A A B B O O U U T T
COB Compagnia Opus Ballet is a contemporary dance company based in Florence, founded in 1999 by Rosanna Brocanello, who has served as Artistic Director since its founding; Lifetime Archievement Award – Anima Flegrea 2026. Since 2019 Laura Pulin, consultant of the Artistic Direction, contributes to the development of the artistic vision and repertoire.
The company brings together a core ensemble of ten professional dancers — Italian and international — distinguished by their strong technical training and a natural fluency across the eclectic languages of contemporary dance.
COB’s repertoire features works by acclaimed choreographers including Davide Bombana, Loris Petrillo, Michela Lucenti, Simona Bertozzi and Erika Silgoner. Alongside these established voices, the company actively commissions and presents creations by a new generation of Italian and European choreographers such as Adriano Bolognino, Giovanni Insaudo, Carlo Massari, Aurélie Mounier, Roberto Tedesco among others.
A core part of COB’s artistic mission is to nurture emerging choreographic talent, investing in research, experimentation and the development of new voices within the contemporary dance landscape.
The company maintains ongoing collaborations with leading cultural institutions and production centres, including the Centro Nazionale di Produzione della Danza Virgilio Sieni, and regularly partners with theatres and festivals through co-production projects. In 2025, COB was selected for the prestigious NID – New Italian Dance Platform, a recognition renewed in 2026.
Highlights from COB’s current repertoire include: Casanova variations on desire, chor. S. Bertozzi, M. Lucenti, E. Silgoner (2026); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, chor. D. Bombana (2024); La Duse. No Opera, chor. A. Bolognino & R. Di Maro (2024); Callas Callas Callas, chor. A. Bolognino, C. Massari, R. Tedesco (2023); The Four Seasons, chor. A. Mounier (2020).
Internationally, COB has toured to Jordan, Norway, Hungary, Panama, and most recently Bulgaria, and continues to expand its international presence and touring network.
Danza & Danza Award 2024 for La Duse. No Opera, chor. A. Bolognino & R. Di Maro.
Since 2021, COB has received funding from the Italian Ministry of Culture (MIC), with additional support from the Tuscany Region, the City of Florence and Fondazione CR Firenze for its artistic, production and research activities.
Rosanna Brocanello
Artistic Director of COB Compagnia Opus Ballet
Co-Director of the Centro Opus Ballet
Born in Genoa, she trained at the dance school of Giannina Censi—a renowned dancer of Futurist dance—and continued her studies with Rossella Hightower, M. Miskovitch, and Victor Rona, completing her classical training under Riccardo Nunez. She also studied Graham technique with Elsa Piperno and Joseph Fontano.
She made her debut at the Nervi International Festival performing The Nutcracker with the London Festival Ballet.
She returned to the Nervi International Festival with the Off Jazz Dance Company (directed by Gianin Loringett) and later with the Louis Falco Dance Company of New York, performing in a production commissioned by the festival that subsequently toured throughout Europe.
She worked with choreographers such as Matt Mattox and Peter Goss, and later in Paris with Kim Kam (Limón technique); she also collaborated on the choreography for the musical production Musical with the Teatro Stabile di Genova troupe, directed by Gian Maria Volonté. In 1984, she moved to Florence, where she founded and directed the Hot Jazz Dance Company—which later became Opus Ballet—developing a new choreographic language born of extensive research into modern and contemporary dance. She collaborated with Stewart Copeland (drummer for The Police) to create the ballet Il grande amico Meaulnes. She also taught and directed modern dance courses at the Florence Dance Center, founded by Marga Nativo and Keith Ferrone in Florence.
In 1999, she founded the Opus Ballet Cultural Association and continues to serve as the Artistic Director of the Opus Ballet Company. The company achieved great success with the ballet Vertigo (choreographed by Patrick King), a tribute to the extraordinary personality of Louis Falco. From 2000 to 2004, she co-directed the Associazione Danza/Scuola Toscana—home to the Balletto di Toscana school led by Cristina Bozzolini—and subsequently, in 2004, she co-founded and co-directed the OPUS BALLET International Dance and Performing Arts Center in Florence alongside Daniel Tinazzi.
She conducts workshops and courses for dance teachers throughout Italy and abroad, and serves as a jury member for international choreography competitions.
T T E E A A M M
Artistic direction Rosanna Brocanello
Artistic Consultancy Laura Pulin
Company Bookings Valeria Carrass
International Projects Amei Teupel
Production & General Management Lisa Abati
Project Management Maria Lucia Bianchi
Dancers
Giuliana Bonaffini
Aura Calarco
Emiliano Candiago
Matheus De Oliveira Alves
Ilaria Diquigiovanni
Ginevra Gioli
Stefania Menestrina
Gaia Mondini
Giulia Orlando
Giovanni Russo
Sara Schiavo
Giovanna Silva Santoro
Frederic Zoungla
Rebeca Zucchegni
