Article courtesy of Venezianews
A body. The arms, the legs. A place of action. An esthetic place. The body as a unit of measure, beauty and perfection. Only this? What if, behind all this, a secret is hidden, a secret which must be confessed? What is concealed under the skin? According to contemporary philosophy, man does not have a body; he is a body. This body must be employed, not as a machine, but as a vehicle of communication. A mute language. The absence of words in the dance reveals the essence and the spirituality of the body. From the 18th until the 25th of June, Venice herself becomes the stage which will host the UnderSkin International Festival of Contemporary Dance. The Afro-Brazilian choreographer Ismael Ivo, now in his second year as Director of the Dance Biennale, is continuing his research on the body, begun last year. UnderSkin intertwines different researches on the body, the soul and science in a symposium which will last several days, in which the art of movement and advanced scientific research are measured through debates, conference-performances, dialogues, and film-projection, all concerning the ultimate significance of the dancing body. Each choreographer projects his own version of the body and its expressive modality: nudity, mixed genres, transformation, sexual perversions, these are the modes through which the body speaks. This Festival will be graced by the world premiere of Ismael Ivo's Illuminata (from the 8th until the 11th of June), inspired by the theme of death: "It does not matter how many times we try to imagine it; as far as death is concerned, we will always be just spectators". Through the image of death, we can reconstruct life, because one is the reverse of the other.
Yuliya Joffe (translation of Maria Fasolo)
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06-08-2006 06-09-2006 06-10-2006 06-11-2006 |
Ismael Ivo (Brazil/Germany) "Illuminata" | Teatro alle Tese |
Ballet |
| Concept and choreography Ismael Ivo. Music Arnaldo De Felice. The performance project has been developed through the collaboration of Ivo with the composer Arnaldo de Felice and the dramatist Helge-Björn Meyer. | ||||
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06-08-2006 06-09-2006 |
Takao Kawaguchi (Japan) "D.D.D." | Teatro alle Tese |
Ballet |
| Choreography Takao Kawaguchi. Dramaturgy Bjoern Dirk Schlueter. In unison with the festival theme, UnderSkin, D.D.D., Takao Kawaguchi’s latest work, brings us heart, muscles, breath in a high-adrenaline performance. | ||||
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06-09-2006 06-10-2006 06-11-2006 |
UnderSkin - Symposium | Teatro Piccolo Arsenale |
Meetings and conferences |
| Philosophers and neuroscientists, film directors and mathematicians, anthropologists and choreographers at the Biennale di Venezia to debate upon the very theme of the Festival: UnderSkin. | ||||
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06-11-2006 06-12-2006 06-13-2006 |
Jin Xing Dance Theatre (China) "The Closest – The Furthest" | Arsenale di Venezia |
Ballet |
| Choreography Jin Xing. Music Yu Zhi. With Jin Xing. Lighting Xiao Li He. At the crossroads of east and west, of male and female, of past and future, Jin Xing returns to Venice and to the Biennale with a new creation based on the festival’s theme. | ||||
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06-13-2006 06-14-2006 |
Istanbul Dance Theatre (Turchia) "Mahrem - Kimlikler" | Teatro alle Tese |
Ballet |
| Choreography and video installation Geyvan McMillen. Mahrem, which has been worked on and developed, has now become a complete performance that Geyvan McMillen is presenting as a diptych with Kimlikler, meaning ‘identity’. | ||||
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06-14-2006 06-15-2006 |
Accrorap (France/Algeria/India/Brazil) "Les corps étrangers" | Teatro Piccolo Arsenale |
Ballet |
| Choreography Kader Attou. Stage design Gilles Rondot. Music Philippe Jacquot. Accrorap, recognised as one of the most famous French groups in the world, tries to create an encounter between hip hop dance and other cultures, other disciplines. | ||||
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06-16-2006 06-17-2006 |
Almatanz (Italy) "Chi è devoto" | Teatro alle Tese |
Ballet |
| Choreography and direction Adriana Borriello. Original music and video direction Francesco De Melis. The latest work by the two artists, Chi è devoto, is another dive into our popular traditions, a journey towards home. | ||||
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06-17-2006 06-18-2006 |
Random Dance Company (UK) "Amu" | Teatro Malibran |
Ballet |
| Direction and choreography Wayne McGregor. Original score Sir John Tavener. Wayne McGregor has created Amu, which in Arabic means ‘of the heart’. In the performance it is the heart’s physical functions and symbolic resonance. | ||||
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06-18-2006 06-19-2006 |
Mavin Khoo Dance (UK) "Devi: the Female Principle" | Teatro alle Tese |
Ballet |
| Choreography Laurent Cavanna. Music Electric Lane (Jennifer McConachie). The performance celebrates the sensuality and physicality of the female spirit as it is perceived in Hindu and Islamic cultures. | ||||
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06-18-2006 06-19-2006 |
BTT – Balletto Teatro di Torino (Italy) "Canto bianco in un momento di orizzonte verticale" | Teatro Piccolo Arsenale |
Ballet |
| Choreography Matteo Levaggi. Music Steve Reich, Ryoji Ikeda, David Lang. 29-year-old Matteo Levaggi is one of the youngest leading figures on the choreography scene in recent years, thanks to his original interest in pure choreographic design. | ||||
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06-20-2006 06-21-2006 |
Beijing Modern Dance Company (China) "Oath (Midnight dream)" | Teatro alle Tese |
Ballet |
| Choreography Gao Yanjinzi. Music and voice Wen Zhibo. As for the theme for the 2006 Festival, UnderSkin, Gao Yanjinzi, dancer and choreographer, says that this time she wants to explore desires, searching for the truth under the skin. | ||||
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06-20-2006 06-21-2006 |
Ko Murobushi (Japan) "Quick Silver" | Arsenale di Venezia |
Ballet |
| Choreography Ko Murobushi. With Ko Murobushi. Lighting Krisha Piplits. The new solo performance by this maestro of Butoh, entitled Quick Silver, arrives at the Biennale after its debut at the Kazuo Ohno Festival last November. | ||||
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06-21-2006 | Acco Theater Center (Israele) "WishUponAStar" | Teatro Malibran |
Ballet |
| Direction Hila Golan, Smadar Yaaron. Music Ori Vidislavski. With Smadar Yaaron. Lighting Jakie Shemesh. Stage design Firas Roby. Production Acco Theater Center. In coproduction with Spielzeiteuropa, Berliner Festspiele. | ||||
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06-22-2006 06-23-2006 |
MK (Italia) "Tourism" | Teatro alle Tese |
Ballet |
| Choreography Michele Di Stefano. With Philippe Barbut, Biagio Caravano, Laura Scarpini. Music ESC (Lorenzo Bianchi, Michele Tadini). Michele Di Stefano and his group MK’s work takes place in the area of ‘dance/non-dance/beyond dance’. | ||||
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06-22-2006 06-23-2006 |
Attakkalari (India) "Purushartha" | Teatro Piccolo Arsenale |
Ballet |
| Choreography Jayachandran Palazhy. Music Mitsuaki Matsumoto. In Purushartha, dance, digital projections and light are intimately connected to the rhythm of Indian music. | ||||
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06-24-2006 06-25-2006 |
ACCCA / Sadler’s Wells Company of Elders (Portugal/UK) "Natural" | Teatro Malibran |
Ballet |
| Choreography Clara Andermatt. Music Mariza and Uakti. Lighting Carlos Ramos e Clara Andermatt. Production The Hub (for Movimento4 Festival - New Portuguese Choreography and Live Art UK). | ||||
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06-24-2006 06-25-2006 |
Laboratory Dance Project (Korea) "Active Zone - No Comment - Fragments" | Teatro alle Tese |
Ballet |
| Mina Yoo, Shin Chang-Ho and the director of this festival Ismael Ivo have produced three choreographies for the collective Laboratory Dance Project, one of the liveliest groups on the Korean choreography scene. | ||||