What It’s Like to Improve Your Italian and Dance in Florence, Italy

Hello! My name is Marina Stagnaro and I am an intern with Performing Arts Abroad at a dance company in Florence, Italy from Argentina.

I am seeing the spring bloom in Florence.

I’ve been in Florence a whole month, still have a long road ahead, and I’m loving it all the way. I’m a dancer, a dance teacher, a dance learner, a person who wants to bring the best of dance to my very own city.

Given my future projects, this seems like a dream come true, getting the chance to see how the dance “business” should be taken care of: all the little things necessary to make dancers “shine” that nobody sees.

I’ve already learned quite a lot about the working methodology for different kind of events: the company touring, hosting other local companies, shows meant for adults or for children, hosting workshops and even hosting the UC Santa Barbara Dance Company, all of them being beautiful experiences as a whole, meeting dancers, choreographers, teachers and students.

As this seems to be a “once in a lifetime” chance, I’ve also made time to continue some of my dance education here, taking ballet classes with a wonderful ex prima ballerina, besides some hiphop or other styles classes that I can find. So I’m able to say I’m literally “dancing in Italy”.

But this whole “Italy Experience” is beyond just that.

I came to Italy solely for a Dance Administration Internship through Performing Arts Abroad, but here I’m also seen as a student of FUA (Florence University of the Arts), and that means many other things.

I share an apartment with other FUA students, who came for different programs, for different amounts of time, from different places. “Home” has just became a daily cultural exchange.I’m making friends from all over the world!

My Italian has truly improved thanks to classes taken there, and to because I try my best to speak only Italian in the internship, dance classes and streets in general.

But besides that, as a FUA student, I have access to the free classes in the gym, I can join the trips they organize, I went to a cooking congress and to a fashion show, just to mention a few things.

This program isn’t just about what the “title” says. It’s about what you make of it.
It’s about rediscovering yourself, leaving fears aside and taking every opportunity to make something new.

And the best part of MY journey? I’m only half-way…