Over 90 entries from all over the world for the 17th edition of the Prospettiva Danza Teatro International Award

The Prospettiva Danza Teatro International Award – promoted and organised by the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Padua in collaboration with the Arteven Regional Multidisciplinary Circuit, with the contribution of the Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo Foundation – has exceeded 90 entries. In fact, 95 applications have been received from all over the world, demonstrating that the award, conceived and directed by Laura Pulin, remains a benchmark for the current dance scene.

The call for entries closed on Sunday 8 March: choreographers aged between 18 and 45 at the time of registration, residing in Italy or abroad, were eligible to apply, proposing creations already presented to the public in the form of a study or in progress.

The candidates for the 2026 edition are young dancers from Austria, Belgium, Cameroon, Canada, China, South Korea, France, Germany, Japan, Israel, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, the United States, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine and Italy. Once again this year, during the pre-selection phase, the Prospettiva Danza Teatro International Award offers artists the opportunity to present their candidate project live to a dedicated commission.

The venue for the 2026 edition is Milan – at the rehearsal hall of the Paolo Grassi Civic Theatre School – in collaboration with the Corso Danzatore, where on 14 March 2026 at 12 noon, those who registered will perform.

Of the semi-finalist choreographers, who will perform behind closed doors in front of the international juryon Saturday 9 May 2026, only four selected ones will present their work to the public and the jury on Sunday 10 May 2026 at the Ridotto del Teatro Comunale G. Verdi in Padua. The winning project will receive a prize of €5,000, a week’s choreographic residency in Padua, a performance during the Prospettiva Danza Teatro 2027 Festival as a preview for the Veneto region, for which a fee of €800 is provided, and a week’s choreographic residency at Scenario Pubblico in Catania – Centre of National Interest for Dance.

Among the winners of previous editions – now featured in the programmes of major contemporary dance festivals and events throughout Italy – are Francesco Marilungo, Adriano Bolognino, Masako Matsushita, Carlo Massari, Daniele Ninarello, Giorgia Nardin, Marco D’Agostin, Chiara Bersani, Noemi Dalla Vecchia and Matteo Vignali, Sofia Galvan and Stefania Menestrina, YoY Performing Arts, Catarina Casqueiro and Tiago Coelho, and Pablo Ezequiel Rizzo.