Francesca Magnini is a university lecturer, researcher, artistic director, and curator in the fields of theatre, dance, and performing arts, active since 2018 in the role of Artistic Director of the Balletto di Roma Company. In November 2024, she obtained the National Scientific Qualification for the position of Associate Professor in Academic Discipline 10/C1, dedicated to Theatre, Music, Cinema, Television, and Audiovisual Media.
Her scientific training stems from a solid academic trajectory at Sapienza University of Rome, where she obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees with high honours (cum laude) in theatre and performing arts, culminating in 2013 with a PhD in Digital Technologies and Methodologies for Performing Arts Research. Her doctoral thesis, focused on the themes of repertoire, tradition, and transmission in contemporary choreography, was developed with the scientific and archival support of the International Choreographic Arts Centre (ICK) in Amsterdam. Over the years, she has consolidated her university teaching experience at the Department of History, Anthropology, Religions and Performing Arts at Sapienza, holding various adjunct professorships in Master’s degree courses, including “Digital Archives and Museums for the Performing Arts”, “Performing Arts Management and Production”, “Planning and Production of Live Performance”, and “History, Theory, and Techniques of Dance”. She is also an active member of AIRDanza (Italian Association for Dance Research) and CUT (University Theatre Association).
Her research profile stands out for a theoretical and practical investigation focused on the methodologies of gesture transmission, the documentation of contemporary repertoire, the convergences between dance, digital archives, and cognitive sciences, as well as the dramaturgical and production analysis of the current performing arts scene. Among her most significant publications is the monograph “Inspiration Emio Greco | Pieter C. Scholten. The Multiplicity of Dance” (Artegrafica, 2015), born from research conducted in Amsterdam on the analysis of the “Multimodal Glossary” and the archiving of the Dutch company’s materials. In the context of international publishing, she co-authored the entry dedicated to Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten for the second edition of “Fifty Contemporary Choreographers”, edited by J. Butterworth and L. Sanders for Routledge (2021).
Her scientific contributions in monographs and Class A peer-reviewed journals delve into various directions of contemporary research. In the field of production history and repertoire dramaturgy are the study “«Giulietta e Romeo», il long seller di Fabrizio Monteverde. Storia produttiva e vicende artistiche di un classico contemporaneo” (Danza e Ricerca, 2022) and the methodological notes of “Trame di tecniche e stili nelle tradizioni della danza contemporanea” (Danza e Ricerca, 2012). On the front of creative processes and body theories, she has published “Il corpo come laboratorio alchemico. Aporie del contemporaneo tra fisso e volatile” (“Biblioteca Teatrale”, 2020), “Pre-Choreographic Elements: alla sorgente delle energie corporee e dei materiali di movimento” (Piretti, 2018), and the study “Sistemi di trasmissione delle conoscenze nella danza contemporanea: la relazione coreografo-danzatore” (Teatro e Storia, 2013). The relationship between dance, media, and digital technologies is explored in the essay “Seigradi: dancing in a real-virtual environment. Affects and Movement in Santasangre’s work” (Danza e Ricerca, 2014) and in the scientific curation of the archive on Kinkaleri for the platform “Nuovo Teatro Made in Italy” (2018). Finally, her production embraces institutional and interdisciplinary perspectives with “Nuove prospettive del Balletto di Roma tra tradizione e innovazione” (in “La danza in Italia nel Novecento e oltre”, Ephemeria, 2020) and the investigation between choreographic and athletic gesture “Every-body: anatomie, linguaggi ed elementi di transizione tra danza e sport” (in N. Bortoletto and N. Tomasevic, FrancoAngeli, 2026).
Demonstrating the broad scientific scope of her research, she has taken part as a speaker in numerous international conferences and symposia. Her interventions include the international EASTAP conference (“Dimensions of Dramaturgy”, Aarhus University, 2023); the Bologna study days “Trasmettere la danza. Sguardi, ascolti, pratiche, visioni” (2019); the “Atelier des doctorants en danse” at the Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis (2013); the international conference “Performance Studies international (PSi #17)” in Utrecht (2011); and the scientific research seminars of the Netherlands Media Arts Institute in Amsterdam (2010).
Alongside her rigorous academic activity, she boasts extensive field experience as a former competitive artistic gymnastics athlete, a dancer who graduated from Balletto di Roma in 2004, and a certified instructor in Paris for teaching the “Floor-Barre®” technique of the Zena Rommett Foundation in New York. In her role as Artistic Director of Balletto di Roma, she has combined the enhancement of choreographic tradition with an intense vision of European planning and international networking. In this capacity, she has authored and curated complex projects co-funded by the European Union, including the cooperation project “CLASH! When classic and contemporary dance collide and new forms emerge” (Creative Europe Programme) and the strategic partnership “UP2DANCE | Updating professional profiles towards contemporary dance” (Erasmus+). She has also conceived and directed numerous local festivals, participatory festivals, and high-impact public cultural projects supported by Roma Capitale, the Ministry of Culture, and the PNRR (“Caput Mundi / Next Generation EU” Measure), such as “Inside Out Contemporary Dance”, “Periferica”, “Planetarium Danza”, and “DislocAzioni. Festival partecipativo di creatività urbana”. During her artistic direction, the Balletto di Roma institution achieved significant institutional recognitions and marks of excellence, including registration in the Register of Historic Trademarks of National Interest, the Medal of the Chamber of Deputies, and the Italy Excellence Award at the China Awards 2023.
