SONGS OF GAIA
2022 IT
Creative Direction
Writing and direction of multimedia performance premiered during
”Stagione Lirica, di Balletto e di Concerti 2022”
at Teatro Giuseppe Verdi (SA, IT).
”Songs of Gaia” is a contemporary transposition of the first two books of the Divine Comedy written by Dante Alighieri, aiming to open a dialogue with the present by exploring the relationship of man and the Earth, Gaia.
After bathing his flesh in the sacred rivers, Dante reaches the top of Mount Purgatorio where Beatrice is waiting to guide him to ascend to Heaven.
Dante has a glimpse of Paradise in the reflection of Beatrice’s eyes so his body begins to burn, becomes Light, ascending like flame upwards.
The colours from the visible spectrum generates white Light.
The repetition of body movements trace paths in which humans connect with the divine, through arts, philosophies and religions.
Once they overlay, the bodies become a tree.
The visuals are structured in chapters that respect the movements of the Dante-Symphonie, (1855 – 1856) by Franz Liszt:
First movement – Inferno
Second movement – Purgatorio
Third movement – Magnificat – Paradiso
Each chapter corresponds to visions related to characters and places of the journey.
Correspondences are built between ancient and contemporary shadows,
focusing on the figurative component of the universe of Dante’s poetry.
The souls of the VII circle are presided by half human and half animal creatures,
to indicate that they let themselves be dominated by the “mad bestiality” of the senses, committing violence, destroying nature and themselves.
At the center of Hell is the most heinous crime committed by humanity,
betrayal,
which in this circumstance is towards the Mother-Earth (Gaia).
The consequence of this destructive relationship is the crisis of climate systems.
CHAPTER VII – THE CONTEMPT OF THE WORLD
The souls of the VII circle are the ones who despised life in its manifestations.
A man with a stick = physical energy deprived of the intellect-> is squashing fronds at his feet= manifestation of the earth and the Gods.
Musicians are in a physical dialogue with the video projections being placed behind a gauze structure that works as a screen for holograms.
ANTONIO D'ADDIO 