The Catania Contemporanea/FIC Festival, promoted by Scenario Pubblico/Centre of Significant National Interest for dance recognized by the Ministry of Culture, reaches its 5th edition with a rich program significantly presented on the occasion of the International Dance Day which falls on April 29th.
Emblematic date to announce the event curated by the visionary artistic direction of Roberto Zappalà which, in 10 days, combines events with a notable impact on the city: from 3 to 12 May 2024, Catania becomes the stage for an event dedicated mainly to contemporary dance but which embraces different disciplines, such as music, theatre, cinema and visual arts, thanks to the involvement of numerous partners for a real celebration spread in the heart of the Etna capital.
FIC, in its acronym “Focus of Creative Infection”, therefore intends to focus on the widespread diffusion of art, which like an infection expands and reproduces. The Festival thus becomes a hotbed of creativity and participation, a precious opportunity to strengthen the artistic network thanks to the involvement of important entities and the collaboration of the Municipality of Catania which guarantees the use of strategic places in the city.
In this vision, we highlight the plurality of close synergies in the territory with the Teatro Massimo Bellini, together with which Scenario Pubblico has activated the three-year memorandum of understanding Be resident: dance in the city, Isola Cultural Hub, Associazione Musicale Etnea, Fondazione Brodbeck, Città Teatro Association, Oelle Foundation, Cinema King. The Festival also benefits from the support of the Chamber of Commerce of South-East Sicily, of Asec Trade as sponsor, and of the technical sponsor Majoca.
It opens on Friday 3 May at 5.30 pm with the large urban parade The Swan’s Road curated by the artists of the SicilyMade collective, with over 100 participants in the city centre, along Via Etnea. The project aims to retrace the fascination of a unique repertoire piece, The Dying Swan, involving Catania in a journey of rediscovery. At 9.00 pm, Instrument Jam is on stage, an iconic show by the Zappalà Danza Company at the Sangiorgi Theater in collaboration with the Massimo Bellini Theatre, with music by Puccio Castrogiovanni performed live.
Saturday 4 May at 6.30pm at Scenario Pubblico Roberto Zappalà opens the rehearsals of his new creation Le Sacre du Printemps (from Trilogy of Ecstasy) to the public. At 8.30pm the Teatro Massimo Bellini hosts the symphonic concert of the renowned musician Giovanni Sollima who, together with the Orchestra of the same theatre, reworks and interprets songs by Frank Zappa. During the interval, the CZD2 dancers will perform performative incursions in the foyer of the theatre.
On Sunday 5 May, in collaboration with Cinema King, there will be a screening of David Mambouch’s documentary L’urgence d’agir (4.00 pm) around the figure of one of the most prestigious names in contemporary choreography, Maguy Marin. The screening will be preceded by a presentation by Maria Luisa Buzzi, director of Danza&Danza. The French choreographer’s open rehearsal of the new creation Grosse Fugue (7.00 pm) performed by MM Contemporary Dance Company is proposed in the spaces of Scenario Pubblico.
At 9.00 pm, to close the day in the context of the great Italian repertoire, Virgilio Sieni could not be missing with the work that he himself defines as the manifesto of his choreographic art, Solo Goldberg Variations, with music performed live by pianist Andrea Rebaudengo.
On Tuesday 7 May, the Brodbeck Foundation hosts the Turin company EgriBianco Danza at 7.30 pm with the site-specific project Coreofonie Le Sacre and, at 8.30 pm, the actor and director Giovanni Calcagno proposes a new version of the The opera The Cyclops in Love.
On Wednesday 8 May at 9.00 pm the Frenchman Olivier Dubois arrives at Scenario Pubblico with an exhilarating and worldwide successful show, My body of coming forth by day, preceded at 7.30 pm by the screening of Anaglifo, a historic 1994 production of the then Balletto di Sicilia (today CZD).
Thursday 9 May at 9.00 pm at the Sangiorgi Theatre, in collaboration with the Bellini of Catania, Bastard Sunday is expected, signed by another authoritative and reference name of Italian dance, Enzo Cosimi, who returns to the Catania scene with a work inspired by the figure and to the work of Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Friday 10 May, Palazzo Biscari, one of the oldest palaces in Catania and a splendid example of Sicilian baroque, hosts Save the last dance for me at 6.30 pm, a project with which the artist Alessandro Sciarroni has recovered and reconstructed the historical dance of the polka chinata . At 9.00 pm at Scenario Pubblico, chef Carmelo Chiaramonte and director Gianni Salvo present the performance and sensorial tasting Futurist Evening, with live music by Giovanni Seminerio and dance by Modem Atelier. A first version was proposed in 2009 at the University of Letters of New York and at Princeton for the centenary of Futurism.
On Saturday 11 May at 7.00 pm there will be a preview of an open rehearsal of Gisellə (studio), a new creation by the Cornelia company inspired by the romantic ballet par excellence. At 9.30pm, again at Scenario Pubblico, Agamennone – criminal case by the Petranuradanza Company, choreography from the repertoire of the authors Laura Odierna and Salvatore Romania, closes.
Sunday 12 May at 5.30 pm at the Teatro Massimo Bellini the world premiere of 4 Seasons (jubileum version), an award-winning 2013 creation – now revisited – by the Brazilian choreographer Samir Calixto to the music of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, performed by the Theater’s String Orchestra conducted by Dino De Palma, also solo violin.
CONTEMPORARY CATANIA /FIC Festival 2024. INFO: Public Scenario: tel. 095 250 3147 – email: [email protected] – www.scenariopubblico.com.
