Muddica 7 · Scenario Pubblico, 2023
Dance as art in motion, without make-up
DANZ@M.E promotes dance in all its forms around Acireale, in Sicily: performances, choreographic residencies, camps and workshops.
It was founded by C. Enrico Musmeci, winner of the Aci & Galatea Prize in 1997, after a career in the opera houses of France, Italy and Switzerland. Over the years the association has produced performances with live music, urban performances and dance theatre, and has built international exchanges to help young dancers into the profession.
- Founded
- 2003, Acireale
- Recognised by
- Italian Ministry of Culture, 2021
- Venue
- Sala La Pépinière
Mò.DANCEFEST
A platform for auteur choreography. “What is foreign seems strange.”
Mò.DANCEFEST selects and presents short pieces by emerging Sicilian contemporary dance companies and by Sicilian choreographers working abroad. The works are new or reworked excerpts of recent choreographies, chosen to show audiences the styles and directions of dance today.
The festival is conceived and organised by DANZ@M.E and takes place in the association's own studio, La Pépinière. Alongside the evening performances there are masterclasses, choreographic labs and residencies, which end with a showing open to the public.
Masterclass · Performances 20:15
Hip hop and improvisation masterclass with Rafael Smadja (Cie. Champloo, CH).
- Melania Caggegi · Linguaglossa
- Annalisa Di Lanno / GEMA C.C. · Catania
- Maria Stella Pitarresi, Marco Pergallini / platz14 · Palermo
- Raffaella Crapio · Acireale
- Rafael Smadja, Ernesto Marquez · France
Masterclass · Lab · Performances 20:15
Contemporary masterclass with Raffaella Crapio (Cia. Xauru, ES) and choreographic lab with Amalia Borsellino (Collettivo SicilyMade).
- Serena Cavalli / BalletStudio · Aci Bonaccorsi
- Agnese Canicattì · Agrigento
- Raffaele Coppola · Naples
- Amalia Borsellino · Catania
- Raffaella Crapio · Acireale
- Benedetta Agostinis, Melania Caggegi · Catania
Residency showing 18:00
The three pairs in residence present the work they developed during the festival.
- Chiara Di Guardo, Marco Fichera
- Gaetano Palermo, Michele Petrosino
- Mariana Cerino Calazans, Giorgia Briguglio
Partners: InciDanse (Fribourg), IterCulture, platz14, GEMA, Viagrande Studios, Ballet Studio. Under the patronage of the City of Acireale.
Photos from the 2026 edition
coming soon
Dancer · choreographer · teacherC. Enrico Musmeci
Born in Catania on 4 July 1964, he began studying classical ballet at the age of nine, between Acireale and Catania. In 1983 he moved to France for the two-year professional programme at the Centre de Danse International Rosella Hightower in Cannes.
Fifteen years in the opera houses of France, Italy and Switzerland followed. He danced the repertoire of Petipa, Balanchine, Bournonville and Cranko and worked with choreographers such as Uwe Scholz, Peter Schaufuss and John Clifford. He made his first choreographies in Zurich, and in 1995 founded the ORMA Dance Company.
He has worked with Roberto Zappalà since 1995. Back in Sicily in 2010, he leads the MoDem Pro courses and CZD2 at Scenario Pubblico in Catania, and through DANZ@M.E brings workshops, residencies and Mò.DANCEFEST to Acireale.
Trained withRosella Hightower, José Ferran, Claudine Winzer, Arlette Castanier, Monet Robier, Nora Kiss, Daniel Frank, Max Bozzoni, Gilbert Mayer, Raymond Franchetti, Mme Arlein, Jacqueline Finnaert, Margarita Trayanova.
Seasons
Two-year professional training in classical and modern dance.
First contracts with French opera ballet companies.
European tour and, in 1987, a US tour with the Ballet de France, Paris.
One season in the corps de ballet.
Four seasons. From 1990 he creates his first choreographies for the Opera.
Two seasons as dancer and choreographer; in 1993 he creates a work with orchestra.
Founds and directs the company, supported by the City and Canton of Zurich. More than ten creations, touring Germany, France, Mauritius, Italy and Liechtenstein until 2000.
Returns to Sicily. Since 2012 head of teaching for MoDem Pro and director of CZD2; assistant to Roberto Zappalà for Fra Diavolo at the Rome Opera (2017) and the Teatro Massimo in Palermo (2018).
Awards
- 1991–94Four times finalist at the International Choreography Competition, Hanover
- 19942nd Prize, Genzano di Roma
- 1995Finalist, Prix Volinine, Paris
- 1997Aci & Galatea Prize, Acireale
- 1997Selected for the 1st SiWiC, Swiss International Coaching Project for Choreographers
- 1998Swiss platform of the Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis
On stage with
Élisabeth Platel, Silviane Bayard, Vladimir Klos, Birgit Keil, Vladimir Derevianko, Patrick Dupond, Fernando Bujones, Peter Schaufuss, Elisabetta Terabust, Richard Cragun, Raffaele Paganini, Julio Bocca.
Juries
- 2019Città di Verona Competition
- 2021Prospettiva Danza Teatro International Prize, Padua
- 2023Teatri Riflessi, Zafferana Etnea
- 2023–26Steering committee, InciDanse, Fribourg