Danza&Danza Awards 2019 announced

The critics of the Italian magazine Danza&Danza (which also has an edition in English) huddle together at the beginning of each year to decided the ‘best' of the previous year in Italian dance and dance seen in Italy.

The jury, since 1987, has always underlined its objectivity and honesty in its selection of interpreters, productions and choreographers from Italy and abroad.

The prize, from this year named “Premio D&D-Mario Bedendo” after the founder of the prize and the magazine's first editor, seeks out new talent as well as established names. There is, as always, attention paid to Italian dancers and choreographers who have achieved success overseas. A prize, awarded to those who disseminate information about dance, is named after the great Italian dance author and critic Mario Pasi, who died in 2010 and headed the jury from the inception of the awards until his death.

The jury this year was headed by Maria Luisa Buzzi with members drawn from the magazine's critics: Elisabetta Ceron, Giuseppe Distefano, Francesca Pedroni, Silvia Poletti, Sergio Trombetta, and Carmelo A Zapparrata.

Details for the reasoning behind each award can be found in the current edition of the magazine (n°290 in Italian in newsagents, and n°17 in English via the app)

PALMARES D&D AWARDS 2019

Ballet production

Sylvia
by Manuel Legris
La Scala Theatre Ballet

Contemporary production (joint winners)

A Quiet Evening of Dance
by William Forsythe

Since she 
by Dimitris Papaioannou
Tanzhteater Wuppertal

Personality of the year

Artist and Producer
Sergei Polunin 

Dancers of the Year

Alina Cojocaru – Principal dancer, English National Ballet
Claudio Coviello – Principal dancer, La Scala Theatre Ballet
Christian Fagetti – Soloist, La Scala Theatre Ballet
Rauf Yasit, aka RubberLegz – Freelance dancer

Alina Cojocaru and Isaac Hernandez in Akram Khan's Giselle © Laurent Liotardo

Sylvia Christian Fagetti photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala 2019 09

Goldberg Variationen with Martina Arduino and Claudio Coviello, photo Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

Choreographer (joint winners)

Philippe Kratz
Christos Papadopoulos

Newcomers – Choreographers

Ginevra Panzetti/Enrico Ticconi

Newcomers – Dancers

Caterina Bianchi – La Scala Theatre Ballet
Salvatore Manzo – Teatro di San Carlo Ballet
Giacomo Castellana – Rome Opera Ballet

Italian production

Graces
By Silvia Gribaudi

Italian dancers abroad

Alessandra Tognoloni – Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo
Federico Longo – Batsheva – The Young Ensemble
Matteo Miccini – Stuttgarter Ballett

Lifetime achievement

Amedeo Amodio

Mario Pasi Award

Documentary series “Why do we dance?”
Sky Arts Production Hub

Special Mention

Dance Company Theater Osnabrück
Artistic director Mauro de Candia
For the reconstruction of “Die Feier” by Mary Wigman

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.