Dance, at the start of the 19th edition of the Rome 2021 Award

History, Prestige and Avant-garde for the 150 video projects presented this year at the Roma Danza Award, an international competition organized by the National Dance Academy (And) now in its 19th edition. The competition, sponsored by the Municipality of Rome, takes place as usual from 8 to 12 July and, for the second time, is entirely dedicated only to videodance. Another entirely online edition based on the concept of multimedia. The competing works will be shared with the users of the official And channels (Facebook and Youtube, 9 pm) for 5 days of live and streaming accessible, freely and for free, from all over the world. Great news this year, the arrival of the final evening on the OnTheatre.tv channel (9 pm), a digital platform on which you can follow the Grand Gala of the Prize and discover the names of the winners of this edition. The 19th edition of the Prize, which sees the Cuomo Foundation (official sponsor) and the National Dance Academy Foundation among its supporters, is divided into three sections. Unpublished and edited videos and works created with App and Smartphone, respectively Dance Movie, Published Dance Production and SmARTphone Dance.For the first time, young people who live and live in the Eternal City are also given an opportunity, with the establishment of the Special Videodance Award ‘Roma Capitale’, the intent of this new section of the competition is to tell, through video-narrations, the complex face of space and life that is articulated in the Roman municipalities. The selection of the works is entrusted to an internationally renowned jury chaired by Ana Laguna, dancer symbol of the major choreographers of the contemporary international scene, Mats Ek’s companion and muse. The artistic direction of the Competition (the director of the And, Enrica Palmieri) has in fact brought together a group of exponents of the international world of art and dance entrusting them with the arduous task of decreeing the winners among the videos selected by a first curated skimming. by the artistic committee of the Rome Prize. Rossella Battisti, theater and dance critic, popularizer and essayist, will host the gala on July 12, a moment dedicated to the proclamation of the winning works which will see the participation of authors, jurors and special guests from the evocative setting of the Ruskaja Theater, a historic space performative of the Largo Arrigo VII office. Ambitious are the issues on which dancers, performers, directors, videomakers or ordinary citizens have been called to confront, in a moment in which life, history and the becoming of man bear the legacy of a pandemic that has profoundly changed the view on the world and the way of making art. The digital edition of such a prestigious award returns as an encouragement to the evolution of a creativity that consciously assimilates the tools of the time with which it is confronted. “This year we could not yet imagine a Prize in attendance – says the director Palmieri – videodance represents a particular and complex form of art that allows us to get to the presence of truly extraordinary works. The Academy at this time can represent a crossroads where the world passes by, makes itself observed and goes away. “The Special Prize for videodance ‘Roma Capitale’ is one of the great novelties of this year. “We are used to thinking of the Eternal City only for postcards – emphasizes the director – but Rome is also, and above all, its periphery. With this Award we wanted to give young people the opportunity to highlight the urban views of those who live there. , telling it with a new look “. Of the same opinion Carola Penna, president of Commission XII – Tourism, Fashion and International Relations of the Municipality of Rome, who adds: “the Prize strengthens the link between the National Dance Academy and the city of Rome, turning attention to the Capitoline Municipalities. this special award intends to give a voice to the territories through the inspiration and creativity of the young people who live in the city; for the latter it is an important opportunity to let their talent emerge in an international professional context “.” Telling a territory – continues the councilor of the IX Municipio Carmela Lalli – means offering a realistically different look that describes everyday life but above all our present “. Another Special Prize the one established by the Foundation of the National Dance Academy, whose President, Chiara Zoppolato, states: “with this Prize we wish to pay homage to Jia Ruskaja, founder of the Academy and of the Foundation, strengthening the bond between the two institutions and inaugurating a new season of cultural and artistic projects and activities “. There are 5 jurors who this year will select the winners of the 19th edition of the Roma Danza Award. The artistic committee has narrowed down the circle of the best works to be delivered to the jury which, starting from 8 July, will assign a score to the works presented by each participant, decreeing the final judgment. The jury will be chaired by the historical dancer Ana Laguna, étoile of the Cullberg Ballet, interpreter and international teacher. With her, to evaluate the competing proposals, Robert Swinston, director of choreography of the Merce Cunninghman Trust, former assistant of Merce Cunningham and artistic director of the Center National de Danse Contemporaine (CNDC) in Angers, Kristian Ratevossian, dancer and teacher of Vaganova technique and then again Alfio Agostini, director of BALLET2000 and dance critic and the artist Cesare Pietroiusti, president of the Palaexpo Special Company and curator of the artistic programming of the Slaughterhouse. also the prizes linked to the interpretation, the concept and the music and dance relationship. The restrictions of this last year have not stopped video-dancers who have tried their hand at a specific form of interpretation: the one that binds dance to video. There are 122 works submitted to the competition, of which 30 from different countries of the world such as China, United States, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Czech Republic, France, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Mozambique and Syria. Significant numbers and data after the last edition which was a ‘first time’ completely digital. The first selection of the works was entrusted to the artistic committee of the Award composed of Paolo Demitry, Giorgia Maddamma, Morena Malaguti, Luca Russo, Teri Jeanette Weikel, Dino Verga and chaired by the director Palmieri who passed a total of 50 aspirants to the semifinals. winners. 24 works from the preliminary rounds to the semifinal of the Dance Movie section, a category dedicated to original and unpublished creations (to which the highest prize of 3 thousand euros will be awarded) to which is added the group of 13 Published Dance Production which includes videos already produced and published in the last three years and which compete for the single prize of 2 thousand euros, in addition to the selection of 13 other SmARTphone Dance projects, an area reserved for short works made entirely with the smartphone whose winner will win another prize of 2 thousand euros . But the awards do not end there as the jury will also decide the best performer in each category (Best Dance Movie performer, with a first prize worth 2 thousand euros, second and third respectively of one thousand and 500 and one thousand and 200, Best Published Performer Dance Production, with a single prize of one thousand and 200 euros and Best Interpreter SmARTphone Dance, always one thousand and 200 euros). To these are added the Special Prizes awarded between the finalist videos of the various categories that will award the Best Concept and the best relationship between music and dance, each with the sum of one thousand and 200 euros. The part of the Capitoline section, called upon to return a vision of the Municipalities, will be awarded the single prize of one thousand euros by an ad hoc Commission composed of Ana Laguna, president of the Roma Danza 2021 Award Jury, by Carola Penna, president of the XII – Tourism Commission Fashion and International Relations of the Municipality of Rome and Maria Elena Cuomo, president of the Cuomo Foundation, as well as official sponsor of the Competition. A total of 7 projects participate in the Special Video Dance Award ‘Roma Capitale’, selected directly by the city municipalities that have joined the call (V, IX and X). Another big news this year concerns the establishment of the Foundation Award of the National Dance Academy which will allocate a total of 2 thousand euros to two of the best works in the competition. Like last year, social media users will also be invited to express their opinion through the Youtube Channel dedicated to this edition of the Competition, for the assignment of the Popular Jury Prize worth 500 euros. Born in 2001 under the aegis of the President of the Republic, the Roma Danza Award has been able to make itself known and appreciated over the course of almost twenty years by performers and choreographers from all over the world. An opportunity that intends first of all to enhance and bring out new talents, offering them the opportunity to be observed and evaluated by exponents of the world of dance. Many names have presided over the jury over these 19 years, Vladimir Vassiliev, Ekaterina Maximova and then Maya Plisetskaya, Liliana Cosi, Ismail Ivo, Koffi Koko, Germaine Acogny, and the timeless Carla Fracci to whom this year the Given the recent death, the Award will dedicate a particular mention with an exceptional guest. 2020, due to the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, was the first year in which the Award was entirely rethought in digital. The online edition of the International Competition made it possible to connect 5 continents from which jurors, participants and spectators were tuned. The Roma Danza award is made possible thanks to the contributions of the Ministry of Culture (MIC) and, since 2019, thanks also to the financial support of the Cuomo Foundation whose mission, through international projects, is to enhance training opportunities and access to culture for strengthen the individual in his abilities to improve his own existence. Finally, the patronage of Roma Capitale, Department of Sport, Tourism, Youth Policies and Major Citizen Events expresses the importance of the event in the cultural programming of the city. The semifinals (8, 9, 10 July) and the final (11 July) will be broadcast on the Facebook page and on the Youtube Channel of the National Dance Academy starting at 9 pm of each evening. The Gala evening (12 July) will be broadcast live at 9pm on the OnTheatre.tv platform.