Paolo Baratta

I will start by saying that all three Departments of Dance, Music and Theatre, independently within their own sphere, move in coherent parallel directions that have arisen from a fertile dialogue among them, coupled with a deliberately systematic approach.

All three Festivals are highly focused: the themes they have chosen for their research are all in some way an expression of the desire to explore boundaries, to the point that they are no longer considered as such, not with the purpose of pursuing a more acquiescent popularity, but for a more open and rigorous acknowledgment of the qualities that exist in the boundless world of artistic creation.

All the DMT Departments are committed in their programmes to a joint Festival–College, which has become consolidated over the years, offering a training ground and a forum for dialogue not only to actors, but to directors as well, not only to dancers but to choreographers, not only to composers but to librettists and to directors of musical theatre.

This more systematic approach in the artistic programmes, which means both openness and compactness, aspires to make our Festival–Colleges places to exchange ideas, increasingly equipped to offer audiences precious opportunities for insight and involvement in the worlds of theatre, dance and music.

It is our intention to generate, with the audience and the artists, an intense experience and a vibrant community. This orientation seems to us to be the best strategy for making the most of the places, spaces and resources we have at our disposal.

For this reason, we have felt that it is important to begin offering the public yet another means for participation, that is more than just a Festival Pass and offers various opportunities to meet and engage in dialogue with the artists, with our Directors and with the visitors to the events themselves. To describe this project, we like to use the expression Spectators in Residence.

Also in line with these orientations, La Biennale di Venezia 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 Writers in Residence will involve both participation in the Festival and research in the Historic Archives: an archive that has been significantly reorganized in recent years and is now open to a future in which it will be more directly involved in research. A similar project will also be organized for photography.

In the field of Music, Ivan Fedele’s work proposes “to expand the field of exploration” to the most diverse styles of music composition and to other genres (jazz, live-set, pop) and areas of creativity in which research and experimentation become significant aspects of artistic expressions.

A historically-significant boundary that has been repeatedly crossed is the Atlantic Ocean: works, styles and masters have crossed the Atlantic metaphorically and in person, a phenomenon of the past and the present in the lives of great masters in music and young talents, a continuous stream of influences, reluctance, total acceptance, deferment into folklore, rediscovery. The Festival intends to offer an up-to-date picture of this.

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