Andrea Loreni
Andrea Loreni is the only Italian tightrope walker specialising in crossings and walking at great heights.
His educational background combines theoretical philosophy with street theatre, and his main goal has been – since the beginning of his career – the research of an “another kind of truth”, something different than the logical and speculative model proposed by the Western philosophical thought. Since 2006 his artistic and personal research focuses on funambulism. Walking on cables at great heights allowed him to experience this kind of truth combining his artistic expression with the practice of Zen meditation. Introspection practices lead him to the monastery Sogen-Ji in Okayama, Japan, under the guidance of Shodo Harada Roshi.
In his research path, Andrea combines Zen and tightrope walking, as privileged access to artistic and existential authenticity.
Andrea has walked above water as well as immersed in the green of the mountains, starring in movies and participating in commercials, expressing himself on flat surfaces and on slopes, stepping towards silence as well as wandering surrounded by sounds and music. He has walked miles on a tightrope in the skies of many Italian cities, including Turin, Bologna, Rome, Venice, Florence, Genoa, Brescia, Trieste. He has also extensively worked abroad, ambling in the skies of Switzerland, Serbia, Israel, Thailand and above the lake of the Sogen-ji temple in Japan.
After years of studies on meditation and funambulism combined with constant practice, Andrea decided to share his own experience. Trainer and speaker for universities, banks, multinationals and companies, Andrea offers theoretical and experiential workshops on the management of imbalance and change, on the acceptance of fear and risks. Workshops combine meditation and funambulism.
In recent years, through a collaboration with Giulia Schiavone, PhD at the Department of Human Sciences for Education “Riccardo Massa” of the University of Milan “Bicocca”, the tightrope walker Andrea Loreni has been able to deepen the research on the most transversal aspects of tightrope walking, studying its value as a tool not only performative but also transformative, usable as a path of personal growth and transformation. An aspect already studied by the Centre Européen de Funambulisme of Brussels, with which he has recently started a collaboration.
Together with Giulia Schiavone and with the support of the University of Milan “Bicocca”, Andrea is working on the creation of a research centre focusing mainly on tightrope walking.
Books/Publications (in Italian) “Zen e funambolismo”(2019, Funambolo edizioni) “Breve corso di funambolismo per chi cammina col vento. Sette passi per attraversare la vita” (2020, Mondadori)
