Of Massimiliano Craus
Campania is a happy oasis of dance in this summer of 2024, with shows, festivals and lots of Terpsichore everywhere. As already happened in Caserta, in a packed Parravano Theatre, where Melina Serpico’s Studio Danza staged a highly anticipated evening of dance. A true miscellany with Terpsichore loved and experienced in all facets, just like in the footsteps of the artistic director from Caserta. “I am proud of the work done on stage and behind the scenes by my ensemble – declares an enthusiastic Melina Serpico – even if our young talents will still be busy for quite a while, precisely at Tanz Bozen 2024 from 15 to 27 July and at Danza d’Estate in Portici from 19 to 21 July. An entire year-long effort which however paid off with a beautiful evening of dance and dancing. Just the way you don’t like it.” And it was decided to start with a big piece of the ballet repertoire, going back to 1869, the year of its first performance. We write about “Don Quixote” by Marius Petipa with the score by Ludwig Minkus, taken directly from the version of the then Kirov Theater in Leningrad. A title that would be worth an entire evening but which, at Melina Serpico’s Studio Danza, was a forerunner of the evening of so much and varied dance. In fact, after the events of Basilio and Kitri choreographed by the entire classical staff, culminating with the enchanting pas de deux of the wedding, this year the choreographer Massimo Leanti produced an evocative “Mater” which enchanted the audience in the room, taking up a painting by Carmen Pomella, painter and restorer of the Curia of Caserta of works mainly from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Massimo Leanti has been at home here for sixteen long years now. And he created an ad hoc mix of arts face to face with painting. The presence on the stage of the reproduction of a painting was in fact the protagonist with the colors determining its effects: the black taken from the bitumen and the white from the oil tempera. The extensive use of Carmen Pomella’s symbolism allowed the choreographer to travel alongside the seven young talents, personally engaged in writing their own reflections, giving space to a creation within a creation that will be realized on the occasion of the artist’s next solo exhibition , scheduled for September in Caserta. The second choreography by Massimo Leanti, entitled “Voilà”, has instead decidedly lowered the tone of content, the prerogative of a greater serenity of the dance troupe on stage. Following the choreography of Armida Pieretti, instead imagined on the song by Lucio Battisti “Respirando”, combining electronic music in a truly successful mix of contents. We went back to thinking, dreaming, remembering and imagining ourselves next to Terpsichore for a good twenty-five minutes with the entrance on the scene of a little girl, evoking many reflections with a strong emotional impact. The performers Guglielmo Schettino and Giuseppe Protano were the added value to a choreography that impressed and kept an audience increasingly attached to their seats in suspense. Following this, the artistic direction of Melina Serpico’s Studio Danza focused on the versatility of the dance troupe, setting up for the occasion Angela Ciaramella’s modern with “Dancing crew” and Sara Gallo’s polite and elegant heels with “What’s next? ”. An entire evening to reflect on the season that is about to end with the protagonist Clara Campana and, not least, to point straight to the near future by the name of Ludovico Palermo. In fact, he will be entrusted with the task of representing Melina Serpico’s Studio Danza in its thirty-fifth year, i.e. from that 1990 in which it all began.
