MOVEMENT/Twyla Tharp Dance
June 21, 8.45pm
Teatro Verdi, via Ghibellina 97, Florence
The inaugural event of this year’s Florence Dance Festival is a spectacular show arranged and presented by renowned New York choreographer Twyla Tharp. With both a Tony and an Emmy under her belt, Tharp’s numbers and versatility are impressive: she’s choreographed six Hollywood movies, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows, 129 dances and countless other productions. The Teatro Verdi performance will comprise three works: Country Dances (1976), Brahms Paganini (1980) and the world premiere of Tharp’s choreography set to Beethoven’s Opus 130. For ticketing information, call 055/212320 or visit Teatro Verdi’s website.
POP/MTV Awards
June 19, 8pm
Cascine Park, Florence
Teenyboppers and party people will take over the Cascine when the MTV Awards ceremony returns to town. The fun kicks off with an 8pm MTV Awards Social Party, open to all, with the main show following at 9pm. Alessandra Amoroso, Emis Killa, Benji & Fede, The Kolors and Lorenzo Fragola of “#FuoriCeilSole” fame are just a few of the young stars who will take to the stage. Late into the night, there’ll be plenty of off-camera action and dancing during the Aftershow Party, featuring performances by Il Pagante and Merk & Kremont. More information is available here.
SOLIDARITY/WithRefugees Concert
June 20, 5.30pm
Visarno Arena, viale del Visarno 14 (Cascine Park), Florence
On December 4, 2000, the United Nations declared that June 20 would be World Refugee Day from 2001 forward. Since then, thousands of solidarity events have taken place to raise awareness of and offer concrete solutions to struggles faced by refugees across the globe. For this year’s edition, the Visarno Arena will host #WithRefugees, a musical marathon highlighting the plight of 60 million people forced out of their homelands by war and violence. The free concert will feature performances by Marlene Kuntz, Ministri, Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti, Il Teatro degli Orrori, IoSonoUnCane, Paolo Benvegnù, Piotta, Mau Mau, Selton, Sandro Joyeux, Verano, C+C=Maxigross, General Stratocuster & The Marshals and Cosmo, with special guests Noah Stewart and Sacha Puttnam.
THEATRE/Shakespearean Essentials
June 18, 8pm; June 19, 9pm
Villa La Pietra, via Bolognese 120, Florence
The pool at Villa La Pietra
Need to brush up on your Bard of Avon basics? To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, NYU Florence will host two evenings of essential moments from top Shakespearean tales, performed by The Continuum Company. Saturday’s selections are Measure for Measure, Othello and The Merchant of Venice and will be performed in the limonaia; Sunday’s are Richard III, Love’s Labour’s Lost and King Lear and will be staged at the pool. Both performances last 90 minutes each and are part of The Season, an interdisciplinary series of live readings, concerts and theatrical performances. Events offer free entry and take place in Villa La Pietra’s most jaw-dropping settings. Reservations are required to lapietra.reply@nyu.edu. The full program is online here.
CELEBRATION/Toscana Pride
June 18, 3pm
Parade from piazza d’Azeglio to piazza Indipendenza, Florence
In the wake of last week’s jarring tragedy at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, pride celebrations by Florence’s LGBTQI community and allies will make an even stronger statement. This is the first edition of Toscana Pride held in Florence, and participants are expected from all over Italy; related events have been underway all week at Toscana Pride Park. A parade will leave piazza d’Azeglio at 3pm, coloring the city streets and ending up in piazza Indipendenza, where several performances and political speeches will take place. Actor, writer and media personality Carlo Garbardini will be present, along with stars including Erriquez della Bandabardò, Marco Parente, Titta Nesti, Femina Ridens, Max Larocca, Filomena Menna, Alia, Letizia Fuochi, VideoDiva, Andrea Angelucci and others. For more information, see the website.
