We Humans
“All the artists and companies this year adopt the medium of dance as a philosophical act of communication – testing the fundamentals of our knowledge, challenging our notions of reality, and extending the understanding of our existence. Through their work they invite us to question where we have come from and where we are we heading whilst probing the essential within, the what and the why of sentience.” (Wayne McGregor)

The Catalogue of the Biennale Danza 2024 opens with the introduction by the President of La Biennale di Venezia Pietrangelo Buttafuoco and the presentation by the Artistic Director Wayne McGregor. They are followed by an essay by Claudia Rankine, the American poet and author, who reflects upon the concept of “We Humans” to answer the question “How can we be in syntony with everything we know, we observe, we experience?”. The volume continues with a series of interviews by Uzma Ameed to some of the protagonists of the Festival: Cristina Caprioli, Trajal Harrell, Carolyn Carlson, Rafael Palacios, Verena Paravel & Lucien Castaing-Taylor, and Shiro Takatani.

Following the motivations for the award of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to Cristina Caprioli and the Silver Lion to Trajal Harrell, the catalogue continues with a focus dedicated to each of the protagonists of the 18th International Festival of Contemporary Dance.
The performances are illustrated and described with photographs, detailed credits, directors’ notes and the biographies of the artists. Each performer has furthermore been invited to answer two questions on the concept of We Humans and on the relationship between the I and the Other in their personal experience and in dance.

The catalogue next presents the sections Installations and Collaborations that enrich the Festival’s programme.

The volume continues with the programme dedicated to the Biennale College Danza project, in which young dancers, winners of the Biennale College Danza – Dancers call, take on an original choreography by Wayne McGregor to be performed in Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema, a reconstruction of The Bench by Cristina Caprioli, , and the two original works by the young winners of the Biennale College Danza – Choreographers call. The catalogue also presents the three original projects by the winners of the calls for new choreographies, the Miller de Nobili and VIDAVÈ companies for the Italian call, and Melisa Zulberti for the international call.

A section of the volume is dedicated to the cycle of Workshops, with internationally renowned tutors. Finally, the catalogue presents the exhibition, curated by Wayne McGregor with Elisa Vaccarino and the Historic Archive of La Biennale, titled Iconoclasts: Women rule breakers at La Biennale di Venezia, which will be inaugurated at Ca’ Giustinian on 17 July 2024

The catalogue ends with the traditional complete Calendar and the general information for the 18th International Festival of Contemporary Dance.

The graphic design and layout are by Studio Headline, Rovereto.