Instabili Vaganti is a theatre production company recognised by the Ministry of Culture and the Emilia Romagna Region, which operates in the field of innovation and experimentation of contemporary languages with a multidisciplinary, intercultural and trans-media approach.
The company works at an international level in the creation and production of shows, performances, video works and in the direction of research projects and advanced training courses in contemporary theatre and performing arts.
Instabili Vaganti has received numerous national and international prizes and awards for its ability to deal with topical issues through a poetic language with a strong emotional impact, capable of conveying important messages on a global level, thanks to the universality of the performers’ physical language and the original dramaturgy translated or specially created in several languages.
Major awards include: the nomination for the Total Theatre Awards at the Edinburgh Festival for the show the critics’ prize at the Independent Theatre festival in Costanza in Romania, the Teatri di vita prize at the Cassino OFF Festival, the Best international performance prize at the International Festival IIFUT in Tehran in Iran, for the show Made in ILVA, the patronage of Amnesty International Italia for the show Desaparecidos#43 , the Special Jury Prize at the International Theatre and Visual Arts Festival Zdarzenia in Poland for the debut show Avan-Lulu.
The company has realised its own productions and co-productions with various residency centres and theatres, including The Global City (2019) with the National Theatre of Genoa and the FIDAE Festival in Uruguay, a performance project that won the Bando SIAE per Chi Crea by MIBACT and SIAE and the Bando #CREA by the Fondazione Sipario Toscana Onlus, and Dante Beyond Borders, a dance theatre performance co-produced with the Italian Cultural Institutes of Mumbai and New Delhi on the occasion of the celebrations of the 700th anniversary of the death of the Supreme Poet.
It has directed multi-year research and creation projects with international partners and work stages in various countries around the world, including the Stracci della memoria project (2006 – 2018), which was awarded the European Year of Cultural Heritage2018 label, the European Union’s contribution under the Youth in Action programme in 2008, and is the subject of the eponymous publication published by Cue Press.
Instabili Vaganti has also directed higher education projects in theatre and performing arts at leading academies and universities including: Shanghai Theatre Academy in China, National School of Drama in India, ENAT Escuela Nacional de Arte Teatral in Mexico, Universityof Kent in England, University of Bologna and Bicocca University in Milan, with which it has also produced the play Gender Profile, based on a University research on gender stereotypes.
Instabili Vaganti is in charge of the artistic direction of the PerformAzioni festival, the only example of an International Workshop festival in Italy, and TRENOff, the first fringe festival in Bologna.
Since 2020, it has flanked its theatrical production activity with the creation of web video series realised through long-distance collaboration with artists from different countries thanks to the support of Italian Embassies abroad and the Italian Cultural Institutes.
Instabili vaganti has obtained recognition and support over the years from various public and private bodies, including: Emilia – Romagna Region, Municipality of Bologna, Metropolitan City of Bologna, Fondazione del Monte di Bologna e Ravenna, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MIBACT, EUNIC, and by numerous Italian Cultural Institutes abroad and Italian Embassies abroad.
In 2014 it won the Funder35 call for young cultural enterprises promoted by Fondazione Cariplo, in 2020 the Incredibol call for innovation promoted by the Municipality of Bologna. In 2021, with the innovative international project Beyond Borders it won the 3rd and 4th editions of the MIC’s Boarding Pass Plus call for proposals as project leader.
In 2014 it won the Funder35 call for young cultural enterprises promoted by Fondazione Cariplo, in 2020 the Incredibol call for innovation promoted by the Municipality of Bologna. In 2021, with the innovative international project Beyond Borders it won the 3rd and 4th editions of the MIC’s Boarding Pass Plus call for proposals as project leader.
The artistic direction of the company is entrusted to award-winning director Anna Dora Dorno, who works in synergy with playwright Nicola Pianzola and composer Riccardo Nanni. Dorno has taught at major universities around the world, lectured during the World Theatre forum in India in 2018, and has been chosen by EUNIC as the Italian director to participate in the international residency at the Cross Currents festival in Washington DC in 2019.