The "Trilogy of ecstasy" is scheduled for Thursday 30 and Friday 31 May 2024 at 8pm in Sala Mehta.

Three of the most famous compositions of the last century and a half:

“Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune” by Claude Debussy, the “Boléro” by Maurice Ravel and “Le Sacre du printemps” by Igor Stravinskij. 

Project by Roberto Zappalà for the “Zappalà Danza Company”

Florence, May 25th 2024 – The programming of the 86th Festival of the Maggio Musicale is enriched with the proposal of a dance show staged in the Mehta Hall on May 30 and 31th at 8pm – La trilogia dell’estasi. 

The project, conceived by Roberto Zappalà with the collaboration of Nello Calabrò, is a major co-production between the Fondazione Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Compagnia Zappalà Danza, Scenario Pubblico, the Center Chorégraphique National de Rillieux-la-Pape of Lyon, the Theaters of Reggio Emilia, MilanOltre Festival of Milan, the Teatro Massimo Bellini of Catania and in collaboration with Fondazione Teatri di Piacenza, Fondazione Ravenna Manifestazioni and the Teatro del Giglio of Lucca.

Protagonist of the two evenings - of which Roberto Zappalà took care of direction, choreography, costume scenes (in collaboration with Veronica Cornacchini) and lights - the “Zappalà Danza Company" making its debut at the Maggio. The dramaturgy is signed by Nello Calabrò.

The dancers on stage are Samuele Arisci, Faile Sol Bakker, Giulia Berretta, Andrea Rachele Bruno, Corinne Cilia, Filippo Domini, Laura Finocchiaro, Anna Forzutti, William Mazzei, Silvia Rossi, Damiano Scavo, Thomas Sutton, Alessandra Verona and Erik Zarcone.

The show - which starting from the Teatro del Maggio will also visit Milan, Catania, Bolzano, Pesaro, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Ravenna and Lucca in the coming months - is based on three of the most famous compositions of the last century and a half: Prélude à l 'après-midi d'un faune by Claude Debussy, the Boléro by Maurice Ravel and Le Sacre du printemps by Igor' Stravinskij. The key to the trilogy is the work on the space, in which a "scenic device" is created which, time by time, limits, amplifies and modifies the choreography, curated by Roberto Zappalà and designed for a single scenic set. The three creations that have Zappalà's clear and 'wild' language as their common denominator are all presented on the same evening. The challenge and gamble of this trilogy is to find a new imagination that, without denying the past, does not want to modernize but, thanks to the maturity acquired, personalize a world that already has an immense evocative power. For Zappalà the emphasis in his creations is on human relationships, on the relationships between men and women: denied, exalted, violated in a choreographic "reflection" on the drifts of contemporary society.

The project:

The project sees Roberto Zappalà tackle three great classics and for him also "sacred" compositions that marked the choreographic (and also musical) path of the last century. The respect he had for these works made him reflect for more than 10 years. Today the moment is ripe to stage them. The three creations that have Zappalà's clear and wild language as their common denominator are “The Afternoon of a Faun”, “Boléro” and “The Rite of Spring”. The challenge and gamble of this trilogy a posteriori is to find a new imaginary which, without outright denying the past, wants not to modernize but, thanks to the acquired maturity, personalize a world that already has an immense evocative power. In addition to the specific language of the choreographer, the work on space becomes important if not fundamental, creating a "scenic device" which, time after time, performance by performance, limits, amplifies, modifies the dance created by the choreographer.

To give an example, the first piece of the trilogy, already represented in the form of a study, in the piano version played by Leonardo Zunica, L'après midi d'un faune by Debussy, is danced in a restricted space, with what this entails in limitation of the scenic and choreographic space. As always for Zappalà the emphasis is on human relationships, on the relationships between men and women: denied, exalted, violated in a choreographic "reflection" on the drifts of contemporary society.

The first conceptual piece of furniture of the creation draws inspiration from a tragic news event that occurred during a party in a villa in the Roman countryside at the beginning of 2021, on which an evocation of the iconic sequence of the party/ritual in Kubrick’s Eyes wide shut is grafted. The explicit reference/homage to Kubrick in the visual structure of Boléro combines the obsessiveness of Ravel's melody with a dance where the ritual aspect present in the film is transfigured and enhanced by Zappalà's visual and choreographic imagery.

A single scenic set hosts the creation, a creation which at the same time encompasses exclusion, courtship and eroticism respectively in L'après midi d'un faune; inclusion, vice, lust in Boléro and finally persecution and sacrifice in Le Sacre du Printemps. To quote the title of a film by Lelouch which ends with the filming of Ravel/Béjart's Boléro, it is always about dancing with and for "one and the other".

Zappalà Dance Company:

An important company on the Italian scene, which has been the bearer of the artistic thought of Roberto Zappalà for over 30 years, it stands out for the availability of a broad and articulated repertoire, the result of the synergistic work of the choreographer, his playwright of reference Nello Calabrò and the dancers who over the years have allowed the creation of over 80 productions, hosted all over the world by internationally renowned theaters and festivals. A characteristic of the creations is also rigorous work on the language that has been built over time, called MoDem.

Among the awards received, the Danza&Danza Award for “A.semu tutti devoti tutti?” and “THE NINTH”.

Since 2002, the Zappalà Danza Company has been resident in Catania at Scenario Pubblico, a structure that has allowed the company and the choreographer to broaden and deepen their choreographic research work and to take root in the territory with production, promotion, hospitality, residencies and training activities. and a rich and varied program. In 2015 Scenario Pubblico/Compagnia Zappalà Danza was recognized by the MIC as the National Center for Dance Production, and in 2022 it obtained further recognition as a Center of Relevant National Interest.