U. (un canto) is a musical performance, a concert whose dramaturgy – curated by Alessandro Sciarroni with Aurora Bauzà and Pere Jou – consists of Italian choral songs composed between the second half of the 20th century and the present day. The repertoire is performed by seven singers with very diverse vocal training and experiences: Raissa Avilés, Alessandro Bandini, Margherita D’Adamo, Nicola Fadda, Diego Finazzi, Lucia Limonta and Annapaola Trevenzuoli.
The spark of this research originated from a commission by the Cartier Foundation, which invited Alessandro Sciarroni, along with French musician Alexis Paul, to co-curate one of its Soirées Nomades. During these events, solo artists and choirs perform their repertoire a cappella in the spaces of the Triennale di Milano. The initial corpus of pieces reveals the framework of U., which takes shape as a musical dramaturgy where the songs follow one another, alternating the original compositions with deep, long silences that envelop the bodies of the performers on stage.
In addition to the wisdom and beauty of the music, the songs explore the relationship between human beings and nature, the passage of time marked by the seasons and the work in the fields and the interplay between human and divine elements. They tell of the beauty and awe before nature, of values such as mercy, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance and endurance. They narrate the acceptance of human limitations and the mystery of existence, the fragility of life, its transience and the joy and privilege of being able to live it.
Moving within a strong and thriving tradition, the performers of U. offer the audience the memory of what we were, to regenerate it and transform it:
I love the scent that comes from your land
I love the light and the colour of your sky
Alessandro Sciarroni is active in the performing arts and has a background in visual arts and theatre research. His works stem from a Duchampian conceptual matrix within a theatrical framework, and they are featured in festivals, museums and unconventional spaces in Europe, North America, South America and Asia. In his creations, he involves artists from various disciplines and uses techniques belonging to dance, circus and sports. Through the repetition of a practice to the limits of physical endurance, his work attempts to unveil obsessions, fears and fragilities of the performing act, searching for a different empathic relationship between the audience and the performers. In 2019, he was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Dance by the Venice Biennale. Alessandro Sciarroni is an associate artist of CENTQUATRE – PARIS.
Aurora Bauzà is a composer, performer and scenic artist based in Barcelona. Together with Pere Jou, she created works that explore the human voice and its relationship with body, space, acoustics or light, including I AM (T)HERE (2019), WE ARE (T)HERE (2021) and AQUÍ I NO ALLÀ (2021). She recently premiered the performing and musical piece for five singers, A BEGINNING #16161D, co-produced by L’Auditori in Barcelona and the Centre Coréographique National d’Orleans (France). Bauzà combines her role as scenic creator with collaborations with other artists such as Alessandro Sciarroni, Ça marche and Pere Faura, who influence her work and scenic research.
Pere Jou is a composer who works with the body. The focus of his research is the human voice and its relation to the body and choreographic composition. He seeks new ways of representing music, making it visible, mobile, tangible. Jou approaches music with a choreographic lens and choreography with an acoustic and musical perspective. Conceptually, he is very interested in processes of meaning creation, particularly those related to identity, both individual and collective. Jean Baudrillard, baroque and electronic music and an uninhibited love for mainstream culture have influenced his ideas and thoughts. Jou also draws inspiration from the work of artists like Alessandro Sciarroni, Maud Le Pladec and Sonia Gómez, with whom he collaborated as a composer and/or performer.
by Alessandro Sciarroni
with Raissa Avilés, Alessandro Bandini, Margherita D’Adamo, Nicola Fadda, Diego Finazzi, Lucia Limonta, Annapaola Trevenzuoli
casting, musical direction, vocal training Aurora Bauzà & Pere Jou
vocal training collaborator Oussama Mhanna
casting, dramaturgical consultancy, physical training Elena Giannotti
styling Ettore Lombardi
lighting design and technical supervision Valeria Foti
sound Francesco Rofi Pallone
care, advice and development Lisa Gilardino
administration and executive production Chiara Fava
casting, press relations and communication Pierpaolo Ferlaino
social media Giulia Traversi
production Corpoceleste_C.C.00#, MARCHETEATRO –
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), CENTQUATRE – PARIS, Festival D’Automne à Paris, Snaporazverein, Maison de la Musique de Nanterre
in collaboration with Centroper la Scena Contemporanea di Bassano del Grappa
with the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
ph. Alessandro Sciarroni