Oriente Occidente Impresa Sociale ETS

Founded in 1981, Oriente Occidente is a cultural institution which believes in dance as a tool to overcome boundaries of language, ethnicity, gender, age and culture and to develop networks of relationships.

Oriente and Occidente (translated as East and West in English) is intended as a bridge of exchanges and intersections not only between cultures, but also between East and West, North and South, form and substance, ethics and aesthetics, past and future, genres and languages of the contemporary scene.

Its main activity has been the Oriente Occidente Dance Festival, one of the most important contemporary dance festivals held in Rovereto, Italy. Over the years, the Festival has presented a variety of international dance companies and organised workshops with renowned teachers from the international dance scene, allowing the Festival to be well established in Europe and to cultivate a vast network of national and international relationships within the dance field.

In addition to the Festival, the institution has also established the Oriente Occidente Studio, a platform for dancers to study and improve their skills via workshops and masterclasses. Artist residencies are also organised, where they aim to use dance as a tool to build a sense of community.