Consorzio Balsamico

Consorzio Balsamico was founded in 2020 as part of the Animateria Advanced Training programme for professionals specialising in the techniques and languages of puppetry and figure theatre, promoted by Teatro Gioco Vita.

Deda Artusi, Giada Borgatti, Silvia Cristofori, Virginia Franchi, Marzia Meddi and Alessandra Stefanini, coming from different backgrounds, began a shared research project, bringing their various artistic languages into dialogue.

The company’s first steps focused on exploring pure elements, such as raw materials, bringing their simple, archetypal and primordial nature into theatrical dialogue.

In 2021, the company presented the first study of Questi pochi centimetri di terra at the Festival Mondial de Marionnettes Off de Rue in Charleville-Mézières, France. That same year, they premiered H2Ops! - Uno spettacolo illustrato at the Segni d’Infanzia Festival in Mantua.

In 2022, Questi pochi centimetri di terra premiered in its full form at Romaeuropa Festival Kids and was awarded a scholarship through the Chain Reaction programme, promoted by Assitej Italia to support internationalisation and the dissemination of theatre productions abroad. That same year, both shows were also hosted by the Contemporaneo Futuro Festival, Teatro di Roma, and the Trallallero Festival by Teatro al Quadrato in Udine. Questi pochi centimetri di terra was subsequently presented at the Segnali Festival and featured in an adapted version as part of the Marionette e Avanguardia exhibition, organised at Palazzo Magnani in Reggio Emilia; meanwhile, H2Ops! - Uno spettacolo illustrato was a finalist for the InboxVerde Award. That same year, the company began collaborating with Centro Teatrale MaMiMò in Reggio Emilia.

In 2024, work began on the new project Bodies. The aim of this new work is to explore and investigate the meaning of the body, in contrast with technological and artificial intelligence developments, using puppets and materials as a lens through which to explore the subject. A key element of the project is the central use of an atelier-based educational approach as a tool for theatrical research, bringing it into non-theatrical contexts and into integrated and inclusive working groups.

The company subsequently began an artistic collaboration with the Italian-Swiss company Teatro Danzabile in Lugano, specialising in social theatre and inclusive projects; with Coop. Soc. PantaRei for the project Lo sguardo di P.E.R.S.E.O., held at the Institute for the Blind in Reggio Emilia with a group of children aged 8 to 10; and took part in the Officine Teatrabili Project (Spazio Diamante, Rome), offering the atelier to a group of young people from the Modelli si nasce Association, their families, and students and graduates of the STAP Brancaccio Academy.

In 2025, they presented the first study of Il Coro dell’Alba at the Trallallero Festival, which will premiere in 2026 at the Contemporaneo Futuro Festival (Teatro di Roma). That same year, Il giardino delle cose sperse premiered at the 36th edition of Segnali Festival, a theatre festival for new generations