Theatre and dance from Emilia-Romagna in the 23rd Week of the Italian Language in the World
As every year, the creativity of Emilia-Romagna finds space in the rich programme of the Week of the Italian Language in the World: Artemis Danza, Ateliersi, Fraternal Compagnia, Gli Amici di Luca, Instabili Vaganti, and Teatrino dell’Es are the companies taking part in this 23rd edition – confirming the quality and variety of the region's artistic production.
On October 15, in Venezuela, the Italian Cultural Institute in Caracas has hosted Instabili Vaganti theatre company with the new version of The Global City, a text by Nicola Pianzola inspired by Invisible Cities, set up on the occasion of the centenary of Italo Calvino’s birth. It is a metamorphic performance, in which the micro-stories collected by the author –a contemporary Marco Polo– in the major metropolises of the planet are artistically recomposed on stage, drawing a dystopian and virtual city of memory.
On October 18, in Belgium, at the Italian Cultural Institute in Brussels, Teatrino dell’Es – Vittorio Zanella’s theatre of marionettes and puppets – has performed the show Opera meets puppets, inspired by Gioachino Rossini’s La Cenerentola, accompanied by the OperaMus children's choir, who performed some pieces from the opera. Relying on the ‘Scuola in Canto’ project created by Europa InCanto and the experiences conducted in schools in Belgium by the OPERAMUS association, with the interventions by various experts it was shown how learning the Opera facilitates and stimulates the knowledge of the Italian language.
On October 19, still in Brussels, the Institute hosts the theatre performance Coma reading, featuring Alessandro Bergonzoni and the persons with coma outcomes of the theatre laboratories of the Casa dei Risvegli Luca De Nigris. It is a creation born within the “Teatro dei Risvegli” (Theatre of awakenings) project, carried out since 2003 by Gli Amici di Luca odv association in the public structure of the Azienda Usl -Local Health Autority of Bologna, and was produced on the occasion of the European Day of Awakenings (October 7) and of the Week of the Italian Language in the World.
Dance is on stage in South Korea on October 19, in Seoul, with The Looneys – Tribute to Fellini by Artemis Danza, proposed by the Italian Cultural Institute in Seoul and organized in co-operation with SeongDong Foundation for Arts & Culture. In Monica Casadei’s choreography, the dancers re-evoke and re-invent images, scenes, and characters from some of the great Maestro’s films on Nino Rota's famous melodies, in an atmosphere full of poetry and emotion but also of energy and vigour. The performance will be also in Guri on October 22.
On October 21, in Malta, new suggestions from Italo Calvino with [gæp] What is a GAP? A playful talk on Liberation by Ateliersi. It is a “literary bingo” made up of sentences taken from Calvino’s first novel The Path to the Spiders’ Nests. It is presented by the Italian Cultural Institute in Valletta at the Malta Book Festival 2023 (October 18-22) and on the occasion of the 23rd Week of the Italian Language in the World (October 16-22) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the writer’s birth, and the participants will win books.
On October 26, in China, the Italian Cultural Institute in Hong Kong bring the Commedia dell’Arte with Masquerade Mask, performance and mask exhibition curated by Fraternal Compagnia. Masquerade Mask is a vehicle to introduce the public to the world of Commedia dell’Arte and a tribute to all the characters of Italian traditional theatrical culture. It is presented within ITALIA on Stage festival and on the occasion of the Week of the Italian Language in the World. In the previous days, Fraternal Compagnia will also direct a workshop of Commedia dell’Arte at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and these activities will be replicated in Beijing from October 30 to November 6.
Together with the host Institutions, Emilia-Romagna Region and ATER Fondazione have supported the companies' tours.