Dance Inside and Isadora: Two Digital Performance Projects Post-Lockdown

Two digital performance initiatives emerged from the post-lockdown period in Italy. Dance Inside, launched in April 2020 during lockdown, is a video-choreographic project curated by dance critic Giuseppe Distefano and Lula Abicca. It commissioned around thirty Italian and international choreographers to create short choreographies reflecting on isolation, distance, and absence, published on Facebook and Dance Blog. Participants include Celestin Boutin of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Dario Rigaglia of Les Ballets C de la B, Emma Cianchi (artistic curator for dance at Teatro Bellini in Naples), Sasha Riva and Simone Repele of Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve, and Hektor Buddla of Aterballetto. The second project, Isadora – The TikTok Dance Project, is a digital residency by choreographer Giselda Ranieri and social media expert Simone Pacini, a winner of the Residenze Digitali call. It uses TikTok to create an interactive web performance based on improvisation, involving teenagers in choreographic creation inspired by distance learning. The first residency runs until August 1, 2020, with a second in autumn ending with an online event. The project explores new potentials for live art online without replacing its nature.