Collettivo Lattea

Francesca Massaioli, originally from Turin, is a multidisciplinary artist, ecologist and cultural practitioner with an eclectic background weaving together environmental sciences, performing arts and somatic practices. After graduating in Forestry Sciences from the University of Turin (2015–2018), she embarked on an artistic path that took her first to Artichoke Academy in Milan and then to a diploma at the Anfibia performing arts school in Bologna.

She continued her studies at PERA, University of Performing Arts in Cyprus, Humus (professional training in physical theatre and Axys Syllabus) in Bologna, and NOD – Nuova Officina della Danza in Turin. Her training also includes a professional course in cultural and community processes through dance (OPPCD) in Turin, as well as specific training in Contact Improvisation completed between India and Thailand. She works as a dancer, choreographer and facilitator in various cultural contexts and projects, collaborating with Mosaico Danza and C&C Company.

In her work, Francesca weaves an ecosystem of gestures, practices and ideas in which the body becomes both threshold and landscape, living matter in dialogue with the environment. Her research moves between the invisible and the tangible, generating poetic frameworks and embodied situations where art and ecology cross-pollinate, restoring a regenerative and communal force to movement.

Ornella Trespidi, originally from Piacenza, began her training in classical ballet. She interrupted her dance studies to focus on university (a Master’s degree in Architecture, Landscape and Construction), which led her to a metaphorical understanding of Italian vernacular architecture as an exceptional unfinished work. She resumed her studies at Artichoke contemporary dance academy in Milan, where she learned the key elements for a full awareness of the body in space and in relation to others.

To bring together her different fields of study, Ornella lived in Portugal for three years, exploring the relationship between the body and the place in which it performs (FAICC course in choreography, composition and performance). This experience enabled her to collaborate with international choreographers including Marcello Evelin, Gustavo Ciriaco, Alessandro Carboni and Faye Discroll.

For about a year, she has been experimenting with improvisation and composition alongside Italian and international musicians, between Portugal and Germany. She has also undertaken advanced training with the Zerogrammi company in Turin and with choreographer Claudia Castellucci in Cesena.

Through her attraction to authenticity, she seeks to question reality as it is. She is deeply passionate about studying the world through poetry, vulnerability and impermanence. The body becomes a place of research and memory, allowing us to expand the boundaries of imagination and our limits in relation to the environment around us.

Chiara Cardona, originally from Turin, is a performer and dancer with a hybrid background in contemporary dance, dance theatre and contemporary circus. She trained on the three-year programme at FLIC Contemporary Circus School, specialising in hand-balancing and hand-to-hand acrobatics.

Since 2020, she has developed her work in dance and dance theatre, studying with the DEOS company in Genoa and subsequently with the VIVOCenter Junior Company in Rome. This experience culminated in an internship with the 420People company in Prague. In 2024, she returned to Turin to deepen her work as a performer with the Zerogrammi company, taking part in INVENTARIO24. Throughout her training, she has studied with internationally recognised choreographers and dancers, including Carolyn Carlson, Rita Petrone, Julyen Hamilton, Julie Anne Stanzak, Nico Monaco, Vidavè Company and Mateo Mirdita.

She currently collaborates with Tecnologia Filosofica and Associazione Didee on projects in contemporary dance, urban and community dance, and dance for childhood and development. She is also studying Modern Languages and Literatures (Asian Studies) at the University of Turin.

Influenced by Eastern philosophy, her research explores the real body as a place of listening and transformation, where fragility becomes a poetic strength and a possibility for awareness. Her interest in dance centres on bodies far removed from artifice and formal perfection.