Isadora Duncan International Institute Presents

Sacred Topographies: The Body & The Land

Carnevale di Venezia: Art and Love in the Venetian Renaissance

February 7th through 15th, 2018
A Guided Travel and Performance Tour to Venice, Italy, and Environs in the Lively Arts
With Jeanne Bresciani, Ph.D.

 Application Here!

 Venice, the pearl, poised between earth
and sky, and upon misted waters, becomes the proactive and promising locus of the aesthetic experience at the pinnacle of fanfare, known for centuries as Carnevale. Unsurpassed, art grows and abounds into spirit and matter at every bend in her waters. Her churches, whether grand cathedral or intimate chapel – her palazzi, her scuole – her ‘ca’ – are enveloped in auras of mystery where air makes way for both sense and spirit. In Venice’s fluid realm amidst stone, the omnipresent aura of art, music, painting, poetry, magic and intrigue, incarnate within us, as in no other city.

Enrapt within Venice, we move in seminar format, traversing her canals and bridges.  We meet the stuff of body and soul resplendent, as journey participants revel in local activities and other specially orchestrated events.

Highlights Include:

~The Doge’s Palace – the titular home of the Doge, Dogaressa, Lady Venice and the four Marco treasuries
~A procession to Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute to honor the Ceremonies of the Healing Waters at the Heart of Venice
~An historical and cultural walking tour through the sestieri to encounter the manifold art restorations completed by Save Venice, Inc.
~A glimpse into: A literary experience at Ca’ Rezzonico • To the holy cemetery island and first Renaissance church of Venice, Chiesa di San Michele in Isola • The mirage-like, spiraling stair-ladden, architectural hidden treasure of Venice, Scala Contarini del Bovolo and its Tintoretto Room • Galleria Accademia • Cannaregio’s Jewish Ghetto, in it’s recent 500th anniversary, via reverent guidance to awe-inspiring synagogues and powerful Holocaust memorials; to name a few

~A festive afternoon at the Ballo di Cioccolata sipping on sumptuous hot chocolate and chiacchiere “angel wings” – classic delicacies of the Carnevale season amidst the sights and sounds of a Rococo ball
~A Ceremonial Gondola Cortege of Nations, Operatic Concert and Formal Reception with light supper at Palazzo Ca’ Sagredo
~An elegant Night at the Opera, in intimate palazzo setting, revealing chamber by chamber, Venice’s extraordinary musical history
~An inaugural evening of the Muses alive within the halls of the Grand Canal’s historic Palazzo Contarini-Polignac’s world-class musical series, celebrating the mythical, magical and paradisaical meeting of Isadora and Paris Singer within a merging of the arts

~A beatified journey within Romeo and Juliet’s Verona to immerse ourselves in the holy writ of love with its life affirming and emblazoning power to unfold the true self in a spirit ambient and reflective of festival. Moving seamlessly into the season of Santo Valentino, we symbolically loosen the barriers to love that we carry. Highlights include: Vineyard tour in the Veneto, nascent home of Prosecco and Amarone – its wines, Italy’s finest effervescent white and luscious red; A luncheon feast of sense delectation to accompany Shakespearean verse; Excursions to the homes of the archetypal lovers and to love’s tomb; Pilgrimage to a sacred cloister and further exploration on the meanings and purposes of life into art

~An opening dinner in honor of La Serenissima, ‘Pearl of the Adriatic’, at Trattoria da Bepi with a panoply of freshly enshelled morsels
~A discovery of the sentient delights of the Rialto Mercato and a classic cicchetti feast at a well-kept local secret
~Mid-day meal at Cipriani’s iconic Harry’s Bar at the Molo, famed for its signature pastas and torta di zabaion

Full Flier Here!

Full Itinerary Here!

Please return all materials to the IDII via the contact information below.