The Italian Cultural Institute in Tunis presents the first Italian Contemporary Dance Platform, “D’accordo”, at the Tunis Opera House, a project that aims both to present contemporary dance to the Tunisian public and to create opportunities for sharing artistic expertise. The event, organised in partnership with the Tunis Opera House, which has included it in a broader container called the “Video-Opera-Dance Festival”, includes performances by Italian dance companies preceded by dance-themed video screenings by international authors. The occasion will also provide an opportunity for direct encounters between Italian and Tunisian artists, who will take part in video recordings of “choreographic pills”, in various locations in the capital, from the Medina to the nearby beaches. The opening evening featured the Oplas/Centro Regionale della Danza Umbria company on stage with “Il Grande Viaggio del Divino Dante”, a performance by dancers from Oplas, and Ness el Fenn by Syhem Belkhodja, accompanied by readings from the Divine Comedy by actor and director Massimo Belli. The event programme included a performance by the Francesca Selva/Con.Cor.Da company with “Amore Amaro”, a duet dedicated to the complexity of romantic relationships, followed by a performance by the Sbam Dance Connection company, with a female duet called “Mindfulness”. On 12th November, the Mandala Dance Company and the E.sperimenti Dance Company/Gdo (Gruppo Danzatori Oggi) will take the stage: the former will present the all-female quartet that goes by the name “HH_Homo Humus”, a multimedia production on the very current theme of climate damage caused by environmental pollution, while the latter will present “Convergenze”, a choreography with a primordial rhythm that materialises into a physical dance of the earth, as an extreme challenge between the self and the other, in an abstract and energetic relationship between electronic music and soil, light and rhythm. On the 14th, at the conclusion of the event, the opening performance on Dante will be repeated. The programme also includes a round table on the 13th, where promoters, festival directors and Tunisian choreographers will meet Italian performers to exchange ideas and develop possible future collaborations. Finally, there will also be dance master classes held by the directors and choreographers of the participating Italian companies.
Tunis: staging contemporary Italian dance
