Orbita | Spellbound is a National Centre for the Production of Dance based in Rome.
Recognised by the Ministry of Culture in 2022 and the Region of Lazio in 2023, (the foundation of) the Centre is the culmination of a long experience both in artistic production and cultural organisation that Spellbound association has been carrying out in various neighbourhoods of Rome throughout the years. Orbita | Spellbound National Centre for the Production of Dance brings together under one roof a wide range of projects and activities that focus on contemporary dance. Conceived to promote dance and performing arts in the metropolitan city of Rome and its outskirts, the centre is based at Teatro Palladium and its activities reach satellite venues such as Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo and Spazio Rossellini.
To keep these spaces alive and interconnected, Orbita | Spellbound seeks to promote, support and produce innovative and multidisciplinary artistic formats in addition to projects in collaboration with festivals across the city, training activities and workshops open to professionals, university students, the general public and the younger generations.
Orbita | Spellbound is a production space for multidisciplinary performing arts committed to connecting the present creative resources found in the area of Rome with national and international productions. The core of the production activities is Spellbound Contemporary Ballet company under the artistic direction of Mauro Astolfi and Valentina Marini as general director, and it has received support from the Ministry of Culture since 2000. Spellbound Contemporary Ballet is an established dance company and association representing Italy in the international scene of performing arts. Besides the work of the founding choreographer Mauro Astolfi, Orbita | Spellbound’s activities include a series of online projects with artists and institutions of international reputation, such as Sang Jijia, Marcos Morau, Dunja Jocic, Tomoko Mukayiama, Marco Goecke who work side by side with / mentor associated artists like Luca Brinchi, Daniele Spanò, Francesco Sgrò and since 2023 Irene Russolillo.
Orbita | Spellbound ‘s objectives comprise both productions and co-productions and a wide range of projects of various formats aimed to complement the cultural production in the city of Rome; to support creative processes with local communities and to provide networking between the principal institutions of the area; to educate the general public and to develop strategies of accessibility for involving deaf and blind/disabled people. Further activities, planned and organised by Valentina Marini, provide from January to May a unique season for the general public entirely dedicated to dance, while in the autumn they open to artistic exchange and research through a programme of experimental practices and workshops brought together in the framework of Orbita|Corpi in ascolto (Orbita | Listening Bodies).