In 1975, clown Dimitri together with his wife Gunda and actor and mime Richard Weber opened the doors of a completely innovative training venue in Verscio, christened “Scuola Teatro Dimitri.” Their intent was to bring together under one roof a wide range of artistic disciplines, capable of giving a solid foundation to those who wished to delve into the path of the performing arts. Growing over the decades in notoriety and numbers, the Scuola Teatro Dimitri gained recognition from the Canton in 2005; the following year it was affiliated with SUPSI. In 2015, it also took the name Accademia Teatro Dimitri, to better connote its university orientation and specificity. Today, it offers a university-level education that pays special attention to the body and movement and brings together generally separate forms of expression such as theater, dance, music and circus.
Wilma Minoggio, President of the Board of Directors of the Accademia Dimitri: “Dimitri's artistic impulse and Richard Weber's pedagogical legacy are still present but developed and reworked in ever new ways, in a confrontation between historical roots and contemporary influences. It is on these principles that the profile of the graduate of the Verscio Academy has gradually developed, thus marking its difference and originality from other Swiss and European academies.”
In 50 years, the Accademia Dimitri has become a continuously evolving multidisciplinary professional university school. In keeping with the spirit of the founders, the Academy's international team of teachers renews and updates its teaching with a direct look at the most current challenges of the artistic world and modern society. The pedagogical and artistic vocation, as well as the peculiarities of its curriculum, make the Academy a benchmark for theater training and a pole of excellence in the artistic field.
Over time, the school has trained nearly 700 artists; creative personalities who today animate and nourish the artistic and cultural scene in the Canton of Ticino and throughout Switzerland, as well as internationally.
Daniela Willi-Piezzi, Director of Basic Education at SUPSI: “Affiliating the Accademia Dimitri has enabled SUPSI to enrich itself with new looks and skills, complementary to that of the sciences. The Academy's clear focus on physical theater with its emphasis on acrobatics, pantomime and circus arts has enabled it to distinguish itself nationally and profile itself as a pole of excellence in the arts outside the Swiss borders as well.”
To celebrate the jubilee, a rich program has been set up that will culminate in a major celebration, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, involving students, students and faculty of yesterday and today. The first event is scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 25, with the first in a series of lectures open to the public, joined by a full open day on March 22, which will coincide with the General Assembly of the international student association E:UTSA - Europe Union of Theatre Schools and Academies. From May 5 to 7, a performance for girls and boys from all over the Canton will be held at the LAC, the result of a collaboration with the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, which celebrates its 90th birthday this year. Finally, Bachelor's and Master's students will present their productions in Verscio and throughout Ticino, and take them on tour in Switzerland and abroad.
Veronica Provenzale, Director of Dimitri Accademia: “We are celebrating this year the jubilee of Accademia Dimitri, but above all of all of all those who have shaped it, animated it and made its history; from those who traced the way in 1975, entering the first class of Dimitri, to today. It is no coincidence that the jubilee events are designed to concretely showcase the work that takes place within the school: hours and hours of study and commitment by students, who will present their work, as well as their own themes and points of view, in the territory and on tour, in line with the Academy's vision of a theater capable of articulating multiple identities and opening itself to listening to and dialoguing with the constant transformations of the present time.”
To find out the program of events: https://www.accademiadimitri.ch/