COALESCING TOWARDS (Workshop Edition) (2025) by Michele Rizzo, invites participants, within the workshop led by the artist in the Basement Roma spaces, into an immersive exploration of movement, drawing from over a decade of the choreographer’s research into the themes of synchronicity and the obsessive repetition of gestures. Through guided sessions, participants engage in collective walking scores and spatial exercises that become tools to activate new forms of community and shared presence. The workshop unfolds as a complex and evolving choreography, interweaving moments of contemplation, stillness, and gradual energetic build-up, fostering a sense of cohesion among the group. Participants are invited to reflect on the ways bodies navigate and inhabit urban and social spaces—balancing between solitude and encounters, individual trajectories and collective rhythms. The experience evokes a wide emotional spectrum, from introspection to euphoria. Conceived as a dynamic and evolving format, the project Coalescing Towards embraces transformation with each iteration. While the core structure of the movement score remains consistent, the makeup of each group, the duration of the sessions, and the accompanying sound environment are tailored to each specific context—highlighting the centrality of process and collaborative creation in Rizzo’s practice. For Basement Art Assembly Biennial, the work is presented in the form of a six-day workshop, with the final day open to the public, highlighting an approach rooted in sharing and becoming—elements intrinsic to the context in which it takes place: a metamorphic context that will host new bodies in motion and dialogue with the artworks exhibited in the open, underground space.

OPEN CALL WORKSHOP
COALESCING TOWARDS
(Workshop Edition), 2025
November 17–22, 2025

From November 17 to 22, 2025, within the framework of Basement Art Assembly Biennial, choreographer Michele Rizzo will lead the workshop COALESCING TOWARDS at Basement Roma. The workshop, free of charge, is open to dancers and performers aged 18–35 and limited to a maximum of 12 participants.

COALESCING TOWARDS (Workshop Edition) (2025) invites participants to an immersive exploration of movement, grounded in over ten years of Rizzo’s research on the themes of synchronicity and the obsessive repetition of gestures. Through guided sessions, participants will engage in collective walking exercises and spatial practices that become tools to activate new forms of community and shared presence. The workshop unfolds as a complex and evolving choreography, interweaving moments of contemplation, stillness, and progressive accumulation of energy, fostering a sense of cohesion within the group. Participants are invited to reflect on how bodies traverse and inhabit urban and social spaces—in balance between solitude and encounter, individual trajectories and collective rhythms. The experience generates a wide emotional spectrum, from introspection to euphoria. Conceived as a dynamic and continuously evolving format, Coalescing Towards expands with each new edition. While maintaining a consistent core structure, the composition of the group, the duration of sessions, and the sound environment are recalibrated depending on the specific context—emphasizing the centrality of process and collaborative creation in Rizzo’s practice.

Workshop dates
From Monday, November 17 to Saturday, November 22, 2025

Workshop hours
Every day from 11am to 18pm, with a one-hour lunch break

Public presentation of the final day
Saturday, November 22, 2025 (time tbc)

Workshop and public presentation venue
Basement Roma, Viale Mazzini 128, 00195 Rome

Number of participants
The workshop is open to 12 participants, aged between 18 and 35, and intended for dancers and performers selected through an open call

Participation in the workshop is free of charge
A fee of 50€ will be provided to each participant for the final day

Application guidelines
Applicants must ensure their availability for the entire duration of the workshop (November 17–22) and have experience in the field of contemporary dance and performance-making

Applications must include:
1) curriculum vitae (including date and place of birth);
2) brief motivation letter (max. 3,000 characters, spaces included);
3) photo of the applicant

Applications must be sent no later than October 30, 2025, 4:00 pm to: info@basementartassemblybiennial.org.

The selection of the participants will be made by Michele Rizzo and the BAAB team and communicated by November 7, 2025.
Michele Rizzo’s workshop is co-curated by Ilaria Marotta and Andrea Baccin, BAAB’s founders and curators and Ilaria Mancia, curator of interdisciplinary projects between visual and performing arts.