The Danza &Danza Awards are the prizes awarded by the critics and journalists of Danza & Danza magazine to choreographers, dancers, performances and multimedia activities that have distinguished themselves on the Italian stage in 2021.

Greco en Scholten: "A twenty-five-year partnership that creatively renews itself with every project, with every point they make, they always know how to break new ground, as we saw in their latest creation, We want it all."

This duo’s artistic partnership has lasted more than twenty-five years, an anniversary which they celebrated in 2021 with the creation of two densely significant new works. The first, dedicated to the complexity of these pandemic times, Blasphemy Rhapsody, was seen in Italy at the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara and the Teatro Sociale in Trento. The other, We Want It All, was shown outside Italy at the LAC in Lugano, Switzerland, and was a celebratory journey through the ‘finales’ of their creations (of which there have been more than sixty since 1996). In just over an hour, this smoothly combined collage of endings reveals to the audience every facet of Greco and Scholten’s research on the body. The dance pulsates with ‘bodies in revolt’, shaped by contrasts, tensions, rhythm. Dance, pure and simple, which knows no genre definitions, and is grounded in the present day while already looking to the future.

Denis Bruno: Since 2019 he’s been working at ICK- Dans Amsterdam, the centre and company directed by Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten in the Netherlands; but Denis Bruno, born in Turin in 1988, had already appeared in two of Greco and Scholten’s works when the pair were directors at the Ballet National de Marseille. Other international companies where he has danced include the English National Ballet and the Ballet de la Generalitat Valenciana. In Spain he won the prize for best dancer at the Artes Escenicas de Valencia. In autumn we saw him in Greco and Scholten’s Blasphemy Rhapsody, as a sort of young alter ego of Greco. His impetuous energy and dynamic verve made him a standout presence who gave a truly intense performance. In the past we had already praised his performance in Passione, which came to Italy with the Ballet National de Marseille. Back then, dazzled by Greco and Scholten’s work, he said, “When I think of the ‘body in revolt’ I compare it to an iconoclastic approach. Breaking aesthetic canons and going further, thanks to a movement that is guided by thought”.

Established in 1987 by Mario Bedendo, founder of the magazine of the same name (1986), the Danza & Danza Award is an annual recognition of excellence in dance. The jury, composed of the journalsts of the magazine, awards the prizes in the different categories (classical and contemporary productions, performers, choreographers, emerging talent) based on what has been seen on the Italian stages during the year, with the exception of the category "Italian dancers abroad".

The mission of the D&D Award is to recognise merit and artistic quality, so that the audience can fairly see the most interesting and deserving proposals. The gala evening marking the presentation of the awards is biennial and has been organised over the years in prestigious theatres on the peninsula: Massimo in Palermo, Romolo Valli in Reggio Emilia, Sociale in Mantova, Carlo Felice in Genoa, La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Comunale in Bolzano, Grande in Brescia, Carignano in Turin.

More information about the D&D&Danza Awards can be found in Danza&Danza No. 302 (January/February 2022), available in print in newsstands throughout Italy and in digital form on the APP Danza&Danza; and in DANZA&DANZA INTERNATIONAL No. 29 (January/February 2022), in English, available in digital form only on the APP Danza&Danza International (Apple Store, Google Play, Windows 8)