co - production vicino/lontano e En-Knap
ideation, dramaturgy and coreography Mattia Cason
performers Mattia Cason, Paolo Forte, Osayi Osawaru
original music, accordion Paolo Forte
distribution vicino/lontano e Balletto Civile
partnership Balletto Civile, Civica Accademia d'Arte Drammatica “Nino Pepe”, Fondazione Aquileia, Fondazione “Società per ta Conservazione delta Basilica di Aquileia” consulenti storici Andrea Bellavite, Angelo Floramo, Cristiano Tiussi
artistic consultation Michela Lucenti, Claudio De Maggio
funded by di Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia
light Jaka Šimenc
video projection with subtitles Omar lsmaili
translation Rosanna Pirelli (egiziano), Francesca Canzian (greco antico e tatino), Giulia Francesca Grassi (fenicio), Einat Betsatet (ebraico antico e moderno), Muhammad ‘Abd at— Mun‘im (arabo), Agostino Soldati (copto), Atessandro Piccoto (demotico), Riccardo Contini (aramaico), Flavia Aietto (swahili)
costum Chiara Defant, Primož Klinc, Vladimir Vodeb

Aquilee is a solo of body, movement, and voice that brings to the stage the mosaics of the Basilica of Aquileia. On a mosaic carpet that replicates them, a dancer tells the story of Aquileia, Alexandria, and the multiple linguistic, philosophical, and spiritual influences arriving from the ancient Near East.

The dancer wears an outfit inspired by Pier Paolo Pasolini during his visit to the Basilica of Aquileia, reflecting his need to look beyond the nation and his faith in the "scandalous revolutionary strength of the past." On stage, he is accompanied by an accordion—an instrument widespread throughout the area of the ancient Aquileian diocese—and a Kurent, an archaic mask whose meaning is revealed only in the finale.

Aquilee is a deeply experimental work, both in its method—marking the beginning of research into a "narrative dance"—and in its content, as it seeks to embody the utopia of a united Europe founded on the plurality and otherness that have always inhabited it.

Aerowaves selection