How can an artistic career be developed outside major urban centres? What tools do young cultural workers need in order to stay in and thrive within rural or peripheral areas? And what new forms of alliances, storytelling, and community are emerging across Europe?
These were some of the questions that shaped Rooting Futures, the EDN (European Dance Development Network) Atelier dedicated to young artists and curators working in peripheral areas, hosted at our dance house on 4–5 November 2025. Over two days, 32 professionals from 11 countries shared practices, doubts, and desires, creating a space for peer-to-peer exchange about what it means to work in dance today, away from the main centres of cultural power.
One of the first reflections focused on the theme of storytelling. Guided by researcher ’Funmi Adewole, who has long worked on the relationship between narrative, diasporic practices, and performance, the group explored storytelling as a fundamental tool for orienting oneself in one’s context. A shared awareness emerged: being able to tell the story of one’s work means creating relationships and finding a common language with different interlocutors — from funders to communities, from institutions to artists — and giving shape to a vision that others can understand and support. Telling one’s story becomes a form of care, a practice that helps clarify intentions, boundaries, and positioning.
From here, the discussion moved to the theme of alliances, through a workshop with Italian curator Silvia Bottiroli and a speed-date session between artists and curators. The group reflected on the fact that every project exists within an ecosystem made of people, places, institutions, tensions, and possibilities. Often, what determines the success of a collaboration is not a perfect alignment of visions, but the ability to build trust, transparency, and continuity. Several principles recurred: sharing expectations and limits from the beginning, making work processes visible, and not fearing conflict as a natural part of collaboration. For those working far from metropolitan contexts where resources are scarce and distances small these alliances become actual infrastructures: conditions that allow professionals to stay, grow, and have an impact in their context.
Work with local communities, often crucial for those living in peripheral areas, took centre stage in the workshop led by Australian artist Samara Hersch, known for her participatory and intergenerational practices. A strong idea emerged: there is no universal method for community engagement. The key is to start with listening, not with a predefined format. Many participants noted that “institutional” theatres and cultural spaces can feel intimidating; for this reason, relationships often develop better by stepping into community spaces, using accessible language, taking care of the welcoming dimension, and clearly defining the artist’s role — who cannot replace educational or social professionals. In small towns, proximity to political decision-makers can become an opportunity to influence local cultural policies, provided that the work with communities is constant, rooted, and not episodic.
Across all discussions, a transversal need became clear: support networks among young professionals real, continuous, multi-level systems of support. For many young cultural workers and artists in rural or peripheral areas, the biggest challenges are not artistic but structural: geographical isolation, limited opportunities, and the need to travel in order to find professional exchange.
The Atelier helped bring forward a shared understanding: networks are needed so people don’t feel alone, to enable peer exchange, to normalise non-linear career paths, and to share resources and visions.
Rooting Futures offered the image of a generation attentive to relationships, rooted in their territories, and interested in shared processes. A generation that, starting precisely from rural and peripheral areas, is imagining new ways of making art: slower, more sensitive, more community-based.
For further information: here is the full report of the two-day event.