The winner of the 2026 Prospettiva Danza Teatro International Award is Francesco Paolino
The winner of the 17th edition of the Prospettiva Danza Teatro 2026 Award is Francesco Paolino’s choreographic project MUGA. Our warmest congratulations to all the participants and, in particular, to the other four finalists selected by the jury!
On Sunday 10 May, in the Sala Ridotto of the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Padua, the winner of the 2026 PROSPETTIVA DANZA TEATRO INTERNATIONAL AWARD was announced, promoted by the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Padua with the support of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo, in collaboration with the Arteven Regional Multidisciplinary Circuit and under the artistic direction of Laura Pulin and Eleonora de Logu. The four finalist choreographers who presented their works before the judging panel and the audience were: Noemi Piva (Italy) with the choreographic project Settembre non arriverà mai, Ria Girard (Germany) with the choreographic project 2 Things Existing at Once, Algo Au and Cynthia Cheung (Canada) with the choreographic project 介乎於 – intersection, and Francesco Paolino (Italy) with the choreographic project MUGA.
The panel consisted of Didier Deschamps, artistic director of the Cannes Dance Festival; Antonella Bertoni, dancer and choreographer, co-artistic director of the Compagnia Abbondanza/Bertoni; Michele Di Stefano, artistic director of Buffalo – Teatro di Roma; Maria Luisa Buzzi, editor-in-chief of the magazine Danza&Danza; Emanuele Masi, artistic director of the Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna; Patrizia Boscolo Chio, deputy director of Arteven Circuito Multidisciplinare del Veneto; Carlo Mangolini, head of Artistic Development at the Teatro Stabile del Veneto – Teatro Nazionale; Laura Pulin, artistic director of the Festival Prospettiva Danza Teatro; Eleonora de Logu, co-artistic director of the Festival Prospettiva Danza Teatro and performer.
Having reviewed and analysed the shortlisted artistic projects, the committee recorded the following reasons:
– Settembre non arriverà mai by Noemi Piva: the committee appreciated the coherent and sensitive scenic research, capable of interweaving movement, sound and speech into an essential and layered dramaturgy, and considered the musical construction based on props to be particularly effective; these props become a score even before they become a shared memory, generating a living and ever-changing soundscape.
– 2 Things Existing at Once by Ria Girard: the committee appreciated the interesting exploration of duality, translated into a choreographic composition built on constant tensions between opposition and contact, and found the performers’ work particularly effective, as they were able to sustain, with precision and sensitivity, a dynamic constantly poised between closeness and autonomy.
– 介乎於 – intersection by Algo Au and Cynthia Cheung: the jury commended the choreographic exploration that weaves together hip-hop, contemporary dance and references to Asian cultural roots in a fluid and dynamic style, and the way in which the work seeks to shift the focus away from the individual narrative in favour of a collective dimension, supported with precision by the performers through constant shifts between emphasis, interaction and the transformation of movement.
– MUGA by Francesco Paolino: the committee appreciated the remarkable precision of this first choreographic project, surprising given the young age of the creator; the rigorous, almost architectural stage design, which finds one of its most effective elements in synchronisation, supported by the quality of the performers; and the fact that a personal urgency gives rise to an exploration of the relationship between fullness and emptiness, identity and the dissolution of the self, developed through an essential and coherent style.
In light of these assessments, the winner of the 17th edition of the PROSPETTIVA DANZA TEATRO INTERNATIONAL AWARD — worth €5,000, which guarantees a week-long 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-long choreographic residency at Scenario Pubblico in Catania – Centre of National Interest for Dance – is awarded to MUGA by Francesco Paolino. The committee also awards: an artistic residency at Scenario Pubblico in Catania – Centre of National Interest for Dance – to Noemi Piva; an artistic residency and a performance of the show at the National Choreographic Centre / Aterballetto in Reggio Emilia to Ria Girard. The Audience Award is awarded to MUGA by Francesco Paolino.