In Bologna, a music and dance festival among the arcades

A music and dance festival among the porticos of Bologna: this is Bologna Portici Festival, an event in its first edition that celebrates the UNESCO World Heritage Porticos with six packed days of events, four squares and a single festival. The porticos are the daily space of all Bolognese, a horizon not only architectural-urban but of meaning, of relationships, of community, and today also a space for the celebration of creativity, culture, the past and the future of the city: after the very participatory ’taste’ of the preview, which animated Manzoni and Galliera streets in May, the first edition of Bologna Portici Festival officially opens on June 13, scheduled until Sunday, June 18.

Six days, more than 60 events in a mix of site-specific performances, dance shows, concerts, musicals for a great urban festival, with a program that brings together experimentation and rediscovery of tradition, animating four places in the city: Piazza Maggiore, the heart of the evening events; the quadriporticus of Santa Maria dei Servi, the stage for dance; Piazza della Pace, for the first time voted a performance venue, with a special dedication to Filuzzi, which becomes together with the Certosa Monumental Complex a single large ’theater’; and finally the modern portico of the Boat Train.

“The porticoes,” says Elena Di Gioia, Culture Delegate of Bologna and Metropolitan City, “are a common good and represent together with the towers the most characteristic and fascinating architectural element of the city. They are a place of the gaze, of meeting and imagination: a great city narrative. The first edition of Bologna Portici Festival draws a cultural geography in which culture and creativity inhabit the spaces of the porticos, in a commitment to take care of them and make them a stage of artistic expression for the whole city. A cultural narrative that we want to promote as a permanent appointment and as a new cultural event, of national and international scope, of the city.”

Program: Piazza Maggiore

The Crescentone becomes the stage for four great evenings of music of Bologna Portici Festival. It will be the Orchestra Senzaspine that will open the program on Tuesday, June 13, at 9:30 p.m. with “E buio fu,” a contemporary opera in which classical music, electronics and words intertwine with visual art and dance to tell the story of Bologna and its history, among the lights and shadows of the porticoes. A contemporary musical opera whose text was constructed through collective writing workshops. On Wednesday, June 14, acting, singing and dance come together in the Bernstein School of Music’s ’Concert for the Porticoes,’ with the Bologna Children’s Choir directed by Vincenzo Li Causi and the BSMT Singers directed by Shawna Farrel in a repertoire ranging from John Lennon to Queen to the most famous songs from the great Hollywood musicals.

On Friday, June 16, the Grand Gala of the European Festival of LGBTQ+ Various Voices Choirs, for the first time in Italy, presents an evening led by Italian-Eritrean singer Senhit and journalist Mario Acampa in a mixture of choirs and singing and dance performances by the Ruiballet Academy.

Sunday 18 grand finale with a preview of the Festival Respighi Bologna with a concert by the “G.B. Martini” Conservatory Orchestra making its debut in Piazza Maggiore and conducted, for the first time in its history, by the Musical Director of the Municipal Theater: Oksana Lyniv, with a musical program that pays homage to the great Bolognese composer by closing with a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major Op. 55 - Eroica.

Program: Peace Square

At the foot of the Torre di Maratona, overlooking the porticoes leading to the Arco del Meloncello, where the ascent to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca begins and a short distance from the Certosa Monumental Complex, Piazza della Pace becomes in the days of Bologna Portici Festival a stage and a place of conviviality, thanks to the numerous events that will actively involve the public and the setting up of a refreshment area active from 6:30 pm. To the inimitable literary voice of Paolo Nori is entrusted the opening night of the space on Tuesday, June 14 at 7:30 p.m. with I portici, an unpublished monologue with which, in the strength of his narrative style, the writer and translator will give the public his very personal point of view on the porticos: the return of a work commissioned by the City of Bologna, which asked the writer to walk through and through the porticos to capture and describe the spirit of the place.

Instead, it will be a festival within the festival ’Filuzzi in Piazza,’ the project promoted by the City of Bologna to enhance the great cultural heritage of Bolognese-style ballroom dancing. Three evenings dedicated to the rediscovery of the local tradition of Filuzzi, the popular dance of the early 20th century, celebrated - Wednesday 14, Thursday 15 and Friday 16 - with three different orchestras: from the ancient music of Amleto Parisini to the new ’leve’, the aim is to celebrate the tradition and make the city dance in a big balera. The Filuzzi in Piazza program is curated by the Filuzzi Promotion Coordination Table.

More dance, this time contemporary and research, in the show Il Portico Infinito | Ballo 62 curated by Nexus (Thursday, June 15), and in Guida per risolvere il cubo di Rubik curated by DNA (Sunday, June 18). Dedicated to the youngest is the musical Once on this island curated by Bernstein School of Musical Theatre (Friday, June 16), one of Broadway’s most celebrated titles, written by award-winning duo Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, which in a mix of pop, reggae, gospel and dances from Afro and tribal traditions, demonstrates the power of love and the possible integration of different cultures. Arci offers Sounds of Passage, curated by Corrado Nuccini: an evening in three acts on Saturday 18 starting at 9 p.m.15 between music, cinema and words: the Moon of Endor collective together with internationally renowned musician Andrea Belfi; the Sonic Soundscape Orchestra led by Giuseppe Cordaro in Bologna dei miei tempi, a sound commentary on the film images of Home Movies; Polifonia dei Portici in which the Millennium Orchestra collective will dialogue musically with Vincenzo Vasi and Valeria Sturba, mixing musical texture with readings selected by Cantieri Meticci for a poetic portico-themed flashback. Closing the billboard in Peace Square on Sunday, June 18 at 10 p.m. Cedar’s blues, promoted by Fondazione Entroterre and curated by ERJ Orchestra under the artistic direction of Piero Odorici, will feature 12 of the region’s best jazz musicians and some internationally renowned “special guests” on stage to reenact the great songs of the tradition.

The program: the Certosa of Bologna

The Monumental Complex of the Certosa, among the most majestic in Europe in terms of quantity and quality of sculptural works and among the first to organize events and extraordinary openings to the public, will host evocative guided tours between history and art, and three unmissable evening performances in the unique atmosphere of the place: Friday, June 16 at 8 pm.30 Un’Altra AIDA curated by Persephone with the Farthan women’s chorus directed by Elide Melchioni in a story-concert that gives voice to the many Aidas of all times and places.

On Saturday, June 17, a double evening event (8:30 and 10 p.m.) will feature the magic of a walk suspended in the sky, strongly desired by the City of Bologna, which has called in tightrope walker Andrea Loreni for the show Camminare nel cielo (Walking in the Sky). A site-specific performance that will keep the audience with their heads up and breathless during the wire crossing and the Portico di San Luca acting as a backdrop, accompanied by live music from Flavia Massimo’s “Glitch” project.

On Sunday, 18 at 8:30 p.m. Crowded Bodies, produced by Gender Bender, a dance performance resulting from a shared creation workshop between choreographer Daniele Ninarello and the Bologna community of the European project Performing Gender - Dancing In Your Shoes, composed of people of different ages, with and without dance experience, in which the individual stories of moving bodies become shared heritage.

Program: Quadriportico of Santa Maria dei Servi

Urban space as flux, the porticos as communicating vessels of a fluid system, in which the existence of the city and its citizens flow in a continuous pulsing: this is the heart of Mare urbano, a collective performance curated by DNA that inaugurates on Tuesday, June 14 at 7 p.m. the program of the Piazzetta dei Servi di Maria, for a week a space for dance and experimentation of the most interesting paths of contemporary performance art. Direction in which also goes, on the same day of Tuesday, the show Solastalgia + CrePa, two performances that reflect on public space, fragility, sharing, introduced by architect Simone Gheduzzi’s talk with the participation of artists Sara Sguotti and Arianna Ulian. A show that is complementarily joined by the dance performance Eutierrìa - unique bodies in balance (Saturday 17), also curated by Nove Punti, the result of a workshop path that involved migrants and adults with disabilities: a reflection on bodies in public space, on barriers to be broken, on integration. A reflection on gender violence is dedicated to the performance Another Kind of Strength (Thursday 15 and Friday 16) curated by MICCE. More bodies - of adolescents, adults and the over-60s - take center stage in BODY/FESTO. A Body Manifesto by Elena Copelli curated by Instabili Vaganti (Saturday 17), a reflection on how the foundations of the work of art are those of life itself. Also curated by Instabili Vaganti are Confini (Saturday, 17), a performance that is the result of sharing an artistic investigation of the “border” developed with young dancers from the Training workshop and performers from the international Beyond Borders project, and Dancing for the Gods (Thursday, 15), a performance by dancer Anuradha Venkataraman dedicated to Bharatanatyam, a traditional dance from southern India. Also looking to the past are performances curated by 8Cento with costumed dancers who will depart from the two Towers.

Sunday, June 18 at 8 p.m. closes the Piazza’s Save the last dance for me program: a symbolic union of traditional and contemporary in the performance by Golden Lion choreographer Alessandro Sciarroni curated by Danza Urbana, who, together with dancers Gianmaria Borzillo and Giovanfrancesco Giannini, works on the steps of the Polka chinata, a Bolognese dance dating back to the early 20th century, an almost acrobatic courtship dance. After the performance, a workshop open to the public by Maestro Giancarlo Stagni and his dancers.

A moment dedicated to solidarity with the people of Romagna affected by the flooding cannot be missed: the Basilica of Santa Maria dei Servi hosts Rossini per il Rossini on Friday, June 16, a benefit concert in support of the rebirth of Lugo’s severely damaged Teatro Rossini, with the Cappella Musicale dei Servi performing Rossini’s Stabat Mater.

The program: The Boat Train

Does the sound of a neighborhood exist? Francesca Marconi, a relational artist, sought it out and met with teens, adults and the elderly at the Barca to dialogue with them about where they live: from this encounter was born Non esiste il silenzio, a diffuse sound installation curated by Attitudes spazio alle arti that opens on Friday 16, as well as opens the three-day Train of Desires curated by Estragon at the Barca Train, a modern portico that becomes a space for meeting, community and integration through live music with sounds from around the world and a stage of the Notte in Talent contest, many activities for families and children and street food.

The traveling events and visits to the palaces.

It is not possible to think, tell, experience the arcades without walking through them, step by step. It will be Porpora Marcasciano who will take on the role of an elusive Virgil in Porpora che cammina curated by DOM, directed by Leonardo Delogu and Valerio Sirna, a walking itinerary departing from the Autostazione in Piazza XX Settembre in which the public is led on an immersion into the tangle of the city, (June 15, 16 and 17). Instead, from Porta Saragozza to the Arco del Meloncello runs Elogio dei Piedi, a traveling performance by Teatro dei Mignoli on the trail of past walkers and walkers (June 17). Walk making yourself heard Samba!, the participatory music and dance parade promoted by the Ass. Oltre that from Piazza del Nettuno will end at the Gardens of Via Filippo Re, in the spaces in front of the Palazzina della Viola, to dance to the rhythm of Afro-Brazilian percussion.

In the shadow of the porticoes are hidden the great entrance gates to the monumental palaces: on Sunday, June 18, the unique opportunity to visit with FAI volunteers from Bologna the palace of the Bank of Italy. The treasure chest of wonders of the seventeenth-century Palazzo Bargellini on Strada Maggiore, home of the Davia Bargellini Museum, will be the protagonist of two guided tours on Thursday 16 and Friday 17, as Palazzo Malvezzi will also open its doors from June 13 to 18 with guided tours organized by Bologna Welcome. The headquarters of the Order of Architects of Bologna will open on Wednesday, June 14, the comics exhibition A propria misura, curated by Hamelin and Piazza Grande, featuring the boards created by a group of artists and people included in services to combat severe adult marginalization led by cartoonist Miguel Angel Valdivia (open until June 28). The Shack Voltone will host the exhibition Suggestions from AIDA, featuring works created by participants in the workshop of the same name, led by painter Andrea Ballardini. On Saturday 17, the presentation of the book La pianura dei portici at the Modo Infoshop bookstore, while on Sunday 18, the Museo Internazionale della Musica on Strada Maggiore, inside which is one of the city’s most evocative “secret gardens,” will host the meeting L’opera e l’origine del jazz. Giuseppe Verdi’s blues and the tunes of good old Satchmo promoted by the Fondazione Entroterre with musicologist Luca Bragalini in a fascinating journey through New Orleans between the 19th and 20th centuries.

Concluding the Bologna Portici Festival is an off event, a Final Event to be held on June 19 at dusk, with a surprise to be revealed to the city in the coming days (all information will be posted on the official website).

All performances are free, with free access or by reservation. The different ways to access the tours are indicated on the project website, which will also report any changes to the program: bolognaporticifestival.it

Finally, Bologna Portici Festival invites its audiences to participate in the extraordinary fundraiser in favor of the flood victims, to help our communities so badly affected and damaged. There are two suggested ways: Metropolitan Community Social Fund (Iban IT38 F030 6902 4771 0000 0300 304, made out to “Flood May 2023 Metropolitan City of Bologna,” cause: “Flood Emergency”) Agency for Territorial Safety and Civil Protection of Emilia-Romagna, (Iban IT69G0200802435000104428964, made out to Agency for Territorial Safety and Civil Protection of Emilia-Romagna, reason for payment: “Flood Emilia-Romagna”).

In Bologna, a music and dance festival among the arcades

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