QA’s OSSERVATORIO CRITICO FOR CORTILE TEATRO FESTIVAL 2022 – MESSINA

The 1st of August 2022 we had the opportunity to see Tower Speaks, the pièce which was presented at the Cortile Calapaj-D’Alcontres, created by the dancer and choreographer Agostina D’Alessandro.
The protagonists of the pièce are two dancers, Agostina D’Alessandro and Hernán Mancebo Martínez who go through a long process during the performance. The first one is  the moment of distance and mistrust when they do not even touch; whereas the second one is the moment of contact between the two dancers. After an ostensible prevarication from the woman, it is perceived a strong incommunicability among the two dancers, that is visible when she starts to speak in english while he is speaking in spanish, as a result the comunication is tough.
The two dancers seem as two animals in a cage, insofar as they try to escape, the ‘meeting-crash’ is unavoidable, it will end with an apparent peace. They speak different languages, consequently they are forced to search for a third way in order to find out a meeting place: they start to speak in french, a new language for both, as a means to remove the gulf.
Every phase of their confrontation is supported by the musician Pierfrancesco Mucari who plays in live at the bottom of the stage. Moreover, he plays different musical instruments: he has a computer, a marranzani, two saxophones and a microphone, which, alternately, follow the performance.

by Giulia Cavallaro
english translation by Giulia C. 

INTERVIEW WITH AGOSTINA D’ALESSANDRO AND HERNÁN MANCEBO MARTÍNEZ FOR CORTILE TEATRO FESTIVAL 2022 – MESSINA
edited by Sara C., english translation by Giulia C.

After the viewing of the pièce we had the occasion to interview the two dancers, Agostina D’Alessandro and Herán Mancebo Martínez, and we talked about their performance. 

How did Tower Speaks get started ?
A.D: The idea of Tower Speaks starded during the second production of the Performare Festival in Serradifalco. Martínez and I created this pièce in the last August while we were partecipating in this festival. The idea of the name came early because we loved the Tarot of Marseille and we wanted the Tower card (one of the main card) to speak during the performance. All things considered, the story is a referance to this card, the Arcano n.16 of Marseille’s Tarot.

How did your collaboration started?
H.M.M: Agostina was my teacher in the Conservatoire of Antwerp. When I finished attending the Conservatoire we started working together as professionals.

How do tradition and contemporaneity speak to each other in the perfomance?
A.D.: First and foremost, it is a dialogue where the contemporary language speaks to Tarot cards and the Tarot cards speak to contemporaneity. In the light of this, the Tarot is a symbol which actually nourishes our imagination. Furthermore, the pièce is full of improvisation; as a result the content is quite improvised.

What do you mean when you speak about building «a new dimension of the relationship» ? Which dimension is that?
H.M.M.: There are several different dimensions: the first one, where the man and the woman are dancing to each other, is more clear; the others are dimensions of improvisation where we try to connect our bodies during the dance.
A.D..: It is a reaserch to inbody language which actually represents more this period. Moreover, in this pièce you can find a language related to contemporary dance. Without a doubt,  there is a moment in your life when you are looking for something new; a moment when you give priority to understand who you really are beyond the aesthetic form. To sum up, we have looked for new forms of moving.

 What does the Tower represent in the Arcano? And why it is important in your performance?
A.D..: The Tower represents the ideas which are enclosed in this place. In addition, there is an important analogy with the Babel Tower referring to the multiplicity of language and cultures. Therefore, the language is the culture of any civilization: we wanted to explain this dimension through the use of different languages during the performance. In addition, there is another important element, the ‘spiritually liberation’. Indeed, Arcano is an explosion which comes from the Haeven and goes into the Tower in order to bring out the two characters.

What was the role of the music in the pièce?
A.D..: We wanted a particular atmosphere in every single scene. The musician proposed a specific texture of sound. We worked hard together and we created an interesting material. As a consequence of that, there is a collaboration between two branches of art, dance and music, in order to create another one together.

 TOWER SPEAKS
concept & direction Agostina D’Alessandro
performers Hernan Mancebo Martinez & Agostina D’Alessandro
live music Pierfrancesco Mucari (saxophones, marranzani & electronics)
production Compagnie Agostina D’Alessandro/ Expansive Being – PERFORMARE FESTIVAL 2021

visto al CORTILE TEATRO FESTIVAL di Messina
diretto da Roberto Zorn Bonaventura
Castello di Sancho

Ph. Giuseppe Contarini – Fotoinscena