Israel and Naples will be growing closer this summer as the Napoli Teatro Festival Italia presents a focus on Israeli dance from June 19 – 23, 2012. Festival Artistic Director Luca De Fusco announced the plans in a press meeting that took place this morning at the Suzanne Dellal Centre – a fitting location, as it was his encounter with Israeli dance at International Exposure 2011 that led to the decision to make this a focus for the Napoli festival.
Vertigo Dance Company will perform Birth of the Phoenix, a dance project on the dialogue between mankind and the environment. Performed 600 times internationally and in Israel, De Fusco promises that the Napoli festival performance will be “one of the most beautiful” taking place in a unique outdoor venue, a historic amphitheater on the coast, looking out toward the island of Capri. Choreographer Noa Wertheim’ s latest work, NULL, will have its world premiere at the festival.
The Kibbutz Dance Company will present Bein Kodesh Le’Hol (Sacred and Profane). When the company was invited to perform at the festival, they initially proposed a different program, but De Fusco responded, “No, I loved the one I saw,” and insisted that they perform Bein Kodesh Le’Hol, as they did during International Exposure. However, upon viewing the DVD of the piece suggested by the company, he decided to accept that one as well.
Dancer-choreographer Dafi Altbeb will be staging her first full-length evening at the Napoli Teatro Festival Italia. Artistic Director De Fusco saw Altbeb’s short piece Higher Expectations during International Exposure, and found it “so full of joy, life, energy and sense of play” that he invited the choreographer to create a full-length work for the festival, which will be performed by her ensemble, the Dafi Dance Group.
The 5th edition of the Napoli Teatro Festival Italia will take place from June 7 – 24, 2012, with a week-long coda in September from the 25th to the 30th. Enhancing its international presence, the festival will launch an exciting two-year program with esteemed directors Robert Wilson and Peter Brook, who will each present new works at the 2012 and 2013 festivals. The festival will also have a focus on the Argentine theatrical scene from June 13 – 17, featuring emerging star actor/director Claudio Tolcachir, who will perform La Omisiòn de la Familia Coleman, Tercer Cuerpo and El Viento en un violin. Daniel Veronese, figurehead of the Argentine theater in Buenos Aires during the post-dictatorship, will stage the Italian premiere of Los hijos se han dormido and Espia a una mujer que se mata, and the young director Romina Paula will direct El tiempo todo entero.
In addition to the diverse performances and inviting climate – Luigi Mallardo, festival Head of Marketing and Internationalization, promises that Napoli in June is like Tel Aviv in the spring – there are also financial incentives with discount travel packages for Israelis interested in the Napoli experience. Consult the festival website for additional information: http://www.teatrofestivalitalia.it/
