FERRARA ROBERTA
Roberta Ferrara (1988) is the founder, artistic director, and choreographer since 2011 of Equilibrio Dinamico Dance Company, based in the city of Bari, Puglia, Italy. In 2020/21, she served as the associate artistic director for Odyssey Dance Theatre, Singapore, one of the leading organizations in professional dance arts in Asia. For over ten years, she has been the artistic director and coordinator of the international pedagogy programs TEEN and ENSEMBLE, hosting annually over 30 international artists. Her methodology has cultivated a perpetual nursery of future dance generations, fostering synergistic educational and cultural exchanges with various formations in England, India, Japan, and Korea.
Graduating in Modern Literature with a focus on Theater Culture from the University of Bari A.Moro, Ferrara wrote an experimental thesis on the value of instinctive movement as a therapeutic gift for both dancers and non-dancers. As a passionate pedagogue, her research expands through immersive studies with various artists in techniques, practices, and languages of international contemporary dance. This combination forms the basis for her personal creative work dedicated to a poetics always connected to human beings and their inner universe, creating her own teaching methodology that addresses multiple levels of perception: body – mind – spirit.
She has been a guest for various renowned dance institutions, including Theater Basel (CH), Teatrul de Balet Sibiu (RO), English National Ballet School (UK), Delattre Dance Company (DE), Northern School of Contemporary Dance (UK), Copenhagen Dance Festival (DNK), Conservatorio Professional de Danza, Lugo (ES), Korea Ballet House (KR), Staatstheater Augsburg (DE), Conservatorio Internacional Annarella Sanchez (PT), Eko Dance Project (IT), Experimental Film Virginia (USA), Teatro Moravo Olomuc (CZ), Odt (SGP).
Her creations have been selected and invited to various international festivals, including Masdanza, FIDCMX Mexico, Cortoindanza, Network Danza Urbana XL, Festival Ammutinamenti Anticorpi XL, ZED Festival, Puglia Showcase, DanzInc, BallettGala Staatstheater Bremerhaven, Prospettiva Danza Teatro, Festival delle 100 Scale, Danza in Rete Festival, Lucky Trimmer, Fuoriformato Festival, Vivadança, Albania Dance Meeting, SoloCoreografico USA, Solo Contemporary Dance Festival Ankara, Sid Festival Seattle, Interdans, Split Summer Festival, Quinzena de Dança de Almada, and the Solo Tanz Theater Festival, where she received the award for best choreographer and a residency award from the director and chief choreographer R. Fernando of Staatstheater Augsburg, Linkage-Contemporary Dance Miniatures Sophia, where she received an invitation as a guest choreographer for Stara Zagora State Opera by director S. Tomova, and the InDivenire Award, where she received the best dance project award presented by the étoile L. Savignano.
Her classes and creations have been invited in Italy, Mexico City, America, Albania, Kosovo, Vietnam, Belgium, Germany, Croatia, Singapore, India, Japan, Korea, Portugal, Turkey, Brazil, Lebanon, Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, and Denmark.
EQUILIBRIO DINAMICO
Equilibrio Dinamico was founded in 2011 by its current artistic director, Roberta Ferrara. The company, now based in Bari, has gained attention for being a unique entity in the Italian dance scene. Recognized since 2021 by the Ministry of Culture as an Under35 Dance Production Organization, it is the only entity in the Puglia region with such recognition. Equilibrio Dinamico is often described as “a voice outside the chorus,” highlighting an artistic strategy counter to the trends in young Italian dance, with the aim of creating a European-profiled reality that nurtures synergies among artists.
From the beginning, Roberta Ferrara aimed to build a contemporary repertoire company with an international scope, inviting various choreographers to create new works. The dance cahier includes voices such as Jiří Pokorný, Igor Kirov, Bert Uyttenhove, Matthias Kass & Clément Bugnon, Marco Blázquez, Riccardo Buscarini, Aida Vainieri, Brandon Lagaert, among others, contributing to the creation of a repertoire with diverse perspectives. Additionally, Equilibrio Dinamico has an equally significant educational repertoire, featuring works by Imre van Opstal, Guy Shomroni, Lior Tavori, Alejando Moya, Miguel Altunaga Verdecia, Alice Godfrey, Isaiah Wilson, Manuel Rodriguez, Sasha Riva & Simone Repele, Pablo Girolami. The company has been invited to perform in seasons and festivals across Europe, America, and Asia, establishing collaborations with various Italian Institutes of Culture in Mexico, New York, Athens, São Paulo, San Francisco, Ankara, Cologne, and Zagreb, thanks to the collaboration of the current general director Vincenzo Losito, production manager.
Furthermore, Equilibrio Dinamico develops collateral training and audience promotion projects, creating an active dialogue with the regional circuit Teatro Pubblico Pugliese and affiliated municipalities. In 2022, marking the ten-year celebration of the international training program ENSEMBLE, the company entered into a partnership with VERVE, the postgraduate company of the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Leeds (UK). Attentive to emerging national choreographic voices, Equilibrio Dinamico supports the perspectives of new generations through the annual residency call ABITARE, a productive support project in collaboration with the over thirty-year-old multidisciplinary international festival Castel dei Mondi, Andria.
Carmelo Zapparrata on Hystrio, YEAR XXXV 2/2022 April/June
