Course 2019-2020 a.y.

The course is divided in three parts:

1. The first one aims to develop students’ skill and knowledge about style, taste, evolution and revolution of the performing arts.
2. The second one aims to analyze advanced topics concerning the performing arts management and the transformation of the field.
3. The third one is an empirical part and it aims to analyze the main changes in terms of policies, management and new trends, of the performing art scene in Milan. The 3 modules are:

Curating the Performing Arts: 

• Introduction to the field of contemporary performing arts.
• The role of the performing art curator.
• The interplay between managerial and curatorial/artistic work.

Innovation and cultural entrepreneurship in the performing arts’ organizations:

• Innovation in the performing arts’ management.
• Skills, competences and professional figures in performing arts’ organizations.
• European public policies for the performing arts.

Fieldwork project:

• Analysis of the performing art scene in Milan.
• Interviews and lectures with artists, policy makers and practitioners.
• Guided tours in the major institutions and organizations.

• Have a conscious critical approach to the performing arts productions.
• Recognize the complexity and the specificity of a cultural production process.
• Distinguish roles and responsibilities between managerial and artistic staff.
• Be aware about the challenges, new trends and main phenomena that concern the sector.
• Have a deep and clear knowledge of the functioning within an artistic organization.
• Describe the most important interventions carried out by European Commission to support the sector.
• Experience the variety of the performing art system.
• Acquire a method of analysis of a sector through an empirical approach.

• Appreciate the artistic value of a live performance (theatre, dance, opera, ballet, etc…).
• Design the production process of a new performance/event/cultural project.
• Be able to work in cooperation with the artistic side of a performing arts organizations.
• Interpret the most relevant and innovative phenomena of the sector.
• Identify a personal professional interest within the sector.
• Have an international approach to the sector.
• Access the performing art scene and its community.
• Create a personal network of relationships with the main players of the sector.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Company visits
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Individual assignments
• Group assignments

The workshop has an applied approach: students are given the opportunity to meet practitioners, artists, policy makers and they have guided tours in the major performing arts agencies and organizations. Students are ask to submit:

• An individual assignment to analyze the artistic identity of some performing arts organizations and their positioning in the cultural panorama.
• A field group project to develop an entrepreneurial cultural project. The goal of this part is to learn how to transform an idea into a sustainable project: from the definition of the concept to the design of the business model.

With the purpose of measuring the acquisition of the above-mentioned learning outcomes, the students’ assessment is based on the following main components:

1. Individual assignment (10% of the final grade), consisting of a short paper aimed to assess students’ ability to develop a personal research on relevant topics concerning the sector and compliant with their professional interests.
2. Group assignment (20% of the final grade), consisting of a business plan for the development of a project. The assignment aimed to assess students’ ability to develop a new entrepreneurial cultural project from the concept to the business model.
3. Written exam (60% of the final grade), consisting of open-ended questions aimed to assess students' understanding of the contents. Students can take a partial written exam and complete the written exam at the end of the course. In this case the weight is: 30% for the mid-term exam and 30% for the end of term exam. Alternatively, students can take a final written exam that accounts for 60% of the final grade.
4. In-class participation (10% of the final grade) aimed to test the students’ ability to interact in a constructive way and to think critically.

Students’ assessment is based only on one final written exam (100% of the final grade). No other components are evaluated.

Course materials provided by professors.

• HOMANS J., Apollo's Angels: A history of ballet, Random House, New York, 2010.
• STEIN T., BATHURST R.J., Performing Arts Management: A Handbook of Professional.
• Practices, Allworth Press, 2008.