Nomadic by definition, driven by a strong ethical tension – as the chosen name underscores – Balletto Civile was founded in 2003 by the Ligurian choreographer and dancer Michela Lucenti. Together with Maurizio Camilli, who has been an interpreter and the dramaturgical soul of the group for several years, Lucenti firmly believes that artistic sense can never be separated from the necessity of dancing through the search for situations that attempt to help the performers grow as men and women. Dance is the engine of the group, although Balletto Civile's research leans towards a total theater that integrates singing, acting, and choreographic movement, the latter being founded on a deep relationship among the performers and stemming from extensive workshop work.
For Oriente Occidente, Balletto Civile has conceived a new project that also marks a return to the past in the renewed collaboration with dramaturg Alessandro Berti, with whom Lucenti founded the historic group L’Impasto in the 1990s. Together, they will create a performance that confronts history and the legacy it leaves behind, questioning what it means to ‘go into it.’
In-erme is the chosen title, where “in” serves as a prefix for various interpretations of time and our relationship with it. Unstoppable, Unalterable, Unutterable is the flow of existence. And Inert, Inept, Useless we feel if we look at history “from our reassuring sofa.” From ineptitude and a more complex reflection on stupidity, in the sense of incapacity and deficiency, arises the cycle of works that will lead Lucenti to orchestrate large masses of actors, musicians, singers, and dancers in the coming years between Italy and Germany.
Absolute debut at Oriente Occidente with the first stage titled In-erme, a work where past and contemporaneity meet, where the warning of the statue of the unknown soldier (which dominates every city of the peninsula) and today's sense of helplessness merge. In the musical environment, nourished by evocative melodies produced live by cellist Julia Kent (who also provided the soundtrack for This Must Be the Place by Oscar-winning Paolo Sorrentino), the archaic and powerful liturgical chants of the Cantori da Verméi are interwoven.
