Gallery
Director’s Notes
Verses and tales of simple men, of hopes and dreams, and of worlds of yesterday and forever; the music of Lucio Dalla inspires the faces and colours of contemporary dance in this homage to the multifaceted singer-songwriter of Bologna.
Premièred in Italy on 21 February 204 at Teatro Bonci, Cesena, FUTURA, dancing with Lucio is a new and highly original combination of music, dance, song and poetry which brings together ideas and emotions, nostalgia and memories in celebration of a friendship sadly interrupted by earthly departure and a voice which will live for eternity.
The most vibrant memories of the flashes of genius, the ironic spirit and the poetry of one of Italy’s most eclectic and untiring singer-songwriters have been contributed by Dalla’s closest companions and fans. Indeed, the man responsible for conceiving this new journey through the music and lyrics of Dalla’s songs, illustrated by indelible traces of unforgotten melodies and fragments of a timeless voice, is Dalla’s lifelong friend, musician, composer and arranger Roberto Costa. Moreover, thanks to Sony Music and the generosity of the family of Lucio Dalla, Balletto di Roma has been able to enhance Costa’s musical score with sound samples from various original multitrack recordings.
Work and friendship also underlie the input of this new ballet’s producer, Giampiero Solari, playwright and author, who entrusts the dance content of the celebration of Lucio Dalla’s work to Milena Zullo. Together, Solari and Zullo take us on a seamless voyage through old memories and new ideas, consolidated harmonies and modern influences, allowing the lyrics of the songs of Lucio Dalla to illustrate the art of this collector of images, observer of people and investigator of everyday stories. The disorderly view of life portrayed in Dalla’s beloved songs is reflected in dance. Zullo’s sensitivity to imagery lovingly embraces Dalla’s musical illustrations and micro-stories of a world of suburban lovers, of spontaneous gestures of everyday life and of intimate expressions of unexpected emotions, purposely avoiding a pedagogical presentation of this heritage of stories in order to let the human content of Dalla’s tales ignite the souls and bodies of the dancers. Even the moons, ladders and mirrors of the sets designed by Giuseppina Maurizi seem to dance in a shimmering space which laughs, cries and dreams together with Lucio Dalla, capturing the enchantment of the stories generated by the music and words of his songs.
In this enchanted setting the dancers of Balletto di Roma find themselves to be the children of those lovers who dreamt of tomorrow (Futura, 1980), dancing the emotion and tenderness of men who love under skies of iron and chalk (Balla, balla ballerino, 1980), encountering trains of temporary happiness (Felicità, 1988) whilst balancing on scales of music and life (Tutta la vita, 1984).
More than merely paying homage to the memory of a brilliant narrator of timeless stories, FUTURA, dancing with Lucio offers a snapshot of a world in which the industrious people of normal everyday life look to the sky when they want to escape and look for a caress when they want to feel loved.
Credits
an idea of
Giampiero Solari
choreography and direction
Milena Zullo
sound track by Roberto Costa
on songs by Lucio Dalla
costumes
Giuseppina Maurizi
light designer
Emanuele De Maria