MicroDanze / An Ideal City

In our Fonderia there is an air of a debut.

On the 9th and 10th of October in Athens we will present the world premiere of MicroDanze, our project of “danced” performances, which focuses as much on public art as on technological innovation.

MicroDanze are non-frontal and non-rigid choreographies, but permeable to the spatial context, able to dialogue with different disciplinary universes to promote intimacy between dancer and spectator. Twelve choreographers – Italian and international – have conceived short creations (six to eight minutes, to be danced in a minimum space), to be watched in series like visiting a museum. A project that escapes the dynamics of the stage, the distance that isolates the spectator from the performer, creating a continuum between those who watch and those who are watched, stimulating an emotional and aesthetic experience that is as varied as it is original. Styles and expressive worlds confront and mix in a single project, addressing both the art and the performing arts audiences.

In this increasingly challenging research, which the period of health emergencies has allowed to develop in depth, the MicroDanze have been articulated on three interconnected levels:

• A danced exhibition of short creations for non-theatre spaces.

• A research for the creation of immersive experiences in Virtual Reality inspired by some MicroDanze.

• The re-enactment in urban spaces of part of the MicroDanze: an experiment in public art.

The latter dimension is directly connected with An Ideal City, a project co-financed by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, won by the Fondazione Nazionale della Danza in 2020 in partnership with Les Halles de Schaerbeek in Brussels and the Greek National Opera in Athens, which aims to explore the potential of dance as a public art, rooted in an urban landscape. This dimension involves the partner cities of the European project: in addition to Reggio Emilia, Athens and Brussels.

The world premiere of the MicroDanze in Athens coincides with the first performance stage of the project An Ideal City. On this occasion the 12 MicroDanze of the Fondazione Nazionale della Danza/Aterballetto are joined by 9 other creations by Greek choreographers and dancers, with the artistic coordination of the Opera Ballet of Athens, directed by Konstantinos Rigos. Among the artists involved on the Greek side are Lenio Kaklea, Cecilia Bengolea, Yiannis Nikolaidis and Rigos himself.

The performances are set in places of great cultural importance: the Acropolis Museum, the EMST Museum (the National Museum of Contemporary Art), Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, a building designed by Renzo Piano and home of the Greek National Opera.

Thus comes to life an itinerary composed of 21 creations celebrating the 200th anniversary of the 1821 revolution that led to Greek independence.

The world premiere in Athens is supported by: