Dante in Oxford Archives

After Hours: Dante – Heaven and Hell at Dante Season 2021

February 14, 2022 By Harrison Betz, FSU '25

On November 13, 2021, the collaborative effort behind Dante in Oxford hosted the “After Hours” event. The event was described as follows:

“An exciting ‘after hours’ programme of activities at the Ashmolean Museum showcasing the diverse range of researchers and performers who are connected to Dante.

“Oxford will be alive with opportunities to celebrate Dante in 2021 — exactly 700 years since the great poet’s death. Best known for his astonishing Divine Comedy — a three-stage epic poem, narrating a journey through the afterlife from Hell through Purgatory to Heaven, with all of human history, knowledge, love, and life encountered on the way — Dante was an advisor to princes, a political exile, and a revolutionary poet.” —TORCH (retrieved February 13, 2022)

One of the “performers” at this event was a robotic poet named Ai-da; view our post about her poetry here.

More information about the “After Hours” event and its programming (which included live performances and other exhibits) can be found here.

Other Dante in Oxford posts can be found here.

Dante and Dance at Dante Season 2021

February 14, 2022 By Harrison Betz, FSU '25

On November 4, 2021, the collaborative effort behind Dante in Oxford hosted the “Dante and Dance” event. The performance was described as follows:

“Luc Petton, choreographer, will present a screening of Ainsi la Nuit, his extraordinary ballet for human dancers, birds, and animals inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy. Luc Petton will also be in conversation with members of the audience. The event is programmed in conjunction with the display ‘The Divine Comedy from Manuscript to Manga’ which is open to the public in an adjacent space of the Bodleian’s Weston Library. The film screening will be followed by a response from Professor Sue Jones and a Q&A.” —TORCH (retrieved February 13, 2022)

More information about “Dante and Dance” and its programming can be found here.

Other Dante in Oxford posts can be found here.

Serata Dantesca at Dante Season 2021

February 7, 2022 By Harrison Betz, FSU '25

On November 13, 2021, the collaborative effort behind Dante in Oxford hosted the “Serata Dantesca” event. The performance was described as:

“A programme of music, poetry, and dance presented in the Holywell Music Room, featuring performers who are almost all Oxford-based teachers, researchers, and students. In addition to Italian and English readings and some older choral and solo musical compositions, new translations and settings have been specially commissioned for this commemorative occasion marking the 700th anniversary of the death of the great Italian poet.” —TORCH (retrieved February 7, 2022)

More information about the “Serata Dantesca” and its programming can be found here.

Other Dante in Oxford posts can be found here.

Dante Season at Oxford (2021)

February 7, 2022 By Harrison Betz, FSU '25

“Oxford will be alive with opportunities to celebrate Dante in 2021 — exactly 700 years since the great poet’s death.

“Dante in Oxford 2021 will explore the work and its many and rich afterlives, by exploring new forms of public engagement with research, with artistic practice, and with political and cultural history. We will draw on the strength of Oxford’s research community to curate a wide-reaching cultural festival with a range of public events, including live in-person and online programming.

“We are collaborating with important partners across and beyond the university, including the Oxford Dante Society, the Ashmolean Museum, and other national and international partners. Bringing together scholars and translators, international artists, dancers, theatre-makers, and musicians, community groups, and schools, our ambition is both to disseminate and showcase Oxford’s world-leading research, and to experiment with new forms of critically informed public engagement – all in celebration of Dante’s life and the many and complex contexts in which his work lives on, through both research and reinvention in contemporary cultures across the world.” [. . .] —TORCH (retrieved February 7, 2022)

The complete Dante Season program can be found here.

Relatedly, find other Dante in Oxford 2021 events and posts here.

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