Bolzano Danza Festival Presents EDEN: Dance for One Spectator

The Bolzano Danza festival, under artistic director Emanuele Masi, has reimagined its 2020 edition as EDEN – Danza per uno spettatore, a radical response to pandemic restrictions. Instead of canceling, Masi commissioned three choreographers—Carolyn Carlson, Rachid Ouramdane, and Michele Di Stefano—to create solo performances for a single audience member in the 800-seat Teatro Comunale. Each spectator books a specific time, chooses a choreographer, and is escorted to a central seat. After the performance, they are led to a small garden in the foyer to process the experience. The title EDEN evokes the biblical first encounter between Adam and Eve, reframed as the meeting between dancer and viewer. Masi emphasizes that the project emerged from the provincial ordinance banning gatherings of "more people," turning limitation into creative foundation. The festival shifted from hosting to producing, with all three choreographers working under the shared title EDEN, differentiated by their names: EDEN of Carolyn, EDEN selon Rachid, and EDEN secondo Michele. Masi selected Carlson for a 2012 focus on her work, while Di Stefano and Ouramdane have longstanding ties to Bolzano. The project is conceived as a one-time response to the unique moment of reopening; Masi states that in six months such a project would be superfluous. The festival aims to offer a symbolic ritual for the community's return to theater, asserting that contemporaneity means imagining the future.