For two years in the hills of the Province of Modena the International Festival of Contemporary Dance has been held. Dancewoods Workshop Festival brings an experience of dance into the nature that few in the world provide. Dancewoods was created three years ago, by the dancer and performer Marianna Miozzo, she wanted to create an event that reconciles the physical expression to the beat of nature, that breaks the conventional schemes in the world of dance and that offers a creative context and is more humane to professionals and students in the field.

The idea proved successful, in fact, today Dancewoods is known throughout all of Europe and also outside of Europe, such as; India, Malaysia, Argentina, USA and more. 

The growing fame of the initiative and its complexity has almost grown out of control for Marianna and so this year she has brought in Linda Petracca, from the acrobatic dance Somantica Project association, to help sustain the organization. Linda is responsable for the communication and organization.

To make the learning experience even more engaging, participants will reside in a place of indisputable charm: a Podesteria made from the ancient walls of the Castle of Gombola of Polinago, a tiny village in the Modenese Apennines. In the ancient village of Gombola there is a chapel, that has just been restored, which will be made available to the dancers who come from all over the world to inhabit these places rich in history and revive them in perspective certainly unusual and above all Multicultural! Another place of the Festival, rich in appeal, will be the Asineria of Gombola, which will provide its braying hosts to the dancers for excursions in the surrounding area. All this will take place in an atmosphere of sharing and artistic creativity.

In addition to the workshops of dance, which will be taught by international teachers such as: Tery Weikel (USA-Italy), Bruno Caverna (Brazil-Berlin), Jorge Jauregui Allue (Spain-Belgium) and Marianna Miozzo (Italy-Spain), this year the Festival has also thought about the non-dancers and offers classes, by donation, of: Feldenkrais Method, African Dance for adults, aerial fabrics dance and African drumming for children.

How did two girls make all of this possible? It was and is still not easy, but their desire to offer a unique artistic path has allowed Marianna and Linda to overcome the obstacles that periodically arise between them and the success of the Festival. Dancewoods is a non-profit organization and is funded exclusively through donations and any registration of participants, yet the two girls were even able to provide two scholarships, which this year will go to a Chinese dancer and a Malaysian. The Consortium of Producers of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar factories Ancient DOP was able to finance one of the scholarships, but it is still not enough. At this time we welcome any other donations nationally or internationally, please contact us to help us to offer this exciting opportunity to more dancers.

For further information and to register for the Festival: www.dancewoods.com