An international jury made up of artists of the highest caliber and professionalism.

Degree in Modern Literature, Master in Performing Arts Management, she is a journalist, dance critic, scholar and editor. Editor-in-chief since 2013 of the magazine Danza&Danza, on newsstands since 1986, of the English edition Danza&Danza International and of the website danzaedanza.com. Formerly Cultrice della Materia for the chair of ‘Dramaturgia coreutica’ at the Catholic University of Brescia and scientific consultant of Sky Arte Hub for the documentary series Why do we dance? distributed in five European countries, she is a member of the Advisory Board of Oriente Occidente Dance Festival and of the Scientific Committee for Live Performing Arts of the Emilia-Romagna Region. He writes essays for Opera Foundations, Theatres and Festivals; he teaches History of Dance.

He studied ballet at the École supérieure de Danse du Québec in Montréal and at the Staatliche Ballettschule in Berlin. As a long-standing member of Compagnia Aterballetto, she works with numerous international dancemakers before deciding to deepen her personal research in choreography.
In 2017 she debuted ‘Phoenix’ to original music by Italian singer-songwriter Borderline Order.

In 2018 he creates ‘O’ as a reaction to a 2017 press conference held in Hong Kong between two humanoid robots. The duet won the 32nd Hannover Choreography Competition, as well as a residency with the Australian Dance Theatre. The German dance magazine ‘TANZ’ names it ‘one to watch’ in 2015 and 2019.

In 2019, Kratz was also awarded by the Italian dance magazine Danza&Danza for the choral choreography ‘cloud|materia’, inspired by the writings of Anni Albers.
Always interested in establishing a direct dialogue and exchange with other artists*, he has so far realised or is currently realising works with Aterballetto, TanzMainz, Gauthier Dance Company, Nuovo Balletto di Toscana, Wiener Staatsballett, Bayerisches Staatsballett, the Croatian National Ballet Zagreb and with the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

Since July 2024, he has been the artistic director of the Nuovo Balletto di Toscana.

He began his professional career in 1997 in Vicenza at the Centro di Produzione La Piccionaia, where he first served as Director of the Astra Theatre and then as organisational Co-Director of the entire structure. In 2001 he began a 16-year-long collaboration in Bassano del Grappa (VI) with the Multidisciplinary Festival Operaestate as a member of the Artistic Direction that developed the festival’s content. In 2006 he was the creator of B.motion Teatro, the spin-off of Operaestate dedicated to the new languages of the scene, which in just a few years became an important national reference point for numerous emerging groups. From 2011 to 2015 he was Artistic Director of the Municipal Theatre of Lonigo (VI). In 2014 he joined the Teatro Stabile del Veneto, initially to oversee projects related to the contemporary scene and since 2017 as Head of the Training and New Languages Area. From 2019 to 2025 he is Artistic Director of the Municipality of Verona, for which he se-gures the multidisciplinary festival Estate Teatrale Veronese at Teatro Romano and the programming of Grande Teatro at Teatro Nuovo and Altro Teatro at Teatro Camploy. For the Teatro Stabile del Veneto, he was responsible for reorganising the School for Actors (now ATCG Accade-mia Teatrale Carlo Goldoni), but above all for devising and launching the TeSeO Teatro Scuola e Occupazione project, the first direct programme agreement on the renewal of artistic training activated by the Veneto Region on the European Social Fund funding line. Since 2024, he has been Director of ATCG with two priority objectives: internationalisation (through Erasmus+ projects) and the definition of a clearer performative identity. For the Teatro Stabile del Ve-neto, he currently also holds the role of Head of Artistic Development of the entire structure.

Born in Rome, she has been a protagonist of Italian dance since the early 1990s. After training in her hometown, in 1987 she moved to Paris, where she danced with Carolyn Carlson and met Michele Abbondanza, with whom she founded the Abbondanza/Bertoni Company in 1995. The company, recognised as one of the most prolific in Italy, combines the creation of shows with a path of training and research in contemporary dance theatre. Personal awards include the 1996 Danza&Danza Prize for ‘best performer’; and the 2017 Danza&Danza Prize for the best Italian production of the year with La morte e la fanciulla.
The company has received numerous awards, including the 2022 Ubu Prize for Doppelgänger as best dance performance. In 2023, she presented Femina, the second chapter of a trilogy on identity, which received a nomination for the Ubu Awards in the Best Dance Performance 2023 category. She has always combined training and stage activity, leading the Scuola d’Azione, a stage training project at the Teatro alla Cartiera in Rovereto, where the company is in residence.

Independent artist, he boasts numerous collaborations in the field of performance, training and in the organization and promotion of projects for institutions and companies.
He perfected himself with numerous artists and attended the Paolo Grassi Civic School of Theater – dance theater section in 2009.
She combines the activity of a contemporary dancer / performer with collaboration with international artists linked to transversal languages ​​from the visual arts, to poetry and photography.
In 2019 she is assistant artistic director for the Prospettiva Danza Teatro Festival and since 2024 she has been co-artistic director with Laura Pulin.

Graduated from Ca ‘Foscari University of Venice in Artistic and Performing Techniques and Economics and Management of Arts and Cultural Activities, she collaborated with the Ceremonial Office and the Dance Music and Theater Office of the Venice Biennale as production assistant . She has worked in the organization of events in the corporate, congress and cultural fields, and since 2016 she has been involved in the planning and coordination of special projects for Arteven Multisciplinary Theater Circuit.

Laura Pulin, a graduate of the National Academy of Classical Dance in Rome, is a choreographer, director and teacher. She founded the Spaziodanza Professional Training School in Padua in 1987. In 1998 she founded Compagnia Officina Danza and in 2007 she founded NU.D.I. – Nuova Danza Indipendente – a reality of production and promotion of contemporary dance and research theatre. Over the last decade, he has conducted various stages, seminars and directed Professional Training Courses promoted by the Veneto Region. She currently leads a seminar on contemporary dance and choreographic composition at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. Since 1998 she has been the creator and artistic director of the Prospettiva Danza Teatro Review, organised by the Municipality of Padua, and the creator of the International Prize Prospettiva Danza Teatro. In 2008 she was awarded the Vignale Danza Prize for choreographic research.

Michele Di Stefano, choreographer and founder of the mk group, has received numerous awards for his work (Premio Ubu 2019 and Premio Danza&Danza 2018 for Bermudas, Premio Speciale Danza&Danza 2020 for Eden, Premio Speciale Ubu 2021 for choreographing the Radio India project) and choreographic commissions from Aterballetto, Korean National Contemporary Dance Company, Nuovo Balletto di Toscana, and the Ballet de Lorraine for a new creation in 2023. He was a consultant for dance programming (GRANDI PIANURE 2018-22) at Teatro di Roma, co-curator with Francesca Corona of the Giacimenta project for Matera 2019 and creator of the performance cycles TROPICI (Angelo Mai Rome) and BUFFALO (Palazzo delle Esposizioni, MACRO Roma and Museo Nazionale Romano). In 2018, he curated the outdoor section (Outdoor) of the BolzanoDanza-Tanz Bozen Festival.
Alongside the circuiting of performances, he has an intense activity of meetings, workshops and experimental proposals, including the Platform of Balinese Dance at the Santarcangelo Festival (2014 and 2015), projects for the 2013-14-15 BiennaleDanza and BiennaleTeatro 2019, a constant dialogue with the Scuola Paolo Grassi in Milan, the Anghiari Dance Hub, training and research workshops for the Scuola del Teatro Stabile in Turin, the ISIA bei Urbino and for the IUAV University .
In 2014 he received the Silver Lion for Innovation in Dance at the Venice Biennale and in 2018 the Nico Garrone Prize.
He is an associate artist at the Milan Triennale for the three-year period 2022-24.

After a career as a dancer, in particular in the company of Viola Farber, teacher and choreographer, Didier Deschamps held the following positions: 1982-1984 director of studies at the CNDC (National Center of Contemporary Dance of Anger), 1985-1990 director of the choreographic studies at the CNSMDP (National Conservatory of Music and Dance of Lyon), 1990-2000 Inspector General and Delegate for Dance at the Ministry of Culture, 2000-2011 general director of the CCN-Ballet de Lorraine, 2011-2021 President and CEO by Chaillot-théâtre national de la danse, 2022-2027 Artistic Director of the Biennale Danza Cannes-Côte d’Azur.

With an academic background in music, he has directed his professional activity towards the organisation of theatre and dance, carrying out artistic design, consultancy and teaching activities. He was Artistic Director of the Teatro Comunale in Bolzano and of the dance seasons of the Teatro Sociale in Trento, Artistic Advisor of the Trentino-South Tyrol Dance Circuit and currently works with the Haydn Foundation of Bolzano and Trento as Head of Strategic Development and Programming. Artistic Director of the International Festival Bolzano Danza since 2013. In 2020 his project ‘EDEN – dance for a single spectator’ won the Danza&Danza Prize. In 2022, the Politecnico di Milano awarded him the Gianluca Spina Prize for Digital Innovation. He has also curated dance projects in venues of high artistic and cultural value such as the Reggia di Caserta, the Basilica dell’Aracoeli in Rome, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice and the MART in Rovereto. Since 2021 he has been collaborating with the Fondazione Musica per Roma for the programming of dance activities at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, directing the Equilibrio Festival, which he has curated for restart in 2022.

photo by Andrea Macchia