Urban Dance Festival

The 29th edition of the Urban Dance Festival animated Bologna from September 3rd to 7th, 2025, reaffirming the festival's mission to bring dance out of theatres and into the city's public spaces. The program, spread from the center to the suburbs, transformed squares, parks, former churches, and museums into stages.

Among the venues involved: Piazza Santo Stefano, Piazza San Francesco, the former Church of San Mattia, the former Church of San Barbaziano, Cinema Lumière, Serra Madre, MAMbo - Museum of Modern Art of Bologna, Villa Ghigi Park, and Parco 11 settembre 2001. Alongside the shows, the festival offered in-depth talks, including a session dedicated to DOM-'s "Teatro di Paesaggio" (Landscape Theatre), and numerous world premieres. Most events were free admission, with some ticketed performances and reservations required for limited seating.

Wednesday, September 3rd

• Birdsong — Salvo Lombardo — Former Church of San Mattia (paid)
• Porpora che cammina — DOM-/STRIAZ — Cinema Lumière (world premiere, free)

Thursday, September 4th

• Talk "I Teatri di paesaggio di DOM-" — UNIBO (free)
• Con gli occhi aperti in un ruggito — video installation — Former Church of San Barbaziano (world premiere, free)
• Fragmentation — Christophe Al Haber — Piazza San Francesco (world premiere, free)
• Ancestral Echoes — Samer Zaher (world premiere, free)
• Good Vibes Only (beta test) — Francesca Santamaria (free)
• Die Wanderer and Cry Violet — Panzetti/Ticconi — Serra Madre

Friday, September 5th

• Paesaggi con figure — OperaBianco — Piazza Santo Stefano (free)
• Figlie della Terra di Mezzo — Ofelia Balogun — Piazza Santo Stefano (world premiere, free)
• Yours (tuo/vostro) — Nagga Giona Baldina & Geremia Cappagli (world premiere, free)
• Cry Violet — Panzetti/Ticconi — Serra Madre (paid)

Saturday, September 6th

• Meeting "Area Pubblica network meeting" — MAMbo (free)
• Kit / Spazi di futuro — Micce — MAMbo Foyer (world premiere, free with reservation)
• 8 km a Mula — Alvaro Murillo — Parco 11 settembre 2001 (free)
• L'incontro — Compagnia Bellanda (free)
• The Nothing Island — Fabrizio Favale & First Rose — Former Church of San Mattia (free with reservation)

Sunday, September 7th

• Sogni al campo — AZIONIfuoriPOSTO — Villa Ghigi Park (free with reservation)
• Cosmorama — Nicola Galli — Villa Ghigi Park (free)
• The Nothing Island — Former Church of San Mattia (free with reservation)

Numerous world premieres, including Kit / Spazi di futuro by Micce at MAMbo and 8 km a Mula by Alvaro Murillo (in collaboration with the Spanish network Red Acieloabierto). Site-specific performances in city parks, such as Sogni al campo and Cosmorama at Villa Ghigi Park, and the landscape traversal by Filippo Porro.