Parini Secondo was founded in 2017 by dancers Sissj Bassani, Martina Piazzi, Camilla Neri and Francesca Pizzagalli. Questioning the relationship between art and originality, the group uses choreography to sublimate pop tendencies, embracing a strong formal rigour. The well-established collaboration with musician, producer and teacher Alberto Ricca/Bienoise denotes their transversal approach to dance, understood as rhythmic movement in close relationship with music.
After completing individual training at academies and companies in Italy, Portugal, and Denmark, Parini Secondo settled in Emilia-Romagna, between Bologna and Cesena. Their debut in the Italian performing arts scene took place in 2022 with the iconic SPEEED (2020), which was selected for Vetrina della Giovane Danza d’Autore. The international scene is reached with HIT/HIT OUT (2024), BolzanoDanza/TanzBozen and Santarcangelo Festival co-production, selected for CINARS 2024 (Montreal) and touring Japan, America, Taiwan and Europe. In 2025, Parini Secondo joins Associazione Culturale VAN and becomes an associate artist of Piccolo Teatro di Milano (2025-2027). Two projects are scheduled to debut next: SLOOOOOOW – time and festivity (2026), an extended reinterpretation of SPEEED, selected for the DanceBase/Yokohama (JP) residency programme, in collaboration with Rino Daidoji and Carlotta Hofrichter; INCANTO (2027), a new production inspired by trance music and black metal, selected for NID Platform 2025.
In 2024 Parini creates the festival Tra questa gente esiste un sentimento within the season of Teatro Petrella in Longiano (IT); in 2025 they curate part of the programming of IMBOSCO within the 54th edition of Santarcangelo Festival.
In 2024 Parini creates the festival Tra questa gente esiste un sentimento within the season of Teatro Petrella in Longiano (IT); in 2025 they curate part of the programming of IMBOSCO within the 54th edition of Santarcangelo Festival.
TQGEUS
Tra Questa Gente Esiste Un Sentimento (Among these people there is a feeling) is a curatorial project by Parini Secondo, bringing together artists united by an innovative spirit expressed in their work in a raw, unpolished manner – a spirit found in the passion of those who create regardless of the means at their disposal. TQGEUS was launched in 2024 following the Teatro Petrella’s decision to entrust a young collective such as Parini Secondo with the artistic direction of part of its programme, with the support of Longiano Municipality.
ASSOCIATION
Parini Secondo APS was established in 2025 in response to the collective’s desire to develop a more structured and long-term engagement with the region where the company is based: Emilia-Romagna. Through workshops, educational programmes and events developed in collaboration with local organisations, the association creates opportunities for exchange and artistic experimentation, fostering dialogue between contemporary artistic practices and local communities.
RELEVANT TOUR GIGS
Sziget Festival (Budapest, HU 2025), Malta Festival (Poznan, PL 2024), MeetYou Festival (Valladolid, ES 2025), Festival La Cité (Lausanne, CH 2025), CINARS Biennale (Montréal, CA 2024), Santarcangelo Festival (Santarcangelo, IT 2024), Theatre l’Aire Livre (Rennes, FR 2024), La Briqueterie (Paris, FR 2024), TanzBozen/Bolzano Danza (Bolzano, IT 2024) BIT TeaterGarasjen (Bergen, NO 2024), ShineHouse Theatre (Taipei, TW 2024), Le Carreau du Temple (Paris, 2023), MilanOltre (Milano, IT 2023), Festival Catalysi (Cesena, IT 2022), Danza Urbana (Bologna, IT 2021)
team🞵
Carlotta Hofrichter
Assistant choreographer
Carlotta Hofrichter is a German actress and interdisciplinary theatre working between Germany and Italy. In March 2025, she graduated with an Artist Diploma in Physical Theatre from the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. Her artistic practice explores the intersection of movement and visual storytelling within collaborative working methods. As a founding member of the international collective The.Physix, she has co-created and performed works presented at festivals across Germany. Her work also includes the solo performance Habits, presented at the Pina Bausch Theater in Essen, the co-direction and performance of FLAP, and the short film Clowness, directed by Charlotte Chapuis. Since 2025, she has been collaborating with Parini Secondo. In 2026, she was awarded a Culture Moves Europe grant, through which she is developing the research project VOICE BODY.
Sissj Bassani
Artistic director - Dancer
Sissj Bassani (Savignano sul Rubicone, 1997) is an Italian dancer and choreographer. She is a performer and assistant to Claudia Castellucci (Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale 2020), a dancer for Panzetti/Ticconi and artistic director of the Parini Secondo collective (2017-present). After a long period of ballet training, she continued in the field of dance research and experimental theatre with gruppo nanou (Ravenna, IT/2012-2018) and Claudia Castellucci (2015 to date). She has worked with Kinkaleri, Daniele Albanese/Stalker, Elisa Sbaragli, Valentina Pagliarani and Salvo Lombardo. As an author, in 2017 she founded the movement collective Parini Secondo together with Martina Piazzi, Camilla Neri and Francesca Pizzagalli. Individually, she created “oro” (2019) and “A VASISTAS” (2022).
Martina Piazzi
Artistic director - Dancer
Martina Piazzi (Bologna, 1997) is a dancer and choreographer. She graduated from the Danish National School of Performing Arts (DDSKS, Denmark), where she studied with Quim Bigas, Alma Söderberg, Jennifer Lacey, Rasmus Ölme and others. She is co-founder of the Parini Secondo collective (2017–present). As a performer, she has collaborated with interdisciplinary artists such as Florin Flueras and Alessandro Carboni, developing a strong interest in performance in urban and unconventional contexts. Her authorial career includes the creation of two solo works: PILE (2022) and Untitled Places (2019). Her previous training includes various artistic research programmes and courses, including PERFORMACT (Portugal), AZIONE! (Florence) and INNESTI (Bologna).
Camilla Neri
Head of communication - Dancer
Camilla Neri (Roncofreddo, 1997) is an Italian dancer and performer. After graduating in dance theatre from the Paolo Grassi Civic Theatre School (2016-2019), she joined in 2017 the Parini Secondo collective. In 2021, she took part in the Paolo Grassi post-diploma course with choreographer Marco Valerio Amico/Gruppo Nanou in the show “Paradiso”. In 2022 she danced in the opera “Turandot”, directed by Stefano Poda. In 2023, she took part in Zerogrammi’s training course “Inventario”, and worked as assistant choreographer to Gloria Dorliguzzo in Romeo Castellucci’s show “MA”, as part of Eleusi Capitale della Cultura 2023. In 2024, she began collaborating with choreographer Livia Bartolucci on the show “Storie degli ultimi giorni”.
Francesca Pizzagalli
Grant officer - Dancer
Francesca Pizzagalli (Cesena, 1997) is a dancer, performer and contemporary dance teacher. After graduating in psychology in 2019, she continued her training in contemporary dance by participating in training courses, including Innesti 2017, AZIONE, Anfibia, I corpi e le voci della danza. Since 2017, she has been a dancer and performer with the Parini Secondo collective, and in 2023 she began her teaching career, collaborating with the children’s theatre company Casa di Gesso (Aidoru association, Cesena). Here she teaches contemporary dance and movement to different age groups (5-18), working in synergy with theatre dramaturgy and the performing arts. Also in Cesena, in 2023 she started a contemporary dance course for adults, with an experimental approach.
Alberto Ricca / Bienoise
Musician and composer
Alberto Ricca is Bienoise. His laptop compositions show affection for humble non-musical elements, and for the music they hide. His MOST BEAUTIFUL DESIGN EP, a collection of low-bitrate mp3s, has been released on floppy disk in 2018 by Mille Plateaux, followed by the 2022 album THIS MEANING TODAY. In the same year, he published for NERO “L’arte dell’Algoritmo: La Morte”, a reflection on boredom and generative media. He also writes for Achim Szepanski and Seismograf. He authored the music of the contemporary dance performances TO BE BANNED FROM ROME (2017, with Annamaria Ajmone), SPEEED (2020) and HIT (2024), with Parini Secondo, and DANSE MACABRE! (2023), HERE AND NOW and MANIFESTUS (2025), with Jacopo Jenna. Since 2019, Radio Raheem Milan has hosted his selections of involuntary compositions in the monthly show NON MUSICA. He’s not a dj.
Camilla Ferrazzi
Manager
Camilla Ferrazzi works in production and international distribution within the field of contemporary Italian theatre. She graduated in philosophy from the University of Milan and subsequently obtained a master’s degree in performing arts management at La Scala, in collaboration with the Milan Polytechnic. After completing her studies, she first worked on the Europa Incanto project, a European initiative dedicated to promoting opera in Rome, and then as a production manager at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan for five years, contributing to the management of major theatre productions. She currently works in international distribution for leading theatre companies and cultural organisations. Her career combines philosophical and organisational skills with a deep understanding of the contemporary theatre scene.
Bianca Peruzzi
Light designer
Bianca Peruzzi is an artist that works with the medium of lighting design, photography and other visual languages. Born in Florence, she is now based between Milan and London. Bianca works with the moving image through different practices that go from the exploration of story telling to the abstraction of content through the impact of pure light in physical space. In her lightscapes the image becomes a luminous object that temporarly inhabits and influences space, lending itself to the contemplation of the infinite changes of its forms in time. Her spatial and stage interventions have been hosted in serveral festivals like Lost, Atonal, Lunchmeat, Roma Europa, Nuits Sonorès and venues like Galerie LaFayette, KW-Berlin, Spazio Maiocchi, O2 Forum, Teatro alle Tese, and QEH in South Bank Centre.
Nicolò Mingolini
Graphic designer
Nicolò Mingolini is a designer and illustrator working in publishing and the cultural industries. He has worked on over a hundred publications, collaborating with major Italian publishers (Mondadori, Rizzoli, Giunti), independent publishers, and cultural institutions. He has created visual identities for festivals and events of international interest, such as Ennio Morricone’s final concert for the Italian National Academy of Santa Cecilia and the World Conference on Biophotonics for the University of Cambridge. He leads seminars and workshops on his work for festivals, schools, and universities (Univ. of Padua, Univ. of Bologna, ISIA Urbino, Genoa Science Festival). For Parini Secondo, he designs the visual identity of TQGEUS, the graphics for print materials and digital interfaces, and co-produced “What Will Happen Tomorrow” as Bremo.
Pier Paolo Zimmermann
Images and video projections
Pier Paolo Zimmermann develops movable and immovable images. Holding a degree in Anthropology, he furthered his studies in Film and Photography, which he currently teaches. He has been working with the theatre company Societas for several years, where he manages images, audiovisual editing for its Historical Archive Societas Raffaello Sanzio, and the video production and graphic design of various works and events. In 2018 he became a member of Claudia Castellucci’s Mòra Company, which in 2020 received the Silver Lion award for Dance of the Venice Biennale and with which he is still touring around the globe. Between 2023 and 2025 he edited various video works, including Hamlet. The Vehement Exteriority of the Death of a Mollusk by Romeo Castellucci. In 2026 Pier Paolo continued to collaborate with Castellucci for the latter’s debut at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, producing the videos for the monumental LEDwall setting of the opera Pellèas et Mélisande.