Vincenzo Turiano

Vincenzo Turiano
Born: 1993, Turin, Italy
Education: Accademia Teatro alla Scala Ballet School, Milan; Victor Ullate Ballet School, Madrid
Experience: Compañia Nacional de Danza, Madrid; Introdans (since August 2013)

Backstage is Home

Backstage is the place where the Italian-born dancer Vincenzo Turiano feels most at home. For Vincenzo, who identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, the stage is more than just a workplace—it’s a sanctuary. They have lived their life on and behind the stage since the age of four. “It’s still a ritual for me. I walk around the rear of the stage and the wings before I make my entrance. It’s not a superstition, but it calms me down.”

Calm isn’t the word you’d immediately associate with Vincenzo. Just sitting with them at a table already feels like watching a dance. They move in a free and graceful manner, emphasizing almost every word with a gesture. “It must be because I’m Italian, right? We tend to talk with our hands.” Although Vincenzo grew up in Turin in northern Italy, they feel a strong connection to their southern Italian roots. “My family originally came from the Calabria and Sicily regions, but there was too much poverty there, so my grandfather moved north, where there was more work.”

This same grandfather first noticed Vincenzo’s talent for dance. “My granddad was playing the piano, and I began dancing around. My mother immediately saw that I was doing more than just rocking back and forth, so she let me go to ballet class.” It was there that another side of Vincenzo’s warm-hearted and joyful personality emerged. “I also loved the discipline of ballet training. I remember being terribly upset when I had to go to class in socks, and I sent my mother all over the city to find the right ballet shoes.”

La Bella Figura

At fifteen, Vincenzo left their dance education in Turin to join the prestigious Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Milan. “My mother wasn’t happy at all. She felt amputated—her child suddenly leaving home. It’s not unusual for us Italians to stay living with mama for a really long time, but being admitted to the Milan school was my big dream.” According to Vincenzo, the Accademia Scala is one of Europe’s top ballet schools, alongside the Royal Ballet School and the Opéra National de Paris. “Our school was a mix of French and Russian influences. I believe that gives you the best of both worlds—the elegance of the French school combined with the power of the Russians.”

And all of it garnished with an Italian flair. “La bella figura basically means you always ensure you look your best when doing something. It’s an attitude that really benefits you as a dancer.” Vincenzo quickly mastered la bella figura and used it to overcome challenges. “I’m on the small side for a dancer. That’s a disadvantage in classical ballet, where uniformity is so important. My height has excluded me from certain paths, but it has also shaped the dancer I am today.”

Vincenzo is celebrated for their virtuosity and lyrical performance style. “I think it’s amazing when I watch a dancer and forget where I am, even forget the stage. When the movement affects you so deeply that you get absorbed into the story. That’s what I try to achieve when I dance. There’s a saying: art imitates life. I believe this is so true.

Observing People

To hone their storytelling ability, Vincenzo spends time observing people in public squares across Europe, like in Milan or Madrid. “A public square is like a stage. People make their entrance, meet someone, do something, move, act, and then disappear again. I could watch that for hours. It helps me find the right intention when I dance and choreograph. A single movement can carry completely different meanings. Someone walking fast could be late, or they could be rushing to meet someone they’re excited to see. You can see the difference.”

“For me, performing the steps perfectly isn’t enough to make you an artist. To become an artist, you need a certain vocabulary—and in dance, that’s an idiom without words. Dance becomes art when you give yourself fully to the moment, showing something authentic. You need empathy and sensitivity for that. Dance is storytelling when it connects with life, and that’s what I strive for.”

Beyond

Since joining Introdans in 2013, Vincenzo has continually expanded their artistic and personal journey. In 2022, they became part of Boys Won’t Be Boys, a revolutionary theater project challenging traditional ideas of masculinity and celebrating fluidity in identity—”Nobody fits into a box and that’s exactly what we celebrate.” This work earned them the Cultural Winq Diversity Award in 2024, a testament to their role in reshaping conversations and representations around gender and inclusivity.

“Every single person is a unique individual and should be treated as such. But there’s only one technique. You’re either on your leg or you’re not,” Vincenzo explains, emphasizing the universality of dance while also highlighting its power to dismantle binary expectations.

As a nonbinary artist, Vincenzo’s work, both as dancer and choreographer, celebrates the beauty of identity and individuality. “I don’t like the word different because it implies comparison and creates distance. Every time I say it, I feel like I’m betraying my beliefs—Different from whom? Instead, I’ve found a better term: unique. Everyone is unique, that’s what we are and we should celebrate with pride.”

Vincenzo works as dancer and choreographer have performed not only within the Introdans repertoire but also at major international festivals and theaters, such as Ziggo Dome, Pride Amsterdam, Zwarte Cross, Jomba Dance Festival in South Africa, and at Sziget Festival in Hungary as a support act for Kylie Minogue.

Out-of-the-box, forward-thinking with a touch of glitter, Vincenzo’s aims to blur rigid traditional boundaries, elevate unheard voices, and create an inclusive space where everyone can thrive and experience movement free from rigid gender roles, stereotypes, and expectations. “I want to create more space for people like me and inspire new dialogues. The only limit is our imagination.”