Teatro Arcobaleno

Performances for kids and teenagers

Teatro Arcobaleno is a network project that has been using the languages of the performing arts to teach about diversity since 2014. Each year, this project offers workshops, theater and dance performances to children, teenagers, teachers, families, college students, educators, and social workers. Teatro Arcobaleno wants to make a contribution to building a society that is richer and more welcoming in human, social and cultural terms; a society in which diversity, particularly the one related to gender identities and sexual orientation, is recognized as an important value for everyone.
Download the 2022/2023 Workshops PDF

Network Project

View Website
Contact us

What does the project consist of?

Teatro Arcobaleno  is a project aimed at children, their families, teachers and college students. It uses  the language of theater to promote respect to diversity, presenting it as an important element for cultural richness. It is a training course for teachers, educators and association volunteers, as well as a university initiative with workshops for those studying Education Sciences at the University of Bologna.

In 2018, Teatro Arcobaleno won the  Eolo Award  for the Best Project of the Year in the Theatre For Young Audiences category (Italy).

Project highlight

The Project is aimed at children and teenagers, but includes a wide range of activities for families, teachers, educators, classrooms, college students, and artists.

Performances Workshops Meetings
Matteo Chiura

Project Partners

Teatro Arcobaleno is a project by the Gender Bender Festival and Cassero LGBTI+ Center in partnership with: La Baracca – Teatro Testoni Ragazzi, ATER – Emilia Romagna Theatre Association, Laura Betti Municipal Theater of Casalecchio di Reno, Municipality of Casalecchio di Reno, ERT – Emilia Romagna Theatre Foundation, ITC Teatri di San Lazzaro (Commercial Technical Institute- San Lazzaro’s Theaters), Argine Theater Company, CSGE – Center for the Study of Gender and Education of the Giovanni Maria Bertin Department of Educational Science, University of Bologna, LInFA (Luogo per l’Infanzia, le Famiglie, l’Adolescenza/ Service for Children, Families, and Teenagers), Casalecchio Culture Institution, Mosaico Equal Opportunity Commission – ASC InSieme. The project is supported by the Emilia-Romagna Region and the Municipality of Bologna with the sponsorship of the Metropolitan City of Bologna and Unicef – Emilia-Romagna Regional Committee.

Find out more about our special projects

ph Margherita Caprilli
Portici Festival – Heritage meets Creativity

Portici Festival – Heritage meets Creativity

In 2023 the Gender Bender Festival invited the international company Igor x Moreno, Italian choreographer Daniele Ninarello and Dutch/German choreographer Patricia Carolin Mai to Bologna to produce three dance performances. The works were the result of an all-inclusive collaborative creation workshop project with three groups of people from Bologna and the surrounding area of all ages, with and without dance experience.

Discover More
Crisol

Crisol

5 dance artists from 4 countries (Italy, Macao/Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore) will work together to address topics related to gender issues through the language of contemporary dance. They will share their work and research, considering all of it as part of their personal background and cultural environment. The project consists of several work sessions across the different countries in which the dance artists will share their opinions and experiences. The project’s first stop will take place in Bologna as part of the 20th edition of the Gender Bender Festival.

Discover More
ph. Anna Kushnirenko
Performing Gender – Dancing in your shoes

Performing Gender – Dancing in your shoes

Performing Gender strongly believes that gender, sexuality and LGBTQ+ identities can be explored through the language of dance, also thanks to the engagement of local communities. The second edition of the European project involved 225 people from their respective local communities in a comprehensive training process in the field of artistic production, that aims at putting the spotlight on the marginal voices of their communities. We wanted to highlight issues such as inequality, ethnicity, class, disability, environment and economy, with an intersectional perspective. 

Discover More
Rebecca Lena
Swans Never Die

Swans Never Die

Swans Never Die is a project that invites 10 young choreographers to reinterpret, in a contemporary key, the classical repertoire of The Death of the Swan, originally choreographed by Michel Fokine for Anna Pavlova in 1905 and considered a seminal piece of art of the 20th-century dance history.

Discover More
DNAppunti coreografici

DNAppunti coreografici

DNAppunti coreografici is a project, whose purpose is to support young choreographers under 35 years old. The project involves several stages in which the participant will do their research and start their creation process: they will collect their ideas, examine the results of their research, and participate in creative residencies. The initiative stems from a collaborative work throughout Italy between a network of partners. Thanks to the DNAppunti call, the work of a young artist is selected, supported and produced every year.

Discover More