Italian dance sector faces existential crisis after pandemic shutdown

The Italian dance sector is grappling with severe economic and emotional fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, as theaters remain closed and performances canceled. Manuela Barbato, curator of the dance season at Teatro Bellini in Naples alongside choreographer Emma Cianchi, describes a devastating situation for independent dancers and small companies who rely on each performance for survival. While large international companies can absorb losses, freelance artists face ruin. The crisis is compounded by Italy's chronic underfunding of dance, which receives only 3.52% of the Fondo Unico dello Spettacolo (FUS), compared to 18.04% for music and 21.15% for theater. Barbato notes that dance is often treated as a secondary art form in Italy, unlike in other European countries or the US. The Teatro Bellini is one of the few Italian theaters with a full dance season, seen as an act of courage. Rescheduling canceled performances would require postponing the entire season by a year, penalizing artists already confirmed for 2020/2021. The article calls for institutional recognition and support for dance, which lacks safety nets and is perpetually unstable.