ITALIA RUSSIA 2011

As part of the activities supported by the Italian and Russian governments for the program Italy-Russia 2011, Zerogrammi move its artistic work to Russia in the town of Kostroma for a month. Here he meets the company Dialogue Dance, with which he undertakes the construction of the creation "Punto di Fuga". This choreography for 4 choreographers / performers is the first step of the larger project inspired by the Seneca tragedy "Tieste" which includes the second and final chapter "Pasto a Due". The activity calendar, which began with the choreographic residency at Stantsia Art Venue between January and February 2011, continues with the Russian preview of the creation (12 and 13 February 2011, Kostroma), his Italian debut (Teatro a Corte Festival, July 2011, Italy) and the Russian debut (Tsekh Festival, December 2011, Russia). "Punto di Fuga" is awarded with 3 nomitation (Best Choreographers, Best Creation, Best Light Designer) for the prestigious Golden Mask, a Russian prize that every two years awards the best theatrical productions performed on its territory within the Bolshoi Theater. The entire project is realized with the support of Fondazione Teatro Piemonte Europa, Festival Teatro a Corte, Festival Tsekh, Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, MIBAC.

TRAVEL DIARY FROMA A CHOREOGRAPHIC RESIDENCE IN THE YEAR OF CULTURAL EXCHANGE ITALY-RUSSIA 2011(by Stefano Mazzotta)

We are on an almost empty train, lost in the night. The compartment, dimly lighted by art nouveau lamps, smells of damp wool. The window is framed by floral drapes with a vague Sixties aftertaste. I have the feeling I’m not in Italy. A glass cup, clenched in the grip of wrought iron decorations and filled with steaming hot black tea, brings back to my memory tales of stern Eastern rulers and charming gypsy princesses. As far as I can remember, there is nothing of the kind on our modern Eurostar trains. Beyond the three layers of worn-out, once precious fabric, and beyond the misty glass, there’s a blinding white whose light is not afraid of the night, but rather makes it even more immensely vast and empty, yet strangely reassuring. There’s snow everywhere. Only yesterday, at a table in piazza Solferino in Turin, we were discussing possibilities, assessing a sound interest in cooperation and a common project related to 2011, the year of cultural dialogue between Italy and Russia. And now I can’t believe I’m already on the slow Moscow-Kostroma train. A night travel of 300 kilometers and the pleasure to honor with a long stop each and every small station lost in the steppe. So, does this mean the gentlemen of the Foundation are playing it for real? No sooner said than done. In the twinkling of an eye. I’m amazed out of lack of habit. Italy tends to have decidedly more “reflective” timings. How many minus degrees do we have out there? We’ll get the chance to find it out for ourselves, to laugh at the new sensation of having ice stalactites hanging from our noses, at getting bluish fingers for daring to smoke a cigarette without gloves (how bold we are!), and at the enormous relief of finding those blessed radiators in public places and hotel rooms (the Russian gas pipeline is really efficient and vast!) We get out of the train, all muffled up just like two typical Italians going in a cold country, and we meet a local guy, Ivan, and his colleague Evgeny, who will be our working partners for a month. Together we will create the choreographic project for which we have crossed the Alps and reached, through the endless steppe, the land of sauerkraut and vodka, our minds full of exciting questions marks. It will be a month of fighting and conflict, as it is foreseeable when you accept the challenge of having a dialogue with a different culture. It cannot be otherwise, and the possibility of losing something, of having to surrender it in the confrontation, of being grazed and bent by debate, of being a bit less ourselves in order to understand the others a bit more, all of this is quite scaring. But this is the only way it can be, and it is rather the first precious step towards the attention that should be devoted to the comparison with what is new. During our month stay, we will find on our way killer ice slabs near every entrance door, long discussions about what to do, the romantic frozen bed of the Volga, contrasting opinions on choreography, photographic sets with icy camera lenses and bluish forefingers, days of despondency and strain, days of harmony and lightness, the moral support given by emails from Mara (Serina) and Paolo (Cantù), countless Italian-ish coffees accompanying long considerations, two or three pairs of socks, two or three pairs of gloves, two or three layers of scarves, an exciting Russian debut, a gratifying photographic exhibition and, before all of this, the precious opportunity to embark on a new discovery travel that today, in the warm climate of Turin, fully shows its great value. It was a unique journey, both human and artistic, unique for the quality and richness of “confrontation”, for the passion and conviction offering answers to those who create for a career, for the despondency and doubts offering important questions to which you are called to answer, for the pride of bringing a piece of Italy beyond its borders and for the beauty of feeling you are a bit more without frontiers.