COB Compagnia Opus Ballet | CASANOVA

choreography Simona Bertozzi, Michela Lucenti, Erika Silgoner
dancers Giuliana Bonaffini, Emiliano Candiago, Matheus Alves De Oliveira, Ginevra Gioli, Giulia Orlando, Giovanni Russo, Frederic
maître de ballet Giuseppina Santagati
artistic consultant Laura Pulin
lighting and space Gianni Staropoli
distribution and organisational management Silvia Nistri
production Maria Lucia Bianchi
production COB Compagnia Opus Ballet directed by Rosanna Brocanello

A choreographic investigation into desire and seduction as forces that distort space, alter anatomy and rewrite identity. Inspired by the figure of Casanova, the creation explores disguise as perceptual deviation, the mask as a vehicle of ambiguity, the body as an archive of the unsaid. To seduce is not to show, but to subtract. To desire is to shift. To lean forward. Dance becomes a field of tension, a counterpoint to myth, a voice for absences and the multiplicity of the self.

Il sesso degli angeli (The Sex of Angels)
choreography Michela Lucenti

Casanova, an extraordinary intellectual, traveller, philosopher and libertine, is primarily an enchanter, one of the few characters in history whose name has become a common noun over the centuries, an icon of seduction.

In love first and foremost with himself, I want to capture above all his tragic loneliness. I will work on a quartet of men, on their image of impotent fragility. A reflection on the changing nature of masculinity, a unique machine of bodies and rhythm. A powerful image of the crisis of desire.

1749
choreography Erika Silgoner

In the vibrant heart of the 18th century, when nights whispered secrets and days were dressed in lace and promises, even Giacomo Casanova, the indomitable weaver of love, found himself prisoner to an unknown feeling. At only twenty-four years of age, a deep and unexpected love seized him, shaking the foundations of his fearless existence. From this vertigo of vigour, fragility and revelation springs 1749, Erika Silgoner’s bold new creation for COB. Here, Casanova’s universe is no longer merely the seducer’s stage, but a kaleidoscope of play, desire and ambiguity, explored through a new and fascinating lens. The focus shifts, abandoning the monolithic figure of the lover to embrace the intoxicating dynamism of erotic play. A game that becomes dance, rising to sublime joy and poignant suffering, on a meeting ground where equal forces challenge and attract each other, narrated by the eloquent language of dancing bodies. Casanova dissolves and is reborn, he is woman, he is man, in a fluidity that outlines a contemporary vision, revealing a seducer who transcends the boundaries of time and gender. Between malice and restlessness, between thirst for curiosity and the vertigo of escape, the choreographer evokes a despotic 18th century. An era steeped in contemporary sounds that wink at the harmony of that distant time and, with a touch of provocation, pose a question: in this eternal dance of seduction, who is the player? And who, ultimately, is the played?