Contemporary Dance Motion. Emotion. Inspiration.
POSTERINO // DANCE // COMPANY //
iMAGINE. Performance Proposals
INDEX 06
LOVE ME IF YOU CAN!
08
THROUGH MY EYES
10
MONDO PARADISO
12
ENEMY IN THE FIGURE
14
PINK AND BLUE
16
WHAT IF
18
ZWISCHEN HIMMEL UND DIR
20
ABOUT
ÂŤFor me, dance is not an art for achieving success, but rather a gift to communicate and convey emotions to others.Âť
Gaetano Posterino
iMAGINE. A dance journey with Posterino Dance Company
With this catalogue I would like to present some of my recent works for Posterino Dance Company that have a personal significance for me. As individual pieces or extracts, they can be integrated well into festivals or galas. They can also be combined to create a full contemporary dance evening.
Gaetano Posterino Artistic Director
My goal is the creation of pieces in a vibrant new choreographic language, one that requires virtuosity in its expression while posing physical challenges to the performers. On this journey, dance’s traditional heritage converges with contemporary thoughts, giving rise to a highly unique ensemble. I kindly invite you to join me and my company on this journey with contemporary dance, motion, emotion and inspiration.
LOVE ME IF YOU CAN! Neo-Classical Contemporary Ballet Choreography // Gaetano Posterino Music // James Brown, The Temptations, Nina Simone, Brooker T & The MGs, Ray Charles, Sam & Dave, Glady's Night & The Pips, The Platters Dancers // 4 or 6 World premiere // 2017 Theatre HochX Munich Duration // appr. 32 mins Stage // min. 8 x 8 mtrs
About // This piece is about the eternal theme of loneliness, longing and the search for love. A woman experiences love, rejection, hate and passion, followed by finding her own identity and path. In a dynamic and dashing dance round to soul music from the sixties, the dancers can be experienced first hand and individually in a modern neo-classical choreography. A kaleidoscope that creates a good mood — and yet leaves you silent in the end.
Press reviews // "They move in a highly professional, undulating, neoclassical style, continuously in transition to rubber-soft floor figures." Münchner Merkur "Romance, relaxation and a shot of eroticism were the order of the day." Schwäbische Zeitung "Captivating choreography full of intimations, mixing classical dance with contemporary dance." Schwäbische Post
Productions funded and supported by // Kulturstiftung des Bundes.Dachverband Tanz Deutschland.Tanzland.Fondation Blomensaet. Cultural Office City of Munich.Cultural Office City of Aalen.MUCCA Munich Center for Community Arts.Streitfeld Rooms for Art and Culture Munich.Theatre and Live Art Munich. Città di Cosenza.Theater an der Rott. Trailer // www.vimeo.com/411721833 www.vimeo.com/414267713
THROUGH MY EYES Modern Contemporary Dance Theatre Choreography // Gaetano Posterino Music // Vincenzo Bellini, Werner Scharfenberger, Jan-Paul Werge Dancers // 4 or 6 World premiere // 2016 Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden Duration // appr. 30 mins
Stage // min. 8 x 8 mtrs
About // The piece deals with the fascination of the facets and the inherent nature of movements, facial expressions and gestures; the treacherous, playful, unconscious and transparent. It also addresses the child that lies dormant in every human being, who can still express itself eloquently and precisely when one understands its language. In this contemporary dance theatre piece the dancers reflect these aspects through the eyes of the choreographer.
Press reviews // "Not everyday, surprising and exciting." Schwäbische Post "Posterino plays with motifs in his very independent contemporary language of movement and in an associatively collagenous manner." Passauer Neue Presse "Italian choreographer Gaetano Posterino and his dance company pay homage to the light figure of dance theatre." Sßddeutsche Zeitung
Productions funded and supported by // Kulturstiftung des Bundes.Dachverband Tanz Deutschland.Tanzland.Fondation Blomensaet. Cultural Office City of Munich.Cultural Office City of Aalen.Cultural Office City of Wiesbaden. Hessian State Theatre.MUCCA Munich Center for Community Arts.Streitfeld Rooms for Art and Culture.Theatre and Live Art Munich. Trailer // www.vimeo.com/410274951 www.vimeo.com/320329742
MONDO PARADISO Modern Contemporary Dance Theatre Choreography // Gaetano Posterino Music // John Cage, Murcof, Christian von Staffeldt / Burhan Genc, Peter Tschaikowsky, Johann Strauss II Dancers // 4 World premiere // 2019 Theatre HochX Munich Duration // appr. 33 mins
Stage // min. 8 x 8 mtrs
About // The piece has many narrative levels: Dance and video image intertwine, interlock. The theme "plastic" will shape the space in which the dancers move. "It is about destruction and renewal, also about the limitation of the body, and thus about the limitation of life," explains Posterino. "We work with the garbage on stage. The video images complement the space. And by means of dance we want to emphasize the urgency of the subject — with some shots of humour and sarcasm."
Press reviews // "Posterino's movement language medley proves to be predestined for this. Plastic tutus, teasing accessories and bags over the heads of the dancers take their — and the audience's — breath away." Süddeutsche Zeitung "In the quartet the dancers slide to the floor. They mutate into a perfectly attuned perpetual motion machine that fascinates by its virtuoso handling of movement restrictions." Abendzeitung Munich "If you look away, you will definitely miss something at this performance!" Süddeutsche Zeitung
Productions funded and supported by // Fondation Blomensaet.Cultural Office City of Munich.Streitfeld Rooms for Art and Culture Munich.Theatre and Live Art Munich.Bündnis 90/Die Grünen Landesverband Bayern Trailer // www.vimeo.com/333915730
ENEMY IN THE FIGURE Contemporary Dance Theatre Choreography // Gaetano Posterino Music // Michael Nyman, Kiril DĹžajkovski Dancers // 2 World premiere // 2015 Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden Duration // appr. 26 mins Stage // min. 6 x 6 mtrs
About // The title is inspired by a passage from the English language version of the novel "Call me by your name" by Andre Aciman. The work revolves around the intense psychological and emotional network in a relationship of a couple. At the beginning emotionally separated in two cones of light, they then find each other. The danced dialogues alternate between intimate togetherness, affection and rejection, power games, madness. Love and aggression intertwine. And in the end the roles are reversed.
Press reviews // "The moving portrayal of a modern couple seeking support where there is none, and yet defying gravity for a short time." Wiesbadener Kurier "The intensive network of relationships consisting of movements, encounters and danced dialogues lets the associations wander much further." Frankfurter Rundschau
Productions funded and supported by // Fondation Blomensaet.Cultural Office City of Wiesbaden.Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden. Trailer // www.vimeo.com/403093067
PINK AND BLUE Modern Contemporary Dance Theatre Choreography // Gaetano Posterino Music // Michael Nyman, Gino Pauli, AmĂĄlia Rodrigues, Ambrogio Sparagna, Luz Casal, Erik Satie Dancers // 4 World premiere // 2019 Theatre HochX Munich Duration // appr. 36 mins Stage // min. 8 x 8 mtrs
About // Posterino approaches the question of what belongs to whom or not — or does it? Women dance men and vice versa, there are moments that evoke closeness and achieve distance, that play with nudity and show what wants to remain hidden. "We are all different, and in this we are all equal," says Posterino. "We are not only what we seem to be. Even if we all have an attention deficit, it is always about the longing for acceptance. This requires tolerance. And with that we may have been further along than we are today."
Press reviews // "In 2018 he made a short film on the difference between the sexes for ARD, which transforms scientific findings into dance. It is all the more astonishing how undidactic his new gender mosaic comes along." Süddeutsche Zeitung "Even after the break in 'Pink and Blue', Posterino skilfully positions his four dancers in the room." Abendzeitung Munich "The choreography gets its drive from different songs. Their words and rhythms motivate solos and duets." Tanznetz
Productions funded and supported by // Fondation Blomensaet.Cultural Office City of Munich.Streitfeld Rooms for Art and Culture Munich.Theatre and Live Art Munich.Bündnis 90/Die Grünen Landesverband Bayern. Trailer // www.vimeo.com/334172280
WHAT IF Modern Contemporary Dance Theatre Choreography // Gaetano Posterino Music // Terry Riley and Kronos Quartett, Amália Rodriguez, Laurel Halo, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Dustin O'Halloran Dancers // 6 World premiere // 2019 Theatre Leo 17 Munich Duration // appr. 28 mins Stage // min. 10 x 8 mtrs
About // The inspiration for this piece came from the idea of being spontanous. What happens if you allow yourself, even for a few minutes, to do what you feel like doing in that very moment? How much time is lost before you decide, just to be sure not to admit any mistakes later? How much life is lost because you don't have the courage to do what you really want to do — because you want to remain non-committal, unbound, and often only seemingly free? The piece focuses on quick decisions, on spontaneity. Touching.
Press reviews // "What counts are the emotions that are aroused there, the extremely strong images that are shown." Schwäbische Post "This results in an overall picture of dynamics and expression. Most remarkable, wonderfully harmonious and appealingly artificial." Aalener Kulturjournal "An introspective search for movement reflected in dance, which focuses on fascinating expressions of modern diction in order to open up new spaces for dance." Schwäbische Zeitung
Productions funded and supported by // Kulturstiftung des Bundes.Dachverband Tanz Deutschland.Tanzland.Fondation Blomensaet. Cultural Office City of Munich.Cultural Office City of Aalen.MUCCA Munich Center for Community Arts.Streitfeld Rooms for Art and Culture Munich.Theatre and Live Art Munich. Trailer // www.vimeo.com/401092594
ZWISCHEN HIMMEL UND DIR Neo-classical Contemporary Dance Theatre Choreography // Gaetano Posterino Music // Michael Emanuel Bauer, Philip Glass, Ornella Vanoni, Johann Sebastian Bach, Arvo Pärt Dancers // 6 World premiere // 2019 Theatre Leo 17 Munich Duration // appr. 30 mins Stage // min. 10 x 8 mtrs
About // The work is inspired by sociological and psychological approaches, and negotiates the distance to oneself and to others. It is about the strangeness with oneself, one's body and the world that surrounds everyone in a different way. No one remains invisible. Everyone remains within their own boundaries. Or maybe not? Avant-garde, expressive and highly agile dance theatre with moments of humor and satire.
Press reviews // "As if on a tape, the dancers show the most impressive dance, which merges into sports acrobatics and also takes up borrowings from classical dance theatre." Schwäbische Zeitung "Wrapped in a cone of light, captured by spotlights, they follow a barely recognizable choreographic thread." Aalener Kulturjournal "Accompanied by music from offstage. Always as a commentary on the dancing event, always difficult and in an interpretation that seems to explain the dance steps." Schwäbische Post
Productions funded and supported by // Kulturstiftung des Bundes.Dachverband Tanz Deutschland.Tanzland.Fondation Blomensaet. Cultural Office City of Munich.Cultural Office City of Aalen.MUCCA Munich Center for Community Arts.Streitfeld Rooms for Art and Culture Munich.Theatre and Live Art Munich. Trailer // www.vimeo.com/401261389
ABOUT
«My dancers are the motor, they are the real power of my inspiration.»
Gaetano Posterino
GAETANO POSTERINO
ÂŤPosterino's journey will go in all directions, because he wants to take advantage of the 360 degrees provided by his compass.Âť Augsburger Allgemeine
«His extraordinary physical dexterity seems to mock all anatomical facts .» Wiesbadener Kurier
Gaetano Posterino, born in Italy in 1974, works as a dance director and choreographer. He completed his ballet and dance education with a scholarship at the National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto. Career as a dancer After a first engagement at the Balletto di Toscana Florence he danced for a variety of companies as soloist in Italy (e.g. Ballet L'Ensemble de Micha van Hoecke), Argentina (Teatro San Martin), the United States (San Francisco Ballet), the UK (English National Ballet, Birming-
ham Royal Ballet), Switzerland (Lucerne Ballet, Ventura Dance Company) and as first soloist at Peter Schaufuss Ballet (Denmark) and for many years as first soloist at Hessian State Ballet in Wiesbaden. His career lead him onto stages in more than 100 countries. He performed roles in choreographic works of e.g. Oscar Araiz, Tarek Assam, George Balanchine, Patrice Bart, Ben van Cauwenberg, John Cranko, Nils Christe, Derek Daine, Mats Ek, Antonio Gomes, Enrico C. Musmeci, Jiří Kylián, Inbal Pinto,
«Since 1995 the Italian has been convincing with works for ballet, dance theatre, film and opera.» Abendzeitung Munich Helgi Tómasson, Peter Schaufuss, James Sutherland, Stephan Thoss, Boris Trailine, Pablo Ventura, Richard Wherlock and Ed Wubbe. Among the performances were well-known classical repertoire pieces and contemporary works. The choreographer At an early stage in 1995, Posterino discovered his talent for choreography.
Parallel to his dance career he created a large number of very versatile, international choreographic works. He choreographed many years, among others, for Hessian State Ballet Wiesbaden as house choreographer, International Dance Theater Reutlingen as artistic director and principal choreographer and Ballet Augsburg as house choreographer.
ÂŤPosterino's choreography focused and channeled her technical prowess and his muscular grace into a unity of particular power.Âť Dance Europe Posterino has been commissioned as guest choreographer by Ballet Istanbul, Ballet de Santiago de Chile, Pennsylvania Ballet, Lucerne Ballet, Semperoper Dresden, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Theatre Augsburg, Ballet Wuerzburg, Theatre Hagen and ARD Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen. His over 60 works include full evening story ballets, dance theatre pieces, duets and solos, operas and dance films. He has been invited to international festivals with several creations, including Aarhus Dance Festival, Bilbao Dance Festival, Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden, Lisboa Dance Festival, Marata de l'Espectacle Barcelona, Manifestation d'Art Con-
temporain Paris and TanzArt Ost West Giessen. He received eleven international awards for choreographic works and dance performances. His work is supported by state and municipal institutions, enterprises and foundations and has received excellent reviews in important newspapers and dance publications. Handwriting Posterino has developed his versatile style with a 360° compass and interdisciplinary work based on historical influences over many years. In his work today, highly agile dance theatre meets modern, expressive choreography: his works are held in an avant-garde experi-
ÂŤMy choreography style is a challenge for the dancers, because they must be able to physically master the tension between the different style elements.Âť Gaetano Posterino
ÂŤGaetano Posterino is a choreographer, dance director, ballet master and artistic director of his own Posterino Dance Company, a true talent factory.Âť ARD mental style that combines flowing contemporary movement vocabulary, denial of gravity, modern intensive floor work, dance theatre, speech, singing, enriched with almost acrobatic and humorous elements. In dance, Posterino uses a introspective search for movement reflected in dance, which focuses on fascinating expressions of modern diction in order to
open up new spaces for dance — flowing, faltering, sensitive, but also rough and dirty. He conveys his artistic development through a dynamic choreography that works interdisciplinarily and draws on literary, performative and sociological approaches. And that focuses on perfect body control in dance as well as strong expression in gestures and facial expressions.
POSTERINO // DANCE // COMPANY // «Since 2002, Gaetano Posterino has been developing its intrepid neoclassical point shoes style, mixing with contemporary elements and dance theatre.» Süddeutsche Zeitung
Like a brilliant firework. Highly agile dance theatre meets modern, expressive choreography. Schwäbische Zeitung Posterino Dance Company is a Contemporary Dance Company, founded in 2002 by Gaetano Posterino in Wiesbaden. At first he created the initial core of its repertoire with dancers of the Hessian State Ballet. Since then the company is presenting modern contemporary dance creations and dance theatre pieces on a regular basis. With more than 40 productions and over 200 performances to date. Since 2015 the company is based in Munich.
The goal of the company is to combine Posterino's choreographic creativity, passion and dedication with the abilities of extraordinary and individual dancers and incorporate their different cultural backgrounds and aesthestic formations resulting in unique dance pieces on stage. The company comprises highly skilled professionals and young talents from Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Portugal and Slovenia.
«An exchange that creates incredible energy — both in the studio and on stage.» Gaetano Posterino
All dancers were selected through rigorous auditions. It takes years to find suitable international talents and merge them into one ensemble. Because its choreography style is a challenge for the dancers, as they must be able to physically master the tension between the different style elements. Posterino Dance Company is funded or supported by renowed institutions, public bodies, foundations, enterprises and private individuals. The repertoire of the company contains a variety of Posterino’s pieces in his very own movement vocabulary. It offers an intensive insight into the spectrum of contemporary dance, its forms, perspectives and contents.
Creations: Zwischen Himmel und Dir, 2019 What if, 2019 Parad-ox, 2019 Pink and Blue, 2019 Mondo Paradiso, 2019 Time Lapse, 2019 Four Choreography Moods, 2018 Love me if you can!, 2017 Through My Eyes, 2016 Enemy in the Figure, 2015 Der Soldat — Molotov Soul, 2012 Einfach so, 2011 Sphere, 2010 Gravity in Space, 2009 Hommage an Pina, 2009 Ein Fremdling überall, 2008 Weil ich Dich brauche, 2007 Vivaldi, 2006 Zone, 2006 Bach Sonate, 2006 Just at home, 2005 Vertigo, 2004 Icarus, 2003 Operalectric, 2003 Stimmungen eines Fauns, 2002 The Mime — Hommage an Charlie Chaplin, 2002 Wild Things, 2002
Posterino Dance Company at work during the creation process in the studio and on stage for the latest productions of Pink and Blue, Mondo Paradiso, What if and Zwischen Himmel und Dir.
CONTACT Company Management Nymphenburger Str. 10 80335 Munich, Germany contact@posterinodancecompany.com www.posterinodancecompany.com Posterino Dance Company is also represented by OA ARTVIEW GĂźnter Steinbach contact@oaartview.com www.oaartview.com
iMAGINE.
Photos in this catalogue and audiovisual documents on Vimeo: Oliver Bodmer, Paul Bonik, Andreas J. Etter, Martin Kaufhold, Jan Keller, Andreas Kullmann, Jonathan Schäfers, Fabio Stoll, Bettina Theisinger, Ren Wang
Š 2020 Posterino Dance Company