Your Nature in Motion .
Located in the Pollino National Park in the town of Fardella (Southern Italy), Pollino Danza Festival is a unique event which includes education, networking and performance, supporting personal and artistic growth.
The event has existed since 2010 and is organized by Balletto Lucano, International Cultural Center for education and promotion of dance, under the direction of Loredana Calabrese, and co-organized by Antonella Fittipaldi and Luana Filardi.
What we do .
The festival lasts over a week, and each year hosts young talented dancers from all over the world, who have the desire to train and grow in proximity with nature and thanks to a selected staff of international artists. From morning until night, workshops, masterclass, performances, artistic residencies and competitions create a unique atmosphere in the village, practicing the perfect balance between art, environment and culture.
How .
Pollino Danza Festival aims to make art and dance accessible, providing affordable accommodations, offering scholarships and creating working opportunities via internships in Theater, Academies and Dance Companies. The Festival, which keeps on focusing on scouting and mentoring by supporting education and career, is considered home for many international artists who found their way through it.
Where .
The beautiful landscapes of the region Basilicata are an essential part of the unique experience the Festival promotes, by hosting training and laboratories inside the Natural Park of the small town of Fardella.
The Festival invites to connect with a more sustainable way of living, faraway from the hectic rhythm of the cities, offering an experience stress-free and in a calm environment, where friendships and long term artistic collaborations are born and possible to cultivate.
Chi siamo .
Loredana Calabrese
Artistic Director and founder
Born in Basilicata, Loredana Calabrese worked as a dancer at an international level and in the early 2000s founded Balletto Lucano and Pollino Danza Festival, bringing an international event to Basilicata. Thanks to her dedication and collaboration with Italian and foreign centers and theaters, Loredana has built a bridge between the local and international scene, offering unique opportunities to young aspiring artists.
Luana Filardi
Administration, communication and project manager
Luana was born in Basilicata, Loredana Calabrese works as a dancer at an international level and in the early 2000s she founded Balletto Lucano and Pollino Danza Festival, bringing an international event to Basilicata. Thanks to her dedication and collaboration with Italian and foreign centers and theaters, Loredana has built a bridge between the local and international scene, offering unique opportunities to young aspiring artists.
Antonella Fittipaldi
Responsible for communication and International relations, mentor and consultant for promotion.
Multidisciplinary artist from Basilicata, co-organizer for Pollino Danza Festival since 2021. She began studying dance at Balletto Lucano and took part at the Festival for the first time when she was eleven years old. Since that moment her life changed radically thanks to the participation at the festival, being granted important opportunities through the years that allowed her to continue her dance education in Tuscany. She continued as assistant choreographer in the USA and at the same time she graduated in Philosophy at the Università Statale in Milan.
In 2022 she graduated at the University of Theater en Dans in Amsterdam, from the well known department for choreographic research called SNDO (School for New dance development).
She currently works as performer, choreographer, curator and theoriscian freelance in Oland, Belgium and Italy, and as mentor and pr coordinator for the University of Theater en Dans in Amsterdam.
Sara Pennella
Teacher and stage rehearsal manager
Born in 1990 in Italy in Basilicata. Sara started her dancing career at the age of 16 when she won the competition in Pollino Danza Festival, a scholarship
from Florence-based school “Balletto di Toscana”. Her professional endeavors begun after graduating from the school 5 years later and becoming a freelance dancer engaged in varius projects in Netherlands, Germany,Switzerland and Italy.
For more than a decade she has been defining her unique artistic style learning from and working with varius choreographers (Vraja Sundari Keilman, Remus Sucheana, Lars Schreiben) all cross the globe.
Not limiting herself exclusively to performing, Sara eagerly shares her vast experience by teaching and lecturing on festivals and projects aimed at bringing the fine art of dancing closer to wider public. Today she mainly works in Switzerland (Tanz&Kunst dance company and Zurich Opernhaus), Germany (Tanztheater Erfurt) and Netherlands (Samhadi Dance Company).
Antonio Polito
Logistics support and relaxation area manager
At the age of eleven he began dancing at the Academy of Classical and Contemporary Dance of Balletto Lucano, curated and directed by Loredana Calabrese and participated in Pollino Danza as a student since the foundation of the Event. He stands out for his skills as an interpreter, receiving numerous awards abroad, and was invited to dance as a guest at the AIDS TANZ GALA at the Staaststheater am Gartenerplatz” Theater in Munich. Then at the Paris Company of Choreographer Karina Saporta, who gave him the opportunity to work as a protagonist; increasingly enriching his cultural background. He is currently a stable dancer of the Balletto Lucano Company, works as a teacher at the Center. He is a Certified masseur and Pilates instructor. For the Pollino Danza Festival he also takes care of the relaxation area that offers various treatments, from massages to private lessons of strengthening and relaxation.
Angelo Chiacchio
Visual communication
Angelo was born and raised in Basilicata but trained as a designer throughout Europe. Since 2010 he has been part of nodesign.net, a multi-award winning Parisian design and innovation studio. Angelo is also a photographer and director, author of the EPHEMERA project and video dance projects with Balletto Lucano. He has been curating the festival’s image since 2006.
Biagio Coringrato
Coordinator for tourist and extra activities.
Born in Chiaromonte (Pz) in 1993, Biagio lives in Fardella in the heart of the Pollino National Park.
His main profession is that of hair stylist and make-up artist in a beauty salon he owns, which he started in November 2017. In 2023 he ranked third as the best Hair Stylist in Paris. Since he was a child he attended dance classes as a hobby, and still today he never misses an opportunity to support artistic events in his town and in the Basilicata region.
Delsi Gomes
Organization Assistant (internship)
Delsi studies dance at Formazione Danzarte Genova, where she attended the Professional Training Course for dancers that the school offers, specializing in contemporary dance. She also studies Media, Communication and Society at the University of Genoa.
She participated in the Pollino Danza Festival in 2023 as a dancer and this year, thanks to the collaboration between the festival and the university, she will participate as an intern as an assistant to the organization of the festival.