The rigor of precise gestures meets a lightness that creates harmony in contrast. This is the beauty of opposites that Monica Casadei aims to convey with her new creation, Codice India – Ineffable State of Grace, produced in collaboration with the Festival and part of the project "Artemis Meets Other Cultures," initiated by the choreographer from Ferrara in 2005. This journey has taken the Artemis company to Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Turkey, and India, resulting in several performances.
For Codice India, the company traveled across the country, from the South to the North, from the coast of Chennai to Madurai, with stops in Delhi and Chandigarh, where Casadei presented her Latin American trilogy, Brasil Pass, Cuba 2006, and Mexica.Collapse, along with a new work on Fellini. This journey prompted Artemis to reflect on "the mystery of encountering the humanity of India, the openness, the willingness to connect found in every face, in every gaze."
Codice India began with the desire to closely engage with Bharata Natyam, a sacred art that has managed to remain untainted and not become folklore over millennia. Casadei explains: "I liked the idea of trying to enter the crystallized mythology of this art with our Western bodies. We conducted a workshop that was the starting point for a journey that disoriented us with the impact of the humanity, the longing, the joy of India. We discovered a surprising country that disarms with its ability to integrate opposites."
Codice India is not a performance that seeks to represent; it is an attempt to extend in the performers that feeling of generosity and sharing, of simplicity within complexity that India has left in the dancers and the choreographer. "To start from a geographical place and discover the soul of a people. To return to the here and now stripped and lighter, filled with new nourishment and a new sense of well-being. An ineffable state of grace," writes Casadei. Eight dancers, with original music by young composer Luca Vianini, are full of uplifting rhythms that soften the code, set against white scenes where color bursts forth powerfully. It is a performance that has grown organically, "allowing itself to be carried by the current."
Piedinudi by Emanuele Sciannamea features original music by Luca Vianini and is a 22-minute short film. Sciannamea, already known for the short film Occhi per Cuba, created during Artemis Danza's artistic residency in Cuba in 2006, deeply immersed himself in the reality of India, resulting in Piedinudi: a portrait of the Indian world and the spirituality of its people.
Colori in Movimento by Mario Jorio also features original music by Luca Vianini. Jorio followed the dancers and choreographer on their journey through India, documenting their activities and encounters from within, creating a colorful and entertaining backstage glimpse of the trip.
www.artemisdanza.com
