The Week of the Italian Language is celebrated all over the world by Switzerland and Italy, the countries that share Italian as an official language. The event takes place in the third week of October of every year and aims at promoting the Italian language. This year’s theme is “Italian on stage”. On this occasion, the Embassy of Switzerland in Jordan will host the Dimitri Theatre Academy for the official closing ceremony of the festivities.

The Dimitri Theatre Academy, located in Verscio in the Italian-speaking Canton of Ticino in Switzerland, was founded in 1975 by Dimitri, the renowned “Clown of Ascona”. It is specialized in the training of physical theatre and embodies an unprecedented approach to different theatre and circus traditions. It is affiliated with the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland.

Michele Rezzonico’s piece called “YouToBe” tells the story of a CEO and founder of an IT company that describes a dream he had during a gathering with his IT associates. In the dream, the famous IT guru meets a giant computer, which convinces him to use an online platform: YouToBe. The show illustrates and reflects on the impact of technology and digitalization on human life and interpersonal relationships. Swiss actor and mime Michele Rezzonico graduated from the Dimitri Theatre Academy.

 “YouToBe” will be performed on 27 October at 19:00 at the Al Shams Theatre. The Embassy of Italy in Jordan will host an informal reception prior the show. The knowledge of Italian is not indispensable in order to be able to understand the show, as it is mainly based on body language. Entrance is free.

The show and workshops are sponsored by Swiss companies ABB and Novartis.