The Meeting of the European Theatre Academies (META) Festival will be held in Florence (Teatro della Pergola) on July 6-11, 2019. This year, Sant’Anna School researchers of PERCRO (Perceptual Robotics) Lab. of have been honored with an invitation as keynote speakers to give a lecture on “Immersive virtual environment technologies and applications across performing arts”. Specifically, Massimo Bergamasco, professor of Mechanical Engineering, as an expert of virtual reality learning environments, together with researchers Marcello Carrozzino and Chiara Evangelista will explore and develop the application of Virtual Reality technologies across visual effects and immersive Augmented Reality experiences.

The festival, under the supervision of artistic director and founder Pietro Bartolini, takes place over five days, in which Italian and international students take classes, attend performances and present new pieces of theatre.

The META festival 2019 will provide an overview of different international collaborations and theatre systems, dealing with artistic good practices and international networking in the European context. Participants will include the London Royal Academy of Dramatic Art– RADA, the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles– Department du Theatre et des Arts de la Parole, the Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático de Madrid, and the Florence Theatre Academy. Keynote speakers will include German director Peter Stein, actor-director Yoshi Oida from the Peter Brook’s theatre company as the author of The Invisible Actor, Barbara Mackenzie-Wood, director of Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama di Pittsburgh (USA) and Peter Barlow, director of Sharjah Performing Arts Academy. The Arab Emirate of Sharjah established the Sharjah Performing Arts Academy (SPAA) to address a growing demand in Sharjah and the region for formal quality education and professional training in the performing arts to enrich the cultural and artistic experiences of talented and inspiring students.

Participants at META 2019 will benefit from expert lectures and daily discussions on the performances. This year the programme will be enriched by the performance "Vita Nuova" (directed by Pietro Bartolini and Massimo Bergamasco) inspired by Dante’s masterpiece.

Over the past four years, Pietro Bartolini has focused on the intersection between visual culture and creative interventions. His projects on digital immersive virtual environment technologies enable actors to engage in rich and multi-layered experiences as a concept presentation platform for ambient interactivity. Through its pedagogy and its research activity, the META event addresses the relationship between real and virtual arenas offering a combination of human-computer communication, human and environment interaction through conventional reality, computer and environment collaboration through insight.

For additional information: segreteria.accademiateatrale@gmail.com