Twyla Tharp, the legendary American choreographer, has been awarded the Golden Lion at the 2025 Biennale Danza. Meanwhile, the Silver Lion goes to Brazilian performer, author, and director Carolina Bianchi, who places the radical experience of the body at the center of her work. The awards were approved by the foundation’s board of directors, based on a proposal by Artistic Director Wayne McGregor, and will be presented during the 19th International Festival of Contemporary Dance, scheduled from July 17 to August 2, 2025. Tharp started her own company in 1965. Since then, she has used her dance to liberate bodies and minds from norms and stereotypes, moving with experimental audacity through all genres - from tap dance to jazz dance, postmodern to neoclassical - reinventing her original style with combinatorial skills each time. In his statement, McGregor writes: "She is nothing short of a phenomenon. Her work is unparalleled in its revolutionary contributions to the ecology of world dance, as it seamlessly integrates rigor and play, classical discipline and ballet technique with contemporary dance and natural movements to create radically innovative choreographies that are suitable for both theater and film. Twyla Tharp is one of the most important choreographers in history". The choreographer will open the Biennale Danza on Thursday, July 17 at the Malibran Theater with a diptych in European premiere celebrating her company's 60th anniversary (Diamond Jubilee Tour), which will depart for a long tour in the United States on January 26 from Minneapolis.