Details
Romeo Castellucci’s regular collaborator, one of Europe’s leading contemporary choreographers, Claudia Castellucci, presents The New Habit. The production is a product of the choreographer’s artistic residency at Dom Radio. For a month, artists of the musicAeterna choir and participants of a theatrical workshop have been immersed in Old Russian liturgical chant, material as far from the contemporary dance as possible. The result is a spectacle where music and dance nourish each other while the singers and performers interact in a strict order, creating an extra-confessional ritual.
In her St Petersburg production, Claudia Castellucci turns to a unique local singing tradition of the Valaam monastery, based on Znamenny, Byzantine, and other old Slavonic chants.
Using Old Russian chant, Claudia Castellucci sets out in search of a new communality. With the Mòra Company, St Petersburg based creative workshop, and musicAeterna choir, Claudia Castellucci follows her favourite paradox: she is moving backwards through time, retaining the memory of its natural course. ‘We place ourselves in the context of Znamenny chant through intuitive dance, primitive body language, and assimilation techniques. At the same time, we are still observers, showing discretion. We pay homage to the music with a movement borrowed from smoke and night storms. Carefully and discreetly, we grasp the edge of distant garments, disrobe ourselves and create the New Habit from scratch. By renouncing the mental domination of the modern order of things, we will cultivate new habits rooted in the customs of the ancients. This is the metaphysical atmosphere of our Dance for a Choir.’
Performers and creators
Choreography: Claudia Castellucci
Mòra Company dancers: Sissj Bassani, Silvia Ciancimino, Guillermo De Cabanyes, René Ramos, Francesca Siracusa, Pier Paolo Zimmermann
musicAeterna choir: Ivan Gorin, Kirill Nifontov, Alexey Svetov, Artem Volkov
Principal chorus master: Vitaly Polonsky
Music: chants of the Valaam Monastery
Final version by Stefano Bartolini
Residency participants: Asya Andreyeva, Vasilisa Anikeyeva, Svetlana Berezovskaya, Anastasiya Chistyukhina, Ekaterina Galanova, Alevtina Gruntovskaya, Elina Kavalerova, Ekaterina Pasynkova, Lyubov Petrova, Darya Plastun, Violetta Silkina, Lena Uferova, Sofiya Voronova, Boris Zhilinskiy
Assistant choreographer: Sissj Bassani
Costume designer: Iveta Vecmane
Set designer and lighting designer: Eugenio Resta
Production, organising, and distribution: Camilla Rizzi, Anastasiya Chekletsova
Production director: Benedetta Briglia
Lighting technician: Raffaele Biasco
Administrative management: Michela Medri; administrative staff: Simona Barducci, Elisa Bruno
Production: Societas
Co-production: musicAeterna, St Petersburg; Teatro Piemonte Europa / Festival delle colline Torinesi