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LE PALESTRITI

Nexus Factory

by Simona Bertozzi 

vocal coaching Meike Clarelli 

created with and performed by Arianna Brugiolo, Federica D’Aversa, Valentina Foschi, Sara Cavalieri (substituting for Paola Drera) 

original music Meike Clarelli, Davide Fasulo 

lighting design and technical assistance Rocio España Rodriguez 

press office Michele Pascarella 

photography and video Luca Del Pia 

organisation Francesca Proietti 

administration Roberto Berti 

production Nexus Factory 2025 

with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture, Emilia-Romagna Region, and the Municipality of Bologna 

with the support of Festival Danza Estate 

in collaboration with ALMASTUDIOS Bologna  

duration 50 min 

Part of the larger ATHLETES project, Le Palestriti opens new avenues for research and composition. It intersects dance, sport, and vocal expression: the core pillars of the entire project. The work is inspired by the Palestriti mosaic at the Villa Romana del Casale in Piazza Armerina, Sicily, a UNESCO World Heritage site showcasing a rare depiction of ancient female athleticism. With their gymnastic apparatus, these ancient athletes do more than highlight the raw power of individual movement; they celebrate, rejoice, and honour the victor, transforming competition into a shared ritual of solidarity. In this choreographic framework, gathering and converging into a dizzying collective experience becomes essential. It is a vital necessity to condition the performers’ anatomies and unfold the full polyphony of their physical articulations. The performers weave a distinct grammar of gestures, sounds, and vocalisations. As individual presences surface, they expand personal perception, paving the way for a single, collective body to emerge. Le Palestriti unleashes a raw, fluid physicality whose untamed momentum reshapes the stage, turning a clinical gymnasium into a porous, hybrid landscape: a crossroads of shared rituals and movement alphabets suspended between strength and grace. Within this dynamic, the stage becomes a playground of trajectories. Moving in an unyielding exercise of deep listening, the dancers elevate physical training and precise movement into acts of resistance and transformation. 

Simona Bertozzi

Choreographer and performer Simona Bertozzi graduated in Performing Arts (DAMS) from the University of Bologna before continuing her training across Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, and the UK. In 2008, she founded Compagnia Simona Bertozzi | Nexus, launching an authorial journey that has since earned widespread support and invitations from major national and international venues. Her research views choreography as a landscape of events, an ecosystem where physical language layers diverse imagery and insights, generating performative frameworks that question the present. She received the Hystrio Corpo a Corpo Prize and the ANCT (National Association of Theatre Critics) Prize in 2019. She was an UBU Award finalist for Best Dance Performance with And it burns, burns, burns (2017) and Le Palestriti (2025).

Nexus

Founded in 2008 by Simona Bertozzi, Nexus focuses on the research, production, and dissemination of contemporary dance and physical language. Alongside the company’s main works, it runs mentorship and support programmes for multi-generational artists. In 2020, it launched Nexus Factory, a platform for contemporary choreographic and performative practices designed as a collaborative space for artistic visions and research. Through production, training, audience development, and cultural programming, Nexus fosters an open, pluralistic ecosystem rooted in artistic exploration and community engagement.