SCHOLA NOVA choreography lab

About the Open Call

Schola Nova is the new choreography workshop organised by dAS - de Arte Saltandi in Piacenza. It is a training and tutoring course aimed at dance creators, choreographers, and dancers who want to acquire, enhance and deepen choreographic skills to be applied to their own works and to manage ensemble creation. For the first time dAS offers a cycle of 16 lessons (divided into 8 weekends) from November 2025 to May 2026 in Piacenza. The programme is structured in two directions: choreographic creation and tutoring. On the one hand, methodologies related to choreographic composition, borrowed not only from dance but also from other performing arts, are explored in order to expand the range of tools available to choreographers and dancers. Therefore, professionals and researchers from the other live arts (singing, theatre, performance art, participatory art) are also involved. Schola Nova is structured as a workshop of choreography making for investigating how movement material is created; what relationships can be established between concept, gesture, and expression; how to develop a shared language to work in collaboration. Special attention is paid to site-specific creation for unconventional spaces. On the other hand, Schola Nova also implements a tutoring/coaching opportunity. In fact, it is also designed to accompany the evolution of the in-progress creations that participants wish to submit to the trainers for feedback and mentoring. The mentoring process for individual projects is also meant for creating possible future collaborations with dAS Festival. At the end of the Schola Nova a final performance as the outcome of the workshop will be presented in the prestigious Sala dei Teatini, in collaboration with the Fondazione Teatri Piacenza. The course will be held both in Italian and English. Teachers include Riccardo Buscarini (choreography), Eleonora Marzani (creative process), Aristide Rontini (choreography), and Agnes Sipos (voice and choir). The schedule runs from November 2025 to May 2026, with sessions on Saturdays (14:00-18:00) and Sundays (10:00-15:00). The location is the Greenhouse of Palazzo Ghizzoni Nasalli, 12, Via Serafini, 29121 Piacenza. The course costs €700, payable in two instalments (€400 by Oct 10, 2025, and €300 by Feb 28, 2026). Selected participants will be notified by September 28, 2025. Minimum 6 participants, maximum 10.

What is Offered

Training and tutoring course, choreographic creation methodologies, mentoring/coaching for in-progress creations, final performance opportunity, possible future collaborations with dAS Festival.

Requirements

Applicants must be over 18 years old, must have completed a vocational training course or have proven professional experience.

How to Apply

To apply please fill in the Google Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdVTxEgEszGYZ5x08KM5UKS1S0V-QpDvFMrZEeaayMSsoQ5EA/viewform?usp=header by 21 September 2025.