D.OFF Festival

A festival that brings dance among the stones of Matelica

In the Municipality of Matelica, in the Province of Macerata, every late summer D.OFF comes to life, a national festival of diffused dance born in 2013 and grown to become a reference event for contemporary dance in the Marche region. The idea that guides it is encapsulated in its subtitle, "the meeting between dance and the city": the dancers' bodies leave the traditional theatre halls and inhabit the daily spaces of the village, transforming squares, loggias, parks, historic villas, and convents into unexpected stages.

Who organizes it

The festival is curated by the Art Hub Association, with the artistic direction of Roberto Lori and the organizational direction of Marika Errigo. The event is realised in collaboration with the Compagnia degli Istanti, the Pro Loco Matelica, the Municipality of Matelica, and AMAT Marche, and is part of the broader Face Off project. Over the years, D.OFF has extended beyond regional borders, becoming a diffused project on a national scale with stops in various Italian regions, but it is precisely in Matelica that the festival has its roots.

What to expect

The programme combines different formats designed to engage both enthusiasts and those approaching dance for the first time:

• Evening shows at the Teatro Comunale Piermarini, the heart of the event, featuring national companies and new artists.
• Site-specific performances in symbolic locations of the historic centre, from Piazza Garibaldi to the Loggiato degli Ottoni, as well as historic villas and residences.
• Dance incursions in community spaces, such as the retirement home and the convent, to bring art where it usually doesn't reach.
• Artistic residencies that host choreographers and dancers in the creation phase in the days preceding the festival.
• Workshops on dance, aerial silks, and movement, open to the local community.

An experience in the Marche village

Attending D.OFF also means discovering Matelica, an elegant town in the Marche hinterland famous for its Verdicchio DOC and its compact historic centre. Walking from one performance to another, through the village streets illuminated by the last evenings of summer, is an integral part of the experience: dance becomes a guide to experiencing the city in a new way, in one of the most vibrant cultural realities of the Province of Macerata and the entire Marche Region.