From Now On
choreography, light, stage, costume: Jacopo Godani
music: Steven Mackey, Physical Property (1992) from the album Short Stories, recorded by the Kronos Quartet
duration: 15’
premiere: Frankfurt am Main/Bockenheimer Depot, 2018
The choreography is a visual architecture – a construction that seems uncomplicated but has an incredible amount of information within itself. Searching for an unconventional situation in which to challenge the body with ideas, Godani develops a sophisticated allusion to the geometry of classical dance from a contemporary frame of mind…
Echos from a Restless Soul
choreography, light, stage, costume: Jacopo Godani
music: Maurice Ravel, Ondine & Le Gibetfrom Gaspard de la Nuit
piano: Svjatoslav Korolev
duration: 15’
premiere: Frankfurt am Main/Bockenheimer Depot, 2018
A composition for solo piano is written by Maurice Ravel in 1908. The basis for this masterpiece is an earlier French poem by Aloysius Bertrand. On a creation of incredible virtuosity, Ravel brings Bertrand’s poems to life, employing an innovative piano technique within a classical form. The choreographic elements form a common thread, merging in an atmosphere that transcends time and place… Godani enhances movement with pointe shoes while creating a remarkable freedom within certain aesthetic parameters – as the ones from a more classical approach. Ravel’s score is performed live.
High Breed
choreography, light, stage, costume: Jacopo Godani
music: 48nord (Ulrich Müller & Siegfried Rössert)
duration: 25’
premiere: Dresden / HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts, 2017
As a giver of shape who wants to bring viewers into the dance experience, Godani attempts to escape from the imaginable, to go beyond it, and in his way, he creates an intriguing darkness: a realm in which potentiality emerges beyond light…With a physical intensity, rich in action and in exactitude – virtually mathematical in its precision, he reveals the quintessence of the company’s identity. By forgoing the superficial and emphasizing a masterful knowledge of technique, the spectator experiences choreography as a signature event in the truest sense of that word.
Supported by the city of Dresden and the state of Saxony as well as the city of Frankfurt am Main and the state of Hesse. Company-in-Residence of both HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts in Dresden and the Bockenheimer Depot in Frankfurt am Main.
Internationally acclaimed choreographer Jacopo Godani was born in La Spezia, Italy, where he began studying classical ballet and modern dance techniques in 1984 at the Centro studiDanza under the direction of LoredanaRovagna. He also pursued studies in visual arts for three years at the Fine Arts School of Carrara. In 1986, Godani was accepted to further his studies at Maurice Béjart’s international dance centre Mudra in Brussels. Godani made his professional debut in 1988 performing with several Paris-based contemporary dance companies. In 1990, Godani formed his own Brussels-based company and began his choreographic career. His work in Brussels was produced by the theatre L’Atelier Saint-Anne and was supported by the Théâtre Plateau. From 1991 to 2000, Godani has been a leading soloist with William Forsythe’s Ballet Frankfurt and has collaborated with Forsythe on the choreographic creation of many of Ballet Frankfurt’s most representative pieces. Godani developed his career as a choreographer creating original works for a vast range of international companies such as Royal Ballet Covent Garden, BayerischesStaatsballett, Compañía Nacional de Danza, NederlandsDans Theater, Royal Danish Ballet, Ballet British Columbia, Le Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse, Corpo di ballo del Teatroalla Scala, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Finnish National Ballet, SemperoperBallett, Sydney Dance Company, “The Project” Israeli Opera & Suzanne Dellal Centre, Het Nationale Ballet, Aterballetto, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. Jacopo Godani has been appointed as Artistic Director and Choreographer of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company beginning with the 2015/2016 season. Godani’s work is sophisticated while remaining highly physical and raw. He uses the collective working as one organism in a highly articulated way. Godani conceives all stages of work from the initial choreography through to designing the spaces, objects, enviroments and stage settings where his actions take place, writes text and concepts for his dramaturgical work, styles the image of interpreters conceiving costumes, engineers and develops innovative ways of using lighting, video and projections, and creates/edits music for some of his pieces. Godani formed a team of like-minded professionals to collaborate on the development of original ideas applied to all fields that require a creative and innovative concept to reflect the progressive perspective of our contemporary world.
The Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company is based in equal measure in the cities of Dresden and Frankfurt am Main. Internationally acclaimed choreographer Jacopo Godani serves as artistic director of the company. The repertoire of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company consists primarily of works by Godani. His goal is the production of a vibrant new choreographic language, one that requires virtuosity in its expression while posing physical challenges to the performers. On this journey, dance’s traditional heritage will converge with contemporary thought, giving rise to a highly unique ensemble. Cooperation partners are the states of Saxony and Hesse and the cities of Dresden and Frankfurt am Main, as well as private supporters and public sponsors. Supported by the city of Dresden and the state of Saxony as well as the city of Frankfurt am Main and the state of Hesse. Company is in Residence of both Dresden’s HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts and Frankfurt’s Bockenheimer Depot.
