Graces, by Italian choreographer Silvia Gribaudi, is a sculptural, pop piece that investigates the various shades of a concrete and insolent beauty, one that can overturn all beauty standards. Performed by Gribaudi herself, alongside with Siro Guglielmi, Matteo Marchesi, and Andrea Rampazzo, Graces shines with virtuosity and humor, the joy of the unconventional and unexpected.
Graces is inspired by the neoclassical sculpture The Three Graces. The sculpture was created by Antonio Canova between 1812 and 1817, as the universal benchmark of beauty, proportions, and measure.
In Graces a new concept of “grace” is unveiled. Unveiling is meant as “uncovering to show for the first time” and also as “taking off a veil”, that is, digging into what is superficial, looking for the roots. What is beauty? How does it show itself? The Three Graces are an aesthetic canon of beauty, but first of all they embody joy, splendour, and prosperity.
In a game between reality and fiction, the performance dances through time, following the score of classical music by Vivaldi and Strauss, the electronic score by Matmos, and the hypnotic experimentation by Koudlam. It accompanies the viewer through a path that does not clarify, but rather further complicates the relationship and nature of these characters. Where and how does the viewer’s gaze rest?
“Silvia is the Italian prophet of free body. Not a tumbling, gymnastic body, which is so connected to strength and muscles, but a truly free body, that has set itself free from the obligations and duties to which so many cultures have forced it. It is a vital and healthy principle to consider how the idea of something Beautiful is culturally relative. Splendour, joy, prosperity radiate from The Three Graces, three cardinal points set by Canova into marble, which Gribaudi manages to set free from time and gender stereotypes, and reveals through the balm of irony”. – Roberto Canziani in Quantescene! Cose di Teatro
Silvia Gribaudi
Born in Turin, choreographer and dancer Silvia Gribaudi is active in performing arts and in conducting artistic-social workshops focused on the enhancement of the diversity and uniqueness of each person.
Gribaudi’s choreographic language intersects performing art, dance, and theatre, focusing on the body and the relationship with the audience. Her poetics makes use of a constant search for confrontation and inclusion in the social and cultural fabric where her performances develop. Gribaudi’s artistic language is the result of the encounter between dance and irony, and her works embody lightness, irony, and freedom.
Choreography: Silvia Gribaudi
Dramaturgy: Silvia Gribaudi and Matteo Maffesanti
Performers: Silvia Gribaudi, Siro Guglielmi, Matteo Marchesi and Andrea Rampazzo
Light Design: Antonio Rinaldi
Assistant Technician: Theo Longuemare
Technical Director: Leonardo Benetollo
Costumes: Elena Rossi
Production: Zebra
Co-production: Santarcangelo dei Teatri
Supported by: MIBAC
Project realized with the contribution of ResiDance XL – luoghi e progetti di residenza per creazioni coreografiche, action of the network Anticorpi XL – Network Giovane Danza D’autore, coordinated by L’arboreto – Teatro Dimora di Mondaino e IntercettAzioni – Centro di Residenza Artistica della Lombardia – progetto di Circuito CLAPS e Industria Scenica, Milano Musica, Teatro delle Moire, Zona K
Artistic residencies: Klap – Maison Pour la danse Marseille, Centro per la Scena Contemporanea/Operaestate Festival del Comune di Bassano del Grappa, Orlando Bergamo, Lavanderia a Vapore Centro di Residenza per la danza regione Piemonte, L’arboreto – Teatro Dimora | La Corte Ospitale: Centro di Residenza Emilia-Romagna, ARTEFICI – Artisti Associati di Gorizia, Dansstationen, Danscentrum Syd, Skånesdansteater Malmö Sweden and with the support of Centro di Residenza Armunia/CapoTrave Kilowatt.
CollaborAction#4 2018/2019 – in collaboration with festivals ad theatrical seasons organised by Rete Anticorpi, Ater Circuito Regionale Multidisciplinare, Associazione Mosaico Danza/Interplay, Piemonte Dal Vivo, Amat, Arteven, Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Vicenza, Associazione Artedanzae20, Teatro Pubblico Pugliese, C.L.A.P.Spettacolodalvivo, Associazione Armunia, Fondazione Toscana Spettacolo Onlus.
Winning Project of the action CollaborAction#4 2018/2019
Selected by NID Platform 2019