India – Instabili Vaganti on tour with 'Dante Beyond Borders'
A new international tour for Instabili Vaganti theatre company: from December 11 to 20 they are in India with the performance Dante Beyond Borders, inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy and the Indian classic text Mahābhārata.
With different languages ranging from traditional Indian dance to physical and experimental theatre, from video art to electronic music, the performance explores the many connections between Dante's work and the Indian culture, both from the iconographic and the philosophical and theological point of view, and is also a means of connection between two secular cultural traditions.
The leading suggestion of the performance directed by Anna Dora Dorno is ‘the Absence’, an element that permeates Dante’s works. In an essential setting, characterized by few scenic objects – that are also natural and material elements: sand, coal, a burnt log –, lights and video projections evoke dreamlike contexts and imaginary naturalistic scenarios, where the physical actions by performer Nicola Pianzola meet the mudras and gestures of the Bharatanatyam dance, choreographed by Anuradha Venkataraman, while the electronic music by composer Riccardo Nanni interacts with the Indian classical sounds and the performers’ vocal experiments on Dante’s text and on poetic fragments from the Mahābhārata.
Dante Beyond Borders is on stage in Bangalore on December 11 (7 pm) at the Bangalore Hubba Festival.
The performance will be then at the IAPAR International Theatre Festival in Pune on December 14 (7 pm).
The festival also hosts the workshop Millenial Footsteps led by Instabili Vaganti (December 13). Participants will be guided by Anna Dora Dorno, Nicola Pianzola, and dancer Anuradha Venkataraman to explore rhythmic steps, gestures, and mudras from Bharatanatyam alongside contemporary physical theatre techniques. The workshop encourages intercultural and interdisciplinary experimentation – a theme that characterizes the company's work –, helping performers research body, gesture, and action to transcend cultural boundaries.
Lastly, a third staging is in Mumbai on December 20 (8 pm) at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC).
The tour is supported by the Italian Ministry of Culture (MiC), the Consulate General of Italy in Bangalore, and the Italian Cultural Institute in Mumbai.
IAPAR International Theatre Festival