The Rite of Spring
choreography: Teodora Castellucci
music: Igor Stravinsky
concept, direction: Dewey Dell
dramaturgy, lighting and sets design: Vito Matera
assistant to choreographer, production: Agata Castellucci
music performed by: : MusicAeterna, directed by Teodor Currentzis
sound: Demetrio Castellucci
costume design: Dewey Dell, Guoda Jaruševičiūtė
costume and props realization: Carmen Castellucci, Vito Matera, Plastikart studio
set realization: Laboratorio scenografia Pesaro - Lidia Trecento
video documentation: Eva Castellucci, John Nguyen
production: Dewey Dell
co-production: progetto RING (Festival Aperto – Fondazione I Teatri Reggio Emilia, Bolzano Danza – Fondazione Haydn, FOG Triennale Milano Performing Arts, Torinodanza Festival, Teatro Stabile di Torino – Teatro Nazionale), Macalester College / Theatre and Dance Department, BIT Teatergarasjen
associate partners: Lavanderia a Vapore – Fondazione Piemonte dal Vivo with the support of Emilia-Romagna Region and Societas, Teatro Comandini
performers: Agata Castellucci, Teodora Castellucci, Alberto “Mix” Galluzzi, Dylan Guzowski, NastyDen
duration: 50’
premiere: Milano Triennale, 2023
In every metamorphosis and profound change of a human life, death is always by the side of life, appearing as a rite of passage or as an inward revolution. In the animal and plant kingdom the coexistence of life and death becomes even more literal: death is often part of the fecundation process and life swarms on decomposed carcasses. Especially among insects, seeds, and molds, death is a welcoming presence; death is an invitation to life. The cyclic regeneration of the seasons and of the fertility of the soil are not a linear journey, but a chaotic disruption of all the elements together. Spring is a time of great agitation and the terror of existing is forever blended with the sidereal joy of being.
Dewey Dell is a dance and performing arts group active since 2006 and now composed by Teodora Castellucci, Agata Castellucci, Vito Matera, and the musician Demetrio Castellucci. The choreographic research is continuously inspired and nourished by the images of art history and the behaviors of the animal kingdom, over the past few years it has moved closer to anthropological themes. Dewey Dell has produced dance works that intersect different art forms, pursuing other lines of experimentation in music performance and video. They have collaborated with many important visual artists, theater directors, musicians… They have produced numerous works, presented on different stages and festivals around the world, such as Melbourne Festival, Rencontres Chorégraphiques, Palais de Tokyo in Paris, La Biennale Danza in Venice, Barbican in London… In 2023 they premiered “The Rite of Spring” with the music by Igor Stravinsky.
This performance enchants the audience as if it was an ingenious cinematic féerie by Georges Méliès, thanks to the skill of the performers, the sonic juxtaposition between Stravinsky's score and digital creations, the objects, the anthropomorphic prosthetics, and the simple but evocative scene that combines image archaeology and contemporary imagery. In the relentless succession of interactions and collisions between animal forms and human bodies, made spectacular not only by the tumultuous dance, but also by the imaginative costumes and masks, we capture a sense of the struggle for survival and the cyclical nature of life.
© Il Sole 24 Ore
