OFFICINA DELLE ARTI SICILIA
An innovative programme for artistic training, creation and experimentation, created by Alessandro Ienzi
Officina delle Arti Sicilia is an innovative artistic training and creation programme conceived and created by Alessandro Ienzi for Raizes Teatro, within the Lab School programme, developed in collaboration with Rete SHE and the Sicilian Regional Government – Department of Education and Vocational Training
The programme brings together 27 young participants from 9 Sicilian cities and international artists through an interdisciplinary methodology combining theatre, writing, physical performance, contemporary movement, freestyle football and artistic research.
The central idea of Officina delle Arti is simple: participants are not only trained — they create.
Throughout the programme, participants write texts, develop characters, create movements, experiment with different artistic languages and work collectively on original performance material. Their experiences, ideas and stories become part of the creative process and are progressively transformed into scenes and performances.
The programme therefore moves through three interconnected stages:
TRAINING → CREATION → PERFORMANCE
FOUR ARTISTS, FOUR DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
The artistic training is led by four international artists, each bringing a distinct discipline and methodology.
ALESSANDRO IENZI — THEATRE, DIRECTING & DRAMATURGY
Creator and artistic director of the programme, Alessandro Ienzi leads the theatrical and dramaturgical process. He works with participants on acting, storytelling, character development, scene construction and collective creation, guiding their individual ideas towards a coherent theatrical work.
DIALLO MAHMED — FREESTYLE FOOTBALL & PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE
Diallo Mahmed introduces participants to freestyle football as a physical and performative language. His work explores rhythm, coordination, movement, musicality and the relationship between body and space, showing how an urban practice can become material for contemporary performance.
ALEXIS TIENO — DANCE & MOVEMENT
Alexis Tieno leads the movement and dance component of the programme, working on body awareness, contemporary movement, physical expression and choreography. Participants learn to use the body not simply as a performing instrument, but as a means of narration.
WILLIAM COCHART — FREESTYLE FOOTBALL, PERFORMANCE & STAGE PRESENCE
William Cochart brings his experience as an actor, physical performer and freestyle football artist. His work focuses on the relationship between technical skill and theatrical presence, exploring how freestyle football can become choreography, character and storytelling on stage.
PARTICIPANTS AS AUTHORS
The distinctive element of Officina delle Arti is the active role given to participants.
They write, invent, improvise, choreograph, perform and produce original material throughout the programme.
Instead of reproducing a pre-existing performance, the participants contribute directly to its creation. Their writings, memories, observations, movements and ideas are collected and developed through the workshops, becoming scenes, dialogues, choreographies and physical sequences.
The final performance is therefore the result of a collective authorship process: professional artists provide tools, methods and artistic guidance, while the participants provide the stories, perspectives and creative material.
LA PIAZZA DEI SOGNI
The first concrete outcome of this creative process is La Piazza dei Sogni, an original performance created with the participants of the programme and presented in Erice, Sicily, at the conclusion of the artistic laboratory.
The performance brings together the different languages explored during the workshops — theatre, creative writing, dance, freestyle football and physical performance — transforming the ideas and material developed by the young participants into a collective stage work.
La Piazza dei Sogni represents the central philosophy of Officina delle Arti: young people are not simply the audience or recipients of culture; they become authors, performers and creators of culture themselves.
The public presentation in Erice marked the passage from the protected environment of the workshop to the public space of performance, allowing the participants to share their own voices and artistic creations with the community.
AN ARTISTIC LABORATORY
Officina delle Arti is conceived as a laboratory where disciplines that are often kept separate can meet.
Theatre meets freestyle football.
Writing meets movement.
Dance meets storytelling.
Sport meets performance.
Young people meet professional artists.
The result is an experimental space in which participants can discover their own artistic voice while learning how to create collectively.
For Raizes Teatro, the officina is not simply a place where art is taught. It is a place where new artists, new languages and new performances are created.
Created by Alessandro Ienzi
Production: Raizes Teatro
Artistic trainers: Alessandro Ienzi · Diallo Mahmed · Alexis Tieno · William Cochart
TRAINING · WRITING · CREATION · PERFORMANCE