Corpi in ascolto by Orbita at the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo and Spazio Rossellini, through December 20, 2026

Corpi in ascolto, the autumn program of the National Dance Production Center Orbita | Spellbound, continues through December 20, 2026 between the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo, at via Ostuni 8, and the Spazio Rossellini, at via della Vasca Navale 58. The next events open to the public are on Friday, November 13 at 8 p.m. at the Spazio Rossellini with the showing of Corpo a(l) corpo by Balletto Civile, on Tuesday, November 24 at the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo with Cnosso, a show for the youngest in two performances at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., on Sunday, December 20 at 7 p.m. at the Spazio Rossellini with Come close, close your eyes by Anna Basti, the outcome of the Creazioni accessibili residency. The Spazio Rossellini is reached by Metro B, San Paolo stop, and by buses 170, 23, 766 and 791, the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo by Metro B to Ponte Mammolo, tram 14 and buses 450, 451 and 508 on viale Togliatti. Some events are free, others paid: prices and bookings are published on Orbita's official website, which runs the box office at the address indicated by the organization and at the number 329 5508072.

Language: a performance based on dance, music or visual acts; no English version is announced, any spoken parts are in Italian.

Corpi in ascolto 2026: the essential information

Corpi in ascolto is Orbita's autumn program, from September 14 to December 20, 2026: residencies, shows, talks, workshops and a focus for schools. It previews the dance season that Orbita presents from January to May 2027, which the Rome city cultural portal defines as the capital's only season devoted entirely to dance.

The venues

Three venues in three districts: the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo, at via Ostuni 8, in Municipio V, the Spazio Rossellini, at via della Vasca Navale 58, in Municipio VIII, the Artemisia Gentileschi comprehensive school, at via Carpineto 11, in Municipio V, for the activities with schools.

Who promotes it

The project is promoted by Roma Capitale, Department of Culture, as winner of the public call Roma Creativa 365. Cultura tutto l'anno, in collaboration with Zètema Progetto Cultura. As always in these cases, the program may change: before heading out it's worth checking Orbita's website.

The calendar that remains

On September 24 the showing of Arkadi Zaides's residency took place at the Quarticciolo. From now to December three public moments remain: November 13 Corpo a(l) corpo, November 24 Cnosso, December 20 Come close, close your eyes. Alongside, the talks and the dance workshop Lo sguardo performativo accompany the program through December.

Tickets

The Rome city cultural portal indicates that some events are free and others paid, and refers to Orbita's website for details. The workshop Lo sguardo performativo is marked as free. To book, write to Orbita's box office or call 329 5508072.

The Corpi in ascolto program: what you see

Corpi in ascolto is not a series of shows in the traditional sense. It's a program of creative residencies on themes of the present, with a viewing-guide focus for the youngest, a workshop for adolescence and a project devoted to accessibility for blind and low-vision audiences.

November 13: Corpo a(l) corpo

From September 18 to November 12, at the Spazio Rossellini, the company Balletto Civile leads the third chapter of the workshop project Corpo a(l) corpo, devoted to the psychophysical well-being of adolescents and aimed at neurodivergent kids followed by the Child Neuropsychiatry Unit of the Policlinico Tor Vergata. The project was born in 2024 from the clinical work of the neuropsychiatrist Maria Cristina Porfirio, who involved Orbita to enrich the ward's practices with body-awareness techniques. The path leads to the creation of a work of physical theater and dramaturgy of the self, open to the public on November 13 at 8 p.m.

November 24: Cnosso

The focus for the youngest, curated by Federica Migliotti, brings to the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo two performances of Cnosso, at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. The show by Marco Guarrera, with choreography by Vito Cassano, for the Compagnia Eleina D, Malombra, in co-production with Fattore K, draws on Malombra's light theater technique and rereads the myth of the Minotaur from an intimate perspective: the monster becomes a fragile, marginalized figure, a mirror of the broken identities of our time. The portal presents it as a show by the company Eleina D directed by Vito Cassano and Claudia Cavalli.

La danza va a scuola

Cnosso is accompanied by the workshop cycle La danza va a scuola, led by Choronde, designed to provide teaching tools to teachers, on November 18, 19 and 20 at the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo.

December 20: Creazioni accessibili

From December 11 to 20, at the Spazio Rossellini, Creazioni accessibili continues, an annual residency awarded through a call for creating performances accessible to blind communities, in collaboration with ATCL, Unione Italiana Ciechi di Roma, Ipse Lab and Fondazione Con-Tatto. The project selected in 2026 is Come close, close your eyes by Anna Basti, produced by Chiasma. On December 20 at 7 p.m. the result is open to the public, with a dialogue between the people and associations involved.

Et in Arcadia Ego

The program opened on September 14 with the residency of Arkadi Zaides, who until September 23 worked on the stage of the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo on the new project Et in Arcadia Ego, in network with LaGeste Artspace in Belgium and KentFestival in Turkey, within the three-year program Artisti in Orbita supported by the Regione Lazio. The showing took place on September 24.

Talks and workshops of Corpi in ascolto

Alongside the three public events, Corpi in ascolto offers a strand of open talks and a workshop, which the Rome city cultural portal lists among the upcoming events.

Lo sguardo performativo

Lo sguardo performativo is a free dance workshop that accompanies the program from September 24 to December 20, at several venues. It is the thread that ties the residencies to the audience: a way to learn to watch contemporary dance before judging it.

Talks and conferences

From November 13 to December 20 there are talks and conferences scheduled tied to La danza va a scuola, Corpo a(l) corpo and Creazioni accessibili, with two events devoted to accessibility: one with Ipse Lab, one on performing arts and accessibility. After the December 20 showing a moderated dialogue is planned between the people and associations involved, to give participants basic knowledge of accessibility, inclusion and the embodied knowledge of blind and low-vision people.

Teatro e benessere

Both residencies at the Spazio Rossellini are part of ATCL's program Teatro e benessere: pratiche inclusive, accessibilità e welfare culturale. ATCL, besides hosting the initiatives, builds with Orbita a synergy based on the transfer of skills between marginalized communities and stage professionals.

Orbita | Spellbound: who organizes it

Orbita | Spellbound is a National Dance Production Center based in Rome, promoted by the Associazione Spellbound, which is headquartered on via dei Prati Fiscali. Corpi in ascolto is its autumn program, supported by Roma Capitale as winner of the public call Roma Creativa 365, in collaboration with Zètema.

A dance-only season

The Rome city cultural portal presents Corpi in ascolto as the preview of the capital's only season devoted entirely to dance, from January to May 2027. It's a strong claim, and says a lot about the role Orbita has carved out: taking contemporary dance out of the big downtown theaters, into neighborhoods, schools, hospitals.

The body as a political actor

In the official presentation the project revives an idea of a community gathered around questions of the body, understood as an engine of meaning and a political actor, with effects ranging from raising awareness of current issues to the regeneration of territorial and relational fabrics. It's a program that produces research, connects spaces, associations, universities and artists, and trains new audiences.

The artists of Corpi in ascolto 2026

Arkadi Zaides

The cultural portal describes him as one of the most incisive voices of the international contemporary research scene, in his third year of collaboration with Orbita. His training crosses dance, theater and academic research, and over time he has developed an approach that combines performance, video analysis, installations and the study of political systems. In his language the body is not only movement: it is document, memory, friction, living archive of social tensions.

Balletto Civile

The company has led the project Corpo a(l) corpo for three years, an intensive creative path with the young patients of the Child Neuropsychiatry ward of the Policlinico Tor Vergata and with the ward's team and the association Aita. The work combines physical theater and dramaturgy of the self, with the aim of turning distress into creative gesture and building a mutual-aid community.

Compagnia Eleina D and Malombra

Cnosso is signed by Marco Guarrera, with choreography by Vito Cassano, for the Compagnia Eleina D, with Malombra and in co-production with Fattore K. Malombra's light theater is the show's hallmark, designed for children but built on a myth, that of the Minotaur, which speaks to adults too.

Anna Basti and Comuniello's mentoring

Anna Basti presents Come close, close your eyes, produced by Chiasma. The residency benefits from the mentoring of the blind choreographer Giuseppe Comuniello, the dramaturg Camilla Guarino and the researcher Flavia Dalila D'Amico, as well as feedback from blind people to test the accessibility practices. At the Spazio Rossellini Comuniello also presented in October his work Cuna.

A curiosity about Orbita's Corpi in ascolto at the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo and Spazio Rossellini, through December 20, 2026

The curiosity is in the title of the project that opened the program, Arkadi Zaides's Et in Arcadia Ego. The author's name and the word Arcadia resemble each other, and the coincidence strikes anyone reading the program. The project was born in a network between Rome, Belgium and Turkey, with LaGeste Artspace and KentFestival, and in Rome it found its working stage at the Quarticciolo, in a borgata hall: an Arcadia very different from that of the shepherds.

The second curiosity concerns Cnosso. The Minotaur, the monster par excellence of Greek mythology, becomes in this show for children a fragile, marginalized figure. It's a reversal that contemporary fairy tales often practice, but here it passes through light theater: a monster made of shadows who turns out, in the end, to be merely lonely.

Third curiosity: the Spazio Rossellini, where two of the three events are held, is inside the Istituto Cine-Tv Roberto Rossellini, in the studios where the director shot. A place born for cinema that today hosts dance, theater and residencies.

The Spazio Rossellini

The Spazio Rossellini, Regional Multidisciplinary Cultural Hub, is at via della Vasca Navale 58, in the San Paolo district, Municipio VIII, inside the Istituto Cine-Tv Roberto Rossellini.

Rossellini's studios

The Regione Lazio gave it back to the city after major renovation work, giving a new form and a new purpose to the studios where Roberto Rossellini shot. The programming is entrusted to ATCL, the multidisciplinary circuit of Lazio, which is a stable partner of Corpi in ascolto.

A hall for dance

The declared vocation is live performance, advanced training and promotion of artists from the regional territory: theater, dance, music, cinema, workshops, residencies. The space is equipped with a dance floor, and also hosts the Emergenze Coreografiche call. At the Spazio Rossellini ATCL carries forward the program Teatro e benessere, devoted to inclusive practices, accessibility and cultural welfare.

The Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo

The Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo is a multifunctional facility inaugurated in 2007, born from the renovation of the borgata's covered market. The theater entrance is at via Ostuni 8, the library's at via Castellaneta.

The borgata

The Quarticciolo is an official borgata designed in 1939-1940 by Roberto Nicolini and built in a first phase between 1941 and 1943: the last official borgata of the Governatorato. The name comes from the four miles that separate it from Porta Maggiore along the Prenestina. The layout is orthogonal, with via Manfredonia as the cardo and via Ostuni as the decumanus: the theater sits right on the main axis.

A neighborhood theater

The theater's regular programming is curated by Cranpi. Corpi in ascolto brings here international research dance, like Zaides's residency, and theater for schools, like Cnosso: two different ways of inhabiting a suburban theater.

Something nobody tells you about Orbita's Corpi in ascolto at the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo and Spazio Rossellini, through December 20, 2026

What nobody says is that the three public events of Corpi in ascolto are not shows like the others. Corpo a(l) corpo is the showing of a path made with kids followed by a hospital ward, Come close, close your eyes is the outcome of a residency designed with and for blind people, Cnosso is a matinee for schools. Whoever goes to see them should know they're taking part in something more than an evening at the theater: they witness a process, and their gaze is part of the work.

The second thing is that the venues are far from each other: the Quarticciolo is to the east, on the Prenestina, the Spazio Rossellini to the south, toward San Paolo. Those who want to follow several events have to organize with transport, and check routes first.

Third thing: the events have limited seats, and it's best to book by writing to Orbita's box office or phoning, even for the free ones.

My advice for seeing Orbita's Corpi in ascolto at the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo and Spazio Rossellini, through December 20, 2026

The advice is to choose the evening of December 20, Come close, close your eyes, even if you've never seen a contemporary dance show. A performance built to be accessible to blind people, discussed at the end with the people and associations involved, is an experience that changes the way of looking, and perhaps of not looking. At 7 p.m. on the Sunday before Christmas, it's a different way to close the year.

If you have school-age children and their school isn't taking part, point out to the teachers November 24 and Cnosso: the focus for schools exists precisely to create a young audience. For November 13, Corpo a(l) corpo, go with respect and without expectations: it's the work of kids who chose to stage their own bodies, and deserves full attention.

In any case write to the box office first: the spaces are intimate and reservations help the organizers. And if one of these evenings wins you over, note down the dance season Orbita presents from January to May 2027: Corpi in ascolto is its preview, and the best way to get to know it is to arrive with a few images already in your eyes.

Another well-known fact, yet rarely cited

It's well known that Rome has many theaters and very few spaces devoted to contemporary dance. Less cited is that one of the city's main dance production centers works mostly outside the center: at the Quarticciolo, at San Paolo, in the schools of Municipio V. It's a precise choice, bringing international choreographic research to neighborhoods where other kinds of cultural offerings usually arrive.

Also rarely cited is the fact that dance, in these projects, works with medicine and with social work. Corpo a(l) corpo comes from the request of a neuropsychiatrist at a major Roman hospital, Creazioni accessibili involves the Unione Italiana Ciechi. ATCL frames these projects in the program Teatro e benessere, devoted to cultural welfare. It's a way of understanding live performance that is growing in Italy, but is little talked about.

Finally, little known is that the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo is a former covered market. The place where the borgata's bread and fruit were bought became, in 2007, a theater and a library: one of the most successful transformations of the Roman periphery.

The right photo to take at Orbita's Corpi in ascolto at the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo and Spazio Rossellini, through December 20, 2026

During the shows you don't take photos: they are delicate works, often with non-professional participants, and respect comes first. The right photo is taken before or after.

At the Quarticciolo, photograph the square at the crossing of via Ostuni and via Manfredonia, the heart of the borgata's orthogonal layout, with the tower building that dominates it. It's the image that tells the neighborhood and its history as a Governatorato borgata.

At the Spazio Rossellini, the photo is the institute's entrance with the director's name: a place born for cinema, where today the stage is that of live bodies. At December sunset, with the lights on, it's an image worth the evening.

Getting to the Corpi in ascolto venues

The transport indicated by the Rome city cultural portal for each venue is as follows, for the route from your own starting point it's best to use the ATAC planner.

Spazio Rossellini

Via della Vasca Navale 58. Metro B, San Paolo stop, buses 170, 23, 766 and 791.

Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo

Via Ostuni 8. Metro B to Ponte Mammolo, tram 14 and buses 450, 451 and 508 on viale Palmiro Togliatti.

IC Artemisia Gentileschi

Via Carpineto 11, for the activities with schools. Metro C, Mirti stop, buses 542, 548 and C5.

By car

Both theaters are outside the historic center's ZTL, and can also be reached by car, for parking it's best to arrive a bit early.

Some important events that happened here in history

1939-1940: Roberto Nicolini designs the Quarticciolo borgata, the last official borgata of the Governatorato, the first phase is built between 1941 and 1943.

July 1943: after the bombings, displaced people occupy the not-yet-finished houses of the Quarticciolo. Between 1943 and 1945 the borgata takes part in the Resistance with the Quadraro, Centocelle and Torpignattara.

2007: the borgata's covered market becomes the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo.

Recent years: the Regione Lazio gives back to the city, after major works, the studios of the Istituto Roberto Rossellini, which become the Spazio Rossellini, Regional Multidisciplinary Cultural Hub, programmed by ATCL.

2024: the project Corpo a(l) corpo with Orbita and Balletto Civile is born, from the clinical work of the neuropsychiatrist Maria Cristina Porfirio at the Policlinico Tor Vergata.

September 14, 2026: Corpi in ascolto opens at the Quarticciolo with Arkadi Zaides's residency, on September 24 the showing of Et in Arcadia Ego.

November 13, November 24 and December 20, 2026: the three concluding public events, before the dance season from January to May 2027.

Who has come through Orbita's Corpi in ascolto at the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo and Spazio Rossellini, through December 20, 2026

Through the Spazio Rossellini has passed, first of all, Roberto Rossellini: the space is in the studios where he shot, now given back to the city as a cultural hub. This fall, among others, Giuseppe Comuniello with Cuna has passed through, and the kids of Balletto Civile and Anna Basti with her residency will.

Through the Quarticciolo has passed the history of a borgata: the large families to whom the first apartments were assigned, the displaced of July 1943, the partisans of the Resistance in the eastern periphery. More recently, cinema: the film Nessuno mi può giudicare, from 2011, was shot in the neighborhood. And theater, with the Teatro Biblioteca's programming and the community initiatives in the square.

In this edition of Corpi in ascolto, Arkadi Zaides has passed through the Quarticciolo, working there for 10 days on his new project, and Marco Guarrera, Vito Cassano and the Compagnia Eleina D with Cnosso will, together with Federica Migliotti and Choronde with the teachers of the workshop La danza va a scuola.

What's around the two theaters

Around the Spazio Rossellini

The San Paolo and Ostiense districts are a few minutes away: the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, the Centrale Montemartini, the murals of the Ostiense street art.

Around the Quarticciolo

The borgata borders Centocelle and Tor Sapienza. Not far away is the Quadraro, the other neighborhood symbolic of the Resistance and of eastern-periphery street art. The theater also hosted this season Asterione and Favola sismica.

Where to eat near the theaters

At the Quarticciolo and in nearby Centocelle the offer is that of Rome's working-class neighborhoods: pizzerias, trattorias, bars and bakeries, with prices decidedly lower than downtown. At the Spazio Rossellini it's best to move toward via Ostiense and San Paolo, where the choice is wider. For the 7 and 8 p.m. evenings, an aperitivo before the show is the most practical solution.

Accessibility and visiting with children

Accessibility

The Rome city cultural portal marks the event as accessible. Creazioni accessibili, in particular, is designed with and for blind and low-vision people. Those with specific needs can contact Orbita's box office before the event.

With children

Cnosso is the show designed for the youngest, with the morning performances of November 24 intended for schools. The workshop La danza va a scuola involves teachers. The other events are suitable for an adult audience or for older kids.

How to organize the evening at Corpi in ascolto

Booking

Write to Orbita's box office indicating date, title and number of seats, or call 329 5508072. The spaces are intimate and residency showings often have a limited audience.

Arriving on time

On November 13 it starts at 8 p.m., on December 20 at 7 p.m. Calculate the transport times carefully: the Spazio Rossellini is far from the center, and evening lines have lower frequencies. Arriving a quarter of an hour early lets you pick up seats and enter calmly.

Staying afterward

The showings are often followed by a dialogue with the artists and with the people involved. It's worth staying: it's the moment when you understand what you've seen, and where it comes from.

Rome between November and December: the period of Corpi in ascolto

The three public events fall in the most intimate part of the Roman autumn, between mid-November and the week before Christmas. They are weeks when the city slows down, evenings turn cold and cultural offerings move indoors. A dance evening in the periphery, outside the downtown circuits, is a good antidote to the holiday calendar: fewer lights, more listening, as the title promises.

Frequently asked questions about Orbita's Corpi in ascolto

When does Corpi in ascolto 2026 take place?

Orbita | Spellbound's Corpi in ascolto takes place from September 14 to December 20, 2026. The next public events are November 13 at 8 p.m. at the Spazio Rossellini, November 24 at the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo and December 20 at 7 p.m. at the Spazio Rossellini.

Where are the Corpi in ascolto venues?

Corpi in ascolto takes place at the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo, at via Ostuni 8, at the Spazio Rossellini, at via della Vasca Navale 58, and at the Artemisia Gentileschi comprehensive school, at via Carpineto 11, for the activities with schools.

How much do the Corpi in ascolto shows cost?

For Corpi in ascolto the Rome city cultural portal indicates that some events are free and others paid. Prices and bookings are on Orbita's official website, with box office by email and at the number 329 5508072.

What is Balletto Civile's Corpo a(l) corpo?

Corpo a(l) corpo is a workshop project by Balletto Civile with adolescents followed by the Child Neuropsychiatry unit of the Policlinico Tor Vergata, in its third chapter in 2026. The public showing is at the Spazio Rossellini on November 13 at 8 p.m.

What is Creazioni accessibili?

Creazioni accessibili is Orbita's annual residency for performances accessible to blind people, with ATCL and the Unione Italiana Ciechi. In 2026 Anna Basti's Come close, close your eyes was selected, open to the public at the Spazio Rossellini on December 20 at 7 p.m.

Does Corpi in ascolto have shows for children?

Corpi in ascolto offers Cnosso, a show for the youngest inspired by the myth of the Minotaur, at the Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo on November 24 at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m., within the focus for schools curated by Federica Migliotti.

How do you get to the Spazio Rossellini?

The Spazio Rossellini, at via della Vasca Navale 58, is reached by Metro B to the San Paolo stop and by buses 170, 23, 766 and 791, according to the directions of the Rome city cultural portal.

Final advice on Corpi in ascolto

Corpi in ascolto is the least visible part of Roman cultural life, and for that very reason it's worth seeking out. Choose one of the three dates, book, take the metro out to the periphery and sit in a hall where dance does a job you don't see in the big theaters. You'll go home with a few more questions, which is the best possible result of an evening at the theater.

Article written by the editorial team of Tour Leader Pro, contact them for Private/Corporate/V.I.P. Tours and Experiences.

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