MODENA. Modena prepares to experience a night of New Year’s suspended between art and wonder. Wednesday 31 December, from 11pm, Piazza Roma will become a heavenly stage for “Galileo”, the airline creation of the French company Deus ex Machinaalready protagonist ofopening of the Olympic year in Paris in front of the Arc de Triomphe. A free event that promises to transform New Year’s Eve into an unrepeatable experience, accompanied by DJ set on Radio Bruno and by the warmth of a city that opens up to the sky.
The show
Imagine a large metallic sphere, suspended fifty meters in the air, rotating like a living planet above the heads of the spectators. All around, acrobats and dancers soar in the air, intertwining ropes, fabrics, trapeze and vertical dance in a story that spans centuries of thought: from the myth of the Earth resting on the shell of a turtle to the revolution of Galileo, who dared to challenge the world with his heliocentric vision. It is a poetic and scientific journey, guided by a character dressed in white, a symbol of curiosity and audacity, who accompanies the public among legends and intuitions. The square will be transformed into an urban planetarium: monumental projections of nebulae and constellations will light up the seventeenth-century profiles of the buildings, while the sphere will become the beating heart of a choreography that seems to defy gravity. The finale will be pure magic: the structure transforms into a stellar carousel, the artists rotate like luminous stars drawing very sweet trajectories on New Year’s Eve. It is an image that touches every age, from children to grandparents, and which combines amazement, poetry and celebration in a single breath. Behind this marvel is the story of Deus ex Machina, a company founded in 2009 by artists and technicians who have participated in the largest international stage events. Their philosophy is summed up in one sentence: «When you dream alone, it’s just a dream; when you dream together, it is already reality.” From Taiwan to the United Arab Emirates, their journey is dotted with light festivals and urban shows that blend dance, theatre, visual arts and technology. “Galileo”, translated into eight languages, is one of their most loved creations, capable of speaking to different audiences and transforming every city into a natural theatre. The success of “Galileo” is not accidental: the company has been able to reinvent the concept of the aerial show, transforming it into a narrative that combines technical rigor and imagination. Each element is designed to dialogue with the urban space: the crane that lifts the sphere, the lights that sculpt the architecture, the music that accompanies the suspended movements. It is not just a matter of acrobatics, but of a real visual dramaturgy that tells of the courage of those who dared to look beyond, just like Galileo. And in this story, the city becomes the protagonist: Piazza Roma is not just a backdrop, but a living part of the scene, with its buildings dressed in stars and its spectators who become communities. Modena, a UNESCO creative city for Media Arts, confirms with this event its vocation to experiment with innovative languages.
The program
After the New Years of 2024 and 2025, which have already explored the contamination between art and technology, 2026 opens with a vision that celebrates science as poetry and celebration as a shared experience. The evening will begin with the music of the DJ sets and will end under a sky crossed by lights and suspended bodies, in a collective embrace that marks the transition towards a new year. But “Galileo” is also an invitation to reflect: while the artists dance in the air, the public perceives the fragility and strength of man in the face of the universe. Each suspended gesture tells of the tension between the desire to fly and the law of gravity, between dream and reality. It is a hymn to curiosity, to the ability to imagine beyond borders, just like Galileo did when he pointed his telescope towards the sky. In that instant, science became poetry, and poetry became revolution. Tonight, in Modena, that same spark will shine again. It will be a night that will remain in the eyes and in the heart: not a simple show, but an urban ritual that transforms time into emotion. When the sphere begins to rotate and the artists draw figures in the air, the audience will feel that they are part of something bigger: a shared dream, which becomes reality for an entire city. A New Year’s Eve that doesn’t just count the seconds, but transforms them into pure wonder. Access to the show area is regulated starting from 10pm, with safety procedures and random checks at the entrance. It can be accessed from Corso Accademia, Largo San Giorgio and Piazzale San Domenico. Access is free, until the maximum capacity allowed is reached, in compliance with safety regulations.
