Valentina Marini on Fuori Programma Festival: Dance, Politics, and the Present

Valentina Marini, artistic director of the Fuori Programma International Dance Festival in Rome, discusses the third edition's program and the state of contemporary dance in Italy. The festival features works addressing hot topics: coexistence between Arabs and Jews (Hillel Kogan's "We love arabs"), human-nature relationship (Vertigo Dance Company's "One. One & One" and Spellbound's "Full Moon"), mother-child bonds (Dunja Jocic's "Don't Talk to me in my sleep"), life's transience (Abbondanza Bertoni's "La morte e la fanciulla"), and good vs. evil (Roberto Zappalà's "Corpo a Corpo"). Marini emphasizes dance's power to engage with the present and foster emotional connection. The festival includes premieres for Rome, collaborations with Bolzano Danza and Civitanova Danza, and side events like workshops and walkabouts. Marini critiques Italian bureaucracy and intergenerational dynamics, advocating for risk-taking programmers and equal conditions for Italian artists. She dreams of Fuori Programma as a bridge between summer festivals, supported by crowdfunding and private initiative.