitions, or in dance: La Biennale hosted performance events as part of the dance programmes that at the time were held by the Theatre sector when Dance was not yet recognized as an independent department. Performance seems to press at the boundaries of various arts, introducing modes and practices that conflict with traditional modes and practices, but indicating directions that departed from other contemporary modes.

All the DMT departments are committed in their programme to a joint Festival - College, which has become established over the years, offering not only actors but directors as well a training ground for dialogue, not just for dancers but for choreographers too, not just for composers but for librettists and directors of musical theatre.

This more strongly systematic approach to our artistic programme, which is both openness and compactness, also seeks to make our festival-colleges places of exchange, increasingly equipped to offer its audiences precious opportunities for knowledge and direct experience of the worlds of theatre, dance and music.

With this very clear objective in mind, we chose to initiate a special action geared to promote and accompany the public that intends to join. We will offer a programme that is more than just a festival pass and aims for a more structured and participated involvement in the festival-college, with opportunities to meet and dialogue with the artists, our directors and the visitors themselves. To describe this project, we like to use the phrase “spectators in residence”.

Also in line with these orientations La Biennale will promote a new initiative geared towards young graduates who wish to engage in the art of ‘writing’ for theatre, dance or music, the programme will organize a research and writing project for each of the departments and a limited number of admitted applicants, assisted by a tutor under the supervision of the artistic directors who will select the ‘theme’ of the research work. The work of the aspiring “young contributors in residence” will involve both participation in the festival and research in the Historic Archives: Archives that has been significantly reorganized in recent years and now open to a future in which they will be more directly involved in research.

This formula for the Biennale DMT is the one that in our opinion takes greatest advantage of our specific resources in terms of space, venues (and of course funding), and seeks, as a result, to create an intense experience and a vibrant community.

Our warmest thanks go to the Mibact, the Regione del Veneto, the City of Venice and the Biennale in its entirety.