“Dance and Distance” – keeping performance alive during lockdown

This year, The National Academy of Dance in Rome held its International Dance Day 2020 in a unique way. Unable to stage its performances in the usual theatrical manner the academy held a 24hrs nonstop dance marathon by live streaming on various social platforms.

Co-organized with the AND Library the successful collaboration involved the participation of teachers and students of the academy, over 50 live speeches by various performers, numerous commissioned multimedia content and extensive use of archival footage from the AND Library.

This ambitious and highly successful project was viewed live by 135,865 persons and greatly exceeded the expectations of the producing team led by the director of the academy, Professor Enrica Palmieri who dedicated the event to exploring “possible new forms of communication and relationships.”
The international Dance Day 2020 was titled Dance & Distance-actions and reflections on dance and dramaturgy in times of pandemic and was held on April 29th.