International Center for Movement and Dance

CIMD-DANCE

A centre for contemporary dance. Since 2018 its registered office has been located at Via Ennio 19/1, 20137 Milan.

THE BEGINNINGS

This space was founded in Milan in 1981 at Via Fontana 15. It was a time of great rediscovery of the body, and Franca Ferrari had just completed her studies with Rosalia Chladek, an iconic figure of modern dance, a great pedagogue and the creator of a precise and objective technique that respects the nature of the human body. Within this cultural context grew the desire to create a protected space where the moving body could be explored in its highest form of expression: dance.

A CENTRE FOR THE PROMOTION OF DANCE

Between 1985 and 1994 it organised workshops with great masters (including Dominique Dupuy, Brigitte Hyon, Michele Abbondanza, Antonella Bertoni, Marie Paule Marthe, Sohanta De Oliveira, Keikko Sainthoran, Roberto Castello, Giorgio Rossi) and promoted dance through meetings and cultural events. Among others, the event “Giovani Artisti in Centro” with the Municipality of Milan and four years of the “Contemporary Dance and Music Festival” in collaboration with the Milan Conservatory at Centro Sociale Garibaldi. It also collaborates with medical teams for research and dissemination of new approaches to movement.

Since 2008, in the former headquarters at Via Fontana 15, CIMD has become a fully equipped performance space and hosts student projects from the professional training programme as well as works by other choreographers. Important collaborations were also established to foster continuous exchange on contemporary dance practice and theory.

ERBACCE

“Erbacce” was born from the meeting between Franca Ferrari, director of C.I.M.D. – Centro Internazionale Movimento e Danza (Milan), and Gianluca Cheli, cultural manager, in dialogue with choreographer Daniele Ninarello. It is a professional development programme for artists, created with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture (MiC) and SIAE, within the programme “Per Chi Crea”.

FESTIVAL PIÙ CHE DANZA

Dedicated to contemporary performing languages. A festival that does not aim at selection, but seeks to become an opportunity for growth and for ideas, experiences and sharing among companies, artists and audiences. It looks for the “specific soul” of contemporary performing arts in their drive towards discovery, renewal and innovation.
Concept and direction by Franca Ferrari.

PIÙ – ERBACCE

“Più” was born from the meeting between Franca Ferrari, director of C.I.M.D. – Centro Internazionale Movimento e Danza (Milan), Daniele Ninarello, artist and choreographer, and Gianluca Cheli, cultural manager. It is supported by Fondazione Cariplo within the call “Per la Cultura”.

PIÙ CHE DANZA DIFFUSO

A project born from the experience of the festival Più Che Danza, organised by CIMD – Centro Internazionale di Movimento e Danza in collaboration with the National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci in Milan.
Concept and direction by Franca Ferrari.

NEW PERSPECTIVES FROM 2018 WITH “INCUBATORE PER FUTURI COREOGRAFI”

In 2018 a new phase begins: the Ministry of Cultural Heritage (MiBAC) approves the three-year project “Incubatore per futuri coreografi”. Ten young artists aged between 19 and 25 take part for three years in a shared research process with the choreographers Marco D’Agostin, Franca Ferrari, Daniele Ninarello and Davide Valrosso.

PARIS AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

In 1985 the meeting with Dominique Dupuy marks the beginning of a new phase of study in contemporary dance and gives new momentum to the work. In 1993 the collaboration with the RIDC institute in Paris begins, and CIMD prepares Italian students for the French state diploma until 2003. Since 2004, the professional training continues independently with a two-year programme.

Festival Più Che Danza

Più Che Danza was founded in 2014 thanks to the dialogue with Franco Laera, then director of CRT, with the aim of creating a space for the most innovative contemporary performing languages.
In 2017 a collaboration with Teatro Fontana, directed by Rossella Lepore, is developed, and the festival takes on its definitive form as an opportunity for growth and for the sharing of ideas, experiences and practices among companies, artists and audiences.

Since 2018 the festival has been part of the activities of “Incubatore per Futur* Coreograf*”, CIMD’s generational renewal project supported by the Ministry of Culture.
This new dimension opens the programme to emerging generations and to different ways of engaging with audiences.

In 2020 the festival experiments with a “diffused” format across several spaces in the city, including the Museum of Science and Technology, while in 2021 the Teatro Franco Parenti hosts the eighth edition.
Since 2022 the festival, directed by Franca Ferrari, has been welcomed by BASE Milano, which hosts both the programming activities and the research and practice activities of the participants in Incubatore per Futur* Coreograf*.
Since 2023 Franca Ferrari has been joined by artist Daniele Ninarello as co-curator of the Incubatore per Futur* Coreograf* project.

With the contribution of