ORBITA|Spellbound hosts the only season in the city of Rome completely dedicated to contemporary dance. From January until May, a cross-program between Ambra Jovinelli, Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo, Teatro Palladium, and Spazio Rossellini allows the paths of individual artists to intertwine in different areas of the capital.
The summer months are enlivened by the Fuori Programma festival which reinforces the Center’s focus on the international scene and outdoor creations. The festival unfolds its activities between the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo, a privileged venue for hosting residencies, Teatro India, which, in synergy with the Teatro Nazionale di Roma, is its beating heart, and exceptional locations in Rome, embraced year after year with site-specific formats that invite visitors to rediscover urban wonders such as Castel Sant’Angelo, Mercati di Traiano, Terrazza dei Laboratori dei Cerchi, and Palazzo Farnese.
During the fall months, the Center opens its doors to the city as a place for transmission, research, and encounter through a program of experimental practices brought together under the umbrella of Orbita|Corpi in ascolto (Orbit|Listening Bodies). The program consists of: SUPERNOVA, a series dedicated to the younger generations and teacher training; Corpo a(l)Corpo, a project curated by Balletto Civile which, in collaboration with the Neuropsychiatry Unit of Tor Vergata, presents a show with neurodivergent adolescents, the result of an annual workshop of somatic practices that enrich their therapeutic paths. FOCUS ON activities dedicated to international artists or the performing arts scene of specific cultural geographies.
Since 2025, the Center has also been recognized by the Lazio Region as a RESIDENCY hub within the “Artisti in Orbita” program, which supports creativity and artistic research through hospitality, theoretical guidance, and technical supervision. This also includes CREAZIONI ACCESSIBILI (ACCESSIBLE CREATIONS), a residency aimed at experimenting with accessibility strategies for blind and visually impaired audiences.
In this diversified annual calendar, the programme of ORBITA | Spellbound, directed by Valentina Marini, may be considered an anchor for Italian choreographic production and a way to discover lesser-known international artists. This crossroad of activities is brought together to consolidate the already established relationship between ORBITA | Spellbound’s productions and the capital city of Rome, to embrace and promote contemporary dance creation by emerging and well-established artists, who are missing from the list of names found in large festivals.