Set in Argentina, the creation that opens the Teatro Massimo’s summer dance programme in Palermo, titled Gran Galà del Tango e della Danza, is Contact Tango. A work by Jean-Sébastien Colau and Vincenzo Veneruso, the piece arrives here after an extensive process of reworking and refinement. The project’s original concept dates back to 2018, when it was first presented in the Netherlands, before being brought to Sicily in 2022 in a shorter version.
In this twenty-minute tribute to the multiple derivations and evolutions of tango, Colau and Veneruso achieve a perfect balance between solo sections and ensemble work. Through diagonals, symmetries and glimpses of dance theatre, Colau and Veneruso’s artistic vision takes shape on stage through multiple metaphors of the couple’s relationship, embodied by the fourteen dancers of the Teatro Massimo’s Ballet Company, performing to music specially composed for the work by Stefano Conti.
The essential elements of tango are here reinterpreted through the fertile resources of contemporary movement language, revealing the many changing nuances assumed by human relationships in a thoughtful contemporary and social re-reading. Although the narrative remains deliberately elusive, the work’s true fascination lies in the evocative power of its shapes, images and tableaux, which at times recall the suspended atmospheres of Jack Vettriano’s paintings and their iconic figures.
The Sicilian company continues the programme with a selection of pas de deux drawn from the 19th-century classical repertoire, restaged by Colau. In the pas de deux from Esmeralda, Yuriko Nishihara and Michele Morelli offer a performance of solid quality: the Japanese ballerina, now in her tenth year with the Palermo-based company, brings strength and vigour to the character, while Morelli reveals a firm technical control and the powerful elevation of his variation, qualities that soon make one forget a few imperfections in the coda.
The programme continues with Satanella, performed by Francesca Davoli and Alessandro Cascioli. Cesare Pugni’s music accompanies an overall solid performance. Cascioli approaches the technical challenges of the variation with confidence and precision, displaying crisp virtuosity and a stage presence that enhance his performance. Davoli shows good musical poise and an incisive temperament; however, the refinement of her port de bras, as well as the fluidity and naturalness of her line, could be further developed.
The Grand Pas Classique section closes with Martina Pasinotti, who once again demonstrates solidity and technical ease, confirming her place among the company’s most distinguished interpreters. Alongside her, Alessandro Casà offers Palermo’s dance enthusiasts moments of genuine virtuosity, executing the brisés volés with a rare balance of power and lightness, precision and brilliance.
Also featured in the cast is Jevgeni Grib, director of the Vanemuine Theatre Ballet, who appears in Palermo both as choreographer and dancer. For this Gala, the Estonian artist presents his creation Sharps & Flats together with Marta Navasardyan, principal dancer of the Estonian National Ballet, bringing to the work rhythmic contrasts, brilliance and a vivid sense of theatricality. The same performers return in Bitter Earth, another work by Grib, this time set to the music of Max Richter, where the fragility of existence and the ongoing search for meaning find their synthesis. Particularly compelling is the shaping of movement, always finely attuned to an essential emotional resonance.
The programme closes with Balanchine’s repertoire, presenting a brief excerpt from Jewels, and in particular from the dynamic and ironic pas de deux section of Rubies. Holly Dorger and Jon Axel Fransson — both members of the Royal Danish Ballet — evoke the defining qualities of Balanchine’s aesthetic, combining strong personality, remarkable extension, technical assurance and a keen ability to inhabit the rhythmic architecture of Stravinsky’s score.
Vito Lentini’s trip was funded by Fondazione Teatro Massimo di Palermo
