TRA I BINARI APS

Tra i Binari is a cultural association born in 2015 from al Theater Company, active in theater practices, community processes and social development. It is based in the municipality of San Miniato (Pisa, Italy), where it works with the local communities and creates networks with international not-for-profit organisations. Its activities are developed between continuous artistic-creative research and constant dialogue with communities, activating year-round theatrical processes with italian citizenship, migrants, disabilities, prisoners, youth, neet, and homeless people. The project is built around the idea of how the Theater can put itself at the service of the communities and how they can use the Theater to convey their requests. Tra i Binari is formed by 11 professionals in different fields concerning the work of the third sector. The team is organised in an horizontal hierarchy system and consists of theater actors, circus and multimedia artists in the role of youth workers, educators, trainers, alongside project managers and administrators, social media managers, facilitators, theater audio/lighting technicians. During 10 years of activity, the group has developed various areas of work with the local communities. The main activities consist in the development of Community Theatre projects open to the whole citizenry, in which through the artistic practice and participatory actions we aim to bring people together, build bridges and connections, and reclaim the public spaces. These processes often end up in the creation of choral performances and urban parades in streets and squares, bringing Theater outside its institutional spaces and meeting the citizens, as a way to bring to the audience stories and instances of the people involved, creating informal meeting and exchanges spaces. Besides, we develop projects where theater meets multimedia and visual arts by creating collaborations with local artists, operating in the public space in various forms. During the years Tra i Binari has built its local network by collaborating both with formal not-for-profit organizations and local and regional institutions, and on the other hand with informal groups of people and youth; similarly, the group is involved in international networks of art, theater and community building. Thanks to this networking work, we promote several project of exchange and non-professional training such as: ASYLUM CENTERS PROJECTS: especially founding “Officine Cavane”, a theater space inside a refugee center to promote active citizenship practices. The project has involved from its beginning, the local network of asylum centers with the italian citizenship, creating activities and non-formal education based on community theater practices. These courses have developed exchanges and training in order to build soft skills between the participants. SCHOOL PROJECTS: working since 2015 with students from 3 to 18 years old in schools, to promote thought circus and theatre skills, moments of self expression and self-narration. YOUTH PROJECTS: working in youth centers with young people that are students or neet, promoting moments of expression and self determination of the young generations through theatre and multidisciplinary art methods. COGNITIVE AND PHYSICAL DISABILITIES PROJECTS: working for the past 4 years with groups with different disabilities to promote moments of collective meeting and creation. It works also with psychiatric women's centers creating public performances. NURSING HOME PROJECTS: promoting multidisciplinary projects in nursing homes through paths of storytelling and free expression. SHELTER HOMELESS PROJECTS: promoting theater and citizenship projects in homeless centers, also involving local youth communities. CULTURAL EVENTS: promoting cultural events in the local area during the year, as a chance to bring the communities together and create meeting and debate spaces, besides a cultural and formative offer. The work is in collaboration with the local organisations and the Municipality. Among the events, the “Festival del Pensiero Popolare - Palio di San Rocco”, a neighborhood-cooperation initiative in San Miniato town born in the 60’s, which the association organises since 2019. INTERNATIONAL NETWORK: since 2019 collaborating with The Hidden Theatre (aimed at giving voice to people/underprivileged communities and communities in situations of marginalization, war, poverty), researching in Reportage Theater methodologies. Members since 2020 of “Cultures of Resistance”, a network formed by international groups, whose common thread is the work with communities through various art forms, developing projects together in the long distance.