The project Carmen_Nous sommes toutes des étoiles develops at Lavanderia through a dialogue among several local actors—first and foremost the dance schools and artists involved—with choreographer Anna Basti acting as the catalyst for a reflection on the meanings that major ballets and classical works have conveyed, and continue to convey.

Its aim is to imagine a rewriting of the work with groups of non-professionals or specific communities, questioning both the hierarchy of bodies embodied by classical ballet and the relational dynamics enacted by its narrative.

By revisiting not only the ballet but Carmen herself—as an embodiment of the revolutionary power of the feminine, understood as a sensual, desiring and instinctual force—the project initiates a process of rediscovering the potential of the body and dance in relation to issues that shape our present: gender, patriarchy, and our relationship with what society relegates to the margins and to otherness.

Exploring the rewriting of repertoire offers a way to transform how young bodies in training perceive it: as a potential resource rather than a static, dusty legacy. It is therefore an opportunity to create together a new narrative—or new narratives—that can connect these works with our everyday lives.

Repertoire becomes a starting point for reflecting on the contemporary world through work with the body.