ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the presence in theatrical dance of the commedia dell’arte as an autonomous language from the 17th century until present performances. On the one hand, the nature of such a language suggests an idea of the tradition of the body on stage as rupture and transgression. On the other hand, it alludes to the idea of an illustrious theatrical past, constructed, through its revivals, in order to legitimize the imagination and to discipline the anxieties of the present. Thus, the use of the commedia dell’arte in dance works as a cultural appropriation, but it does not actually promote an ideology of rupture or transgression: it rather stages a satire and a grotesque variation of movements and characters that had been normalized and institutionalized in European ballet academies. This appropriation corresponds to theatrical dance’s search for an intensification of its artistic autonomy and aesthetic legitimacy. In particular, choreography, through the commedia dell’arte, redefines its historical relationship with written and also visual texts. Therefore, the supposed ‘movement style’ of the commedia dell’arte, arbitrarily invented and constructed according to written and iconographic sources, represents the epiphany of the past, politically derisive and critical towards traditional artistic values.

BIOGRAFIA

Stefano Tomassini insegna Il testo in scena all’Università della Svizzera italiana di Lugano (USI-ISI), dove è anche consulente per la danza (LuganoInScena). Si è occupato di Salvatore Viganò (Premio Marino Moretti) e di librettistica musicale e di danza sul mito di Adone (Pacini Fazzi); ha scritto su Enzo Cosimi (Zona), ha pubblicato gli scritti coreosofici di Aurel M. Milloss (Olschki) e, con Alessio Fabbro, le lezioni del pioniere della danza moderna americana Ted Shawn (Gremese). Ha curato per Treccani (Enciclopedia italiana) sia un’edizione di opere di Carlo Goldoni, che uno studio sulla ricezione teatrale e musicale del poema di Ariosto. stefano.tomassini@usi.ch

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