85122 - The Italian Contemporary Performance Scene (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will have acquired knowledge of the theoretical and critical reflections on the performing arts in Italy from the second half of the twentieth century to the first decade of the new millennium, with a particular focus on mise-en-scène and dance. Students will be capable of autonomously analysing critical, theoretical and poetic texts regarding the performing arts and will have acquired a series of tools for understanding pertinent iconographic and video documents.

Course contents

The course focuses on the historical developments of theatre and dance in Italy after the Sixties with a particular focus on the blurring of theatrical genres and on the body as a site for interdisciplinary experimentation. It will be divided into four parts:

1. a methodological introduction on theatricality and performance studies with a special focus on the tools for reading the body presence, creativity and relational identity from an aesthetic and anthropological standpoint.

2. a historical overview of Italian theatre from the Sixties in comparison with foreign theatre masters and trends;

3. an introduction to the Italian dance scene from the Eighties. Both the American postmodern dance and the German Tanztheater will serve to build historical contrast.

4. a brief overview of Italian applied forms of theatre and dance in the new millennium.

Readings/Bibliography

PART I: Definitions and methodological perspectives

I. 1. Carlson, Marvin (1996), Performance: A Critical Introduction, London, Routledge, 1996, pp. 1-6;104-108; 110-115.

I. 2. De Marinis, Marco (2011) New Theatrology and Performance Studies: Starting Points Towards a Dialogue, in “The Drama Review”, vol. 55, n. 4, 2011, pp. 64-74

I. 3. Mango, Lorenzo, The actor and stage writing, in “Acting Archives Essays”, AAR Supplement 6, aprile 2011.

I. 4. Hans-Thiers Lehmann, Postdramatic Theatre, Routledge, London-New York, 2006, pp. 1-15, 82-107.

Part II: Historical Overview of Italian Theatre since the Sixties.

II. 1. Introduction: From avant-garde to Post-avant-garde

A. Giannachi, Gabriella; Kaye, Nick, Staging the Post-avant-garde: Italian Experimental Performance after 1970, Oxford etc., Peter Lang, 2002, (Chapter: "Towards the Post-Avant-Gard": pp. 13-23, 31-36;

B. Chillemi, Francesco; Vittori, Giulia, Disseminating Bene in the Anglosphere, "Mimesis Journal", vo. 5, n. 1, pp. 79-89.

available at: http://journals.openedition.org/mimesis/1115

C. Giannachi, Gabriella; Kaye, Nick, Staging the Post-avant-garde: Italian Experimental Performance after 1970, Oxford etc., Peter Lang, 2002, (Chapter: "Federico Tiezzi: from Carrozzone to Magazzini": pp. 37-49; pp. 61-67).

II. 2. Third Theatre: Eugenio Barba’s teaching

A. Eugenio Barba, Beyond the Floating Islands, Paj Publications, New York, pp. 21-26, including Letter to the Actor D. and Waiting for the Revolution);

B. Taviani, Ferdinando, Postscript, in Eugenio Barba, Beyond the Floating Islands, Paj Publications, New York, pp. 236-275.

II. 3. Teatro iconoclastico: Societas Raffaello Sanzio

Dossier available on DSA (campus.unibo.it) as Part II. 3 (online after feb. 15, 2018)

Part III: The Italian Dance Scene from the Eighties

III. 1. Introduction to the Italian dance scene: from “nuova danza” to the 2000s

Contemporary Italian Dance: the 2000shttp://www.numeridanse.tv/medias/docs/contemporary_italian_dance.pdf

Students able to read in Italian are invited to replace the English article with: LEVANO, Dora. Nuova danza italiana / Danza d'autore. In “Danza e ricerca. Laboratorio di studi, scritture, visioni”, [S.l.], p. 117-162, dec. 2013. ISSN 2036-1599.

III. 2. Case study: Virgilio Sieni

A. Sieni, Virgilio, La sospensione del gesto, Maschietto Editore, Firenze, 2008 (Italian/French/English illlustrated catalogue);

B. Mazzaglia, Rossella, Fantômes réels et corps illusoires: la trilogie de Virgilio Sieni sur le De Rerum Natura de Lucrèce/ Real Phantoms and Illusionary Bodies: the Trilogy of Virgilio Sieni after Lucretius’ ‘De Rerum Natura’. In: (a cura di) Carole Guidicelli, Surmarionnettes et Mannequins: Craig, Kantor et leurs héritages contemporains / Über-marionettes and Mannequins: Craig, Kantor and their Contemporary Legacies, Lavérune: L’Entretemps, 2013, pp. 343-362. (English and French version)

C. Greco, Emio; Sieni, Virgilio, Dialogo/Dialogue, Maschietto Editore, Firenze, 2008 (Italian/English).

Part IV: Social Theatre and Community Dance

IV.1. Adams, Diane. An Introduction to Community Dance Practice, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2008, pp. 3-16.

IV.2. Thompson, Christopher, Community Dance: what community…what dance?, “Dance and the Child International”, Journal Three, 1994, pp. 1-19.

IV.3. Thompson, James; Schechner, Richard, Why “Social Theatre”?, in “The Drama Review”, vol. 48, n. 3, autumn 2004, pp. 11-16.

Further readings will be provided in class as complementary material on the case studies selected for the final papers. The bibliographical material that is not easily available will be provided online as part of a reader (https://campus.unibo.it/)

Attendance is highly recommended. Non attending students shall, thus, get in touch with the professor for a guided study.

Teaching methods

Lectures and discussions in class.

Assessment methods

A paper based on a case study, followed by an oral examination.

Teaching tools

Performances and artistic processes will be discussed in class with reference to a rich audio-visual documentation and original theoretical and poetic texts.

Office hours

See the website of Rossella Nancy Maria Mazzaglia