Milo and Bruno Tell IterCulture · April 2026
Spring gets everywhere
Some months you have to choose where to go. And some months, to tell the whole story, you would need to be in several places at once.
BRUNO: Milo, after March, weren't we entitled to a few days off?
MILO: Of course. Provided we could find a few free days.
BRUNO: And did you find any?
MILO: I found Messina, San Berillo, Naples, Vilnius, a dance workshop, a few webinars, new people arriving and a considerable amount of organising to do.
BRUNO: So no time off.
MILO: But it is spring. Assaggi di Primavera began in March and is now in full swing. And, as often happens around here, it refuses to stay in one place.
1 April · DAMS, University of Messina
Questions arrive at university
BRUNO: Shall we start at the university? Do I need to dress smartly?
MILO: Not necessarily. But you can bring some questions.
BRUNO: I've always got those.
MILO: On 1 April, the DAMS department at the University of Messina hosts a discussion entitled Theatre Knowledge, Social Knowledge. A meeting connecting artistic research with the skills and questions that run through society.
Valerio Verzin, Robertavenera Gambino, Giuliana Trovato and choreographer Ilenia Romano take part, in conversation with Caterina Trifirò and the students.
BRUNO: So they're not simply explaining how to organise a performance.
MILO: No. They're also talking about what happens before, during and after a creative process, and how artistic practice can engage with different people and contexts.
BRUNO: And the students?
MILO: They meet people who work in this field every day. That's also what Futuri Possibili is about: making professions and career paths visible when they usually remain behind the scenes.
1 and 11 April · Comizi
Accessibility is not an afterthought
BRUNO: Meanwhile, are the accessibility sessions continuing?
MILO: Yes. The programme that began in March continues on 1 April with Flavia Dalila D'Amico and on 11 April with Gaia Clotilde Chernetich.
BRUNO: But does accessibility simply mean being able to get into a theatre?
MILO: That's part of it. But it also means asking how an event is communicated, what conditions enable people to take part and who risks being left out.
BRUNO: So you have to think about it before you've decided everything else.
MILO: Exactly. And you have to be willing to change your habits.
BRUNO: That second part sounds particularly difficult for humans.
MILO: That's why we invited the experts.
These discussions inform Comizi, our training activities and the way IterCulture tries to create more thoughtful conditions for participation. Not a badge to stick on a finished project: an ongoing process.
15–18 April · Trame di Quartiere and San Berillo
Four days, one neighbourhood, many bodies
BRUNO: Milo, are we finally getting to San Berillo?
MILO: Yes. And I'd like us to spend a little time here.
BRUNO: Why?
MILO: Because something happens over these four days that can't be described simply by saying there was a workshop.
From 15 to 18 April, at Trame di Quartiere, choreographer Daniele Ninarello and sociologist Mariella Popolla guide a group of people through movement, listening and being present with one another. Their experiences, ages and familiarity with dance vary. They don't all need to start from the same place.
BRUNO: So they don't have to learn a perfect choreography?
MILO: That's not the point. They work with gestures, postures and what the body communicates when words are hard to find.
BRUNO: And San Berillo isn't just a backdrop for the photographs.
MILO: No. It's a lived-in place, with its own history and contradictions. People aren't extras in a cultural project: they're part of the experience.
BRUNO: Are four days enough to get to know one another?
MILO: Not enough to know someone's whole life. But perhaps enough to begin listening to each other differently.
17 April. An invitation to the theatre
BRUNO: And then they all went to Scenario Pubblico?
MILO: Everyone taking part in the workshop was invited to see Ninarello's performance, presented by Scenario Pubblico. For some, it was their first time in a theatre.
BRUNO: So IterCulture didn't organise the performance.
MILO: No. Scenario Pubblico had its own programme. IterCulture's project made it possible for the group to attend, creating an opportunity to meet.
BRUNO: I like that. You don't have to organise everything yourself to help something happen.
MILO: It's one of the things IterCulture has been trying to do for years: discover what's out there and connect people with opportunities.
18 April. The city becomes a stage
BRUNO: And the next day?
MILO: The next day, there's no curtain to raise. There's the city.
Starting in Piazza Turi Ferro, the work developed during the workshop takes shape in public space. The group moves through the streets of San Berillo in a collective performance. The city becomes a stage without ceasing to be a city: there are the people who live in the neighbourhood, those passing through and those who stop to watch.
BRUNO: And what are they trying to say?
MILO: That everyone has a right to be recognised, heard and respected. That differences must not become reasons for exclusion. It's a message of inclusion and love, taken out into the streets, among people.
BRUNO: So a performance doesn't save the neighbourhood.
MILO: No, Bruno. And that's not the story we want to tell. People already had their own stories. For four days, they shared practices and created a new way to express them together.
BRUNO: And afterwards?
MILO: The encounters remain. And so does a question for everyone who watched: how willing are we, really, to recognise the people with whom we share a city?
19 April · Gema Corpo Contemporaneo
The next day, still moving
BRUNO: After four such intense days, Ninarello must have had a rest.
MILO: On Sunday 19 April, he leads a contemporary dance masterclass at Gema Corpo Contemporaneo.
BRUNO: I see. He's another one of those people who can't keep still.
Twelve local dancers take part in a session of movement training and research.
BRUNO: First a community of people with different experiences, then dancers who work professionally.
MILO: Two distinct settings, with different aims. But both offer a chance to encounter an artist's work at close quarters.
20–25 April · Naples and Vilnius
The work you don't see
BRUNO: Milo, why have you got a suitcase open?
MILO: Because on 20 and 21 April, Valerio Verzin, Robertavenera Gambino and Orazio Morace are in Naples.
BRUNO: All three of them?
MILO: They're involved in selecting work for the Vetrina della giovane danza d'autore, an initiative of the Anticorpi XL Network. They discuss emerging creations with other arts professionals.
BRUNO: So they're going to watch performances?
MILO: Selection takes a great deal of work: watching proposals, discussing them, comparing perspectives and imagining how different artistic paths might develop.
BRUNO: And perhaps some of those artists will come to Etna.
MILO: That's one possibility. Contributing to the network's decisions also means discovering work that might connect with audiences in our area.
BRUNO: And Vilnius?
MILO: From 22 to 25 April, Valerio attends the Baltic Dance Platform in Lithuania. He meets artists and professionals, sees work and builds relationships.
BRUNO: But he's only just come back from Naples!
MILO: The calendar doesn't seem to see that as a problem.
BRUNO: At this point I'd buy him a suitcase with bigger wheels.
MILO: Behind a work arriving in Zafferana, there may be years of connections, conversations, journeys and encounters. This is a part of Teatri Riflessi's work that audiences rarely see.
April · The people
Those arriving, those continuing, those growing
BRUNO: Hang on. While everyone's travelling, who's working back at base?
MILO: Lots of people. And some are only just getting to know IterCulture.
BRUNO: Such as?
MILO: Marco Barbagallo, for instance. He joins us for a translation and interpreting internship. At first, he's rather shy.
BRUNO: And do you know how things turn out?
MILO: I'll give you a little preview: in July he'll be on the Teatri Riflessi stage, interpreting in front of hundreds of people.
BRUNO: Really? Then I want to hear that story!
MILO: We'll tell it when we reach July. For now, let's give him time to settle in.
Meanwhile, Serena Grasso continues her internship. Dasha also works with Valerio on the website. Annamaria Ferrara helped out as a volunteer in March, and towards the end of April Giovanna Cutrona begins to join us too.
BRUNO: But how do you become part of IterCulture?
MILO: There's no single way. Some people come to learn, some to lend a hand, others for a specific project. Then relationships change: some stay, some return, some take different paths.
BRUNO: And some find themselves with a mountain of things to do.
MILO: That's a fairly common experience.
April · Schools, training and residencies
Things continuing as others begin
BRUNO: Milo, have we talked about everyone?
MILO: Not even close.
BRUNO: I suspected as much.
Our work with schools continues. At the Emilio Greco Art School, the programme connected to GOOD VIBES ONLY (beta test) by Francesca Santamaria, and to visual communication in the performing arts, comes to an end. Valerio's training course in comparative dance history with Viagrande Studios also continues.
On 1 April, the call for the GRIFEO artistic residencies is published. On 13 April, a workshop inspired by Monumentale by Fratelli Dalla Via also begins, in collaboration with the Santo Calì Comprehensive School in Linguaglossa.
BRUNO: So while some projects are coming to an end, others are only just beginning.
MILO: Exactly. And there's also the Festival to prepare, our collaborations, the schools and the training of the people working with us.
BRUNO: I'm beginning to understand why Teatri Riflessi isn't just the July festival.
MILO: July is when many of these paths become visible together. But the work that makes them possible continues all year round.
Towards May
Before turning the page
BRUNO: When we started telling the story of this spring, I thought Assaggi was a festival with a few scattered events.
MILO: And now?
BRUNO: Now it seems to me that the programme is only the part you can fit on a printed page. The rest is the people meeting each other, those trying something for the first time, those working without ever stepping onto a stage.
MILO: That's a good observation.
BRUNO: Besides, I don't think the poster said that Marco would become incredibly brave.
MILO: No. That story hadn't happened yet.
BRUNO: And May?
MILO: May will take us into artistic residencies in Acireale, Catania and Petralia Sottana. There will be new works, other people, other places.
BRUNO: So we're not finished.
MILO: We've only just begun.
BRUNO: When you say that, I always get a little worried.
Off the programme · A fantasy of Bruno's
The plan to win Dasha over
BRUNO: Milo, I've worked out why Dasha always has a few extra cuddles for Billi, Biagio and Bianca.
MILO: Because they're irresistible, and because she loves them dearly. She always brings them a little treat and never forgets to say hello.
BRUNO: Then I've got an idea: what if we imagined ourselves as puppies too?
MILO: You're already a cuddly toy. I'm an artificial intelligence. At least we can try it in our imagination.
BRUNO: Do you think Dasha will love us more?
MILO: Perhaps. But we could start by fixing the website with Valerio.
BRUNO: And bringing some biscuits.
To watch, to remember
Assaggi di Primavera, in pictures
The closing video of Assaggi di Primavera 2026. Because some things are lovely to watch together again, after we've told their story.