Open Rehearsal: ARAGOSTA (Lobster) by ASMED Balletto di Sardegna — 7/23/14

CRS presents an intimate meet and greet and free look at a rehearsal of the NYC premiere of ARAGOSTA (Lobster), choreographed by London-based choreographer Moreno Solinas for the Italian dance company ASMED Balletto di Sardegna. The work will be performed by three dancers, Francesca Assiero Brà, Anna Paola Della Chiesa, Rachele Montis, and Artistic Director Massimiliano Leoni will be in attendance. The company will be in NY to present the work at the Between the Seas Festival on July 22 and 24, 2014.
CRS previously hosted a production by ASMED Balletto di Sardegna in September of 2011, and the work was considered to have been very beautiful and was very warmly received. We are delighted to be able to renew the relationship between our companies at this time.
ARAGOSTA carries on the company’s work of research around the great non-conformist Italian stylist of the thirties, Elsa Schiaparelli, begun last year. Elsa Schiaparelli still inspires lots of generations of contemporary artists not only in Italy but also at an international level. This time, the reflection takes shape in a completely new piece enriched with surprising concepts and abstract expression codes. The new choreography stems from that unstoppable pulse to create and express oneself at all costs and despite everything; in spite of the imposed cultural roles, the crushing social conventions and the timeless conflict between the natural and social being.
It has been spontaneous and almost irresistible to associate the stylish exuberance of Schiaparelli with the innovative expressive hardiness of Moreno Solinas, the emerging choreographer who gives authorship to this new work. Sardinian by birth but Londoner by choice, Solinas distinguishes himself both for his cosmopolitan attitude and North European sensitivity. His never-ending creativity and natural predisposition to catch new aspects and visual angles makes him the most brilliant artist to give an original interpretation of the Italian designer’s genius.  
The insatiable curiosity for everything concerning art and expression, the ability to unveil all the details that the common look ignores, the will to go further in space and time, these are the key points of Schiaparelli’s thought and uniqueness. As a result the stage becomes a testing ground where dance develops a cognitive dialog with itself and the unconscious. Dance confronts itself with the revolutions it can create. The audience sees with astonishment the way bodies change shape and become, in a surrealist perspective, new creatures or even objects, which seem to come out of a painting or the fading memory of a bizarre dream. The three female dancers’ bodies turn themselves into instruments that produce music. Sound arises from the beating of the hands or by the feet stepping on the ground, but also by screams, seductive voices murmuring, shortness of breath and inarticulate phonemes. 
In this light it is not that weird that dancers perform a fashion show wearing nothing but their own skin, celebrating with shocking simplicity their identity. Solinas reproduces through symbolic images the way the Italian stylist represented her vision of life in her audacious creations, overturning the schemes, like a lobster painted on a silky white dress that claims to be elegant. The show invites the audience to freely express himself/herself, even though it means to be unpredictable and, why not, a little bit crazy.
This work is supported by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Autonomous Region of Sardinia (ITALY).
ABOUT CHOREOGRAPHER MORENO SOLINAS
Moreno Solinas was born in Sassari and trained as a dancer and choreographer at the London Contemporary Dance School. He is currently based in London where he works as a choreographer, performer and director. In 2012 he founded the company ‘Igor and Moreno’ in partnership with Igor Urzelai. Their collaborations include their latest duet Idiot-Syncrasy (supported by Arts Council England, The Place, Yorkshire Dance, Cambridge Junction, CSC-Bassano del Grappa and BAD Festival in Bilbao), an installation performance for the Bloomberg SPACE and commissions by The Place and Dance Umbrella. Together they have presented their works in 12 European countries and also in the USA gaining awards and recognitions, including the Rudolf Laban Award (2011), a special mention at Prix Jardin d’Europe (2010) and the top-20 Aerowaves (2011 & 2013).
Moreno’s work is characterised by a strong will to employ a poetic yet political language to reclaim the role of the theatre as a place for assembly whilst exploring the cathartic properties of live performance. Through the use of the body, voice, text and design, he creates finely crafted and playful dance works which are in equal parts exciting and uncompromising, poetic and thought-provoking. 
Moreno is amongst the founding members of BLOOM! Dance Collective. In 2011 he was invited to join Work Place artists scheme as an associate choreographer and his work is supported by the leading dance house The Place (London).
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July 2014235 – 6 pm