Hills in Motion, dance, art and territory: international gala in Monferrato

by Massimiliano Craus

The artistic director of the “Monferrato DanzArte” award Patrizia Campassi tells her story through the program, the names and the many proposals of her event, on stage on July 12th among the hills of a Monferrato that is increasingly a protagonist in dance. Fully included in the “Fubine Porta di Cultura”, the “Monferrato DanzArte” spreads its wings with the international gala “Colline in Movimento”. Two of the many souls of a very rich day that only Patrizia Campassi can give to the people of dance. Starting from the Municipality of Fubine Monferrato, led by the mayor Lino Pettazzi, who promotes the event together with the ArteSuoni Association, the “Colline in Movimento 2025” will make the Teatro Municipale a very hospitable home for choreographers such as Mauro Bigonzetti, Michele Merola and Enrico Morelli for the MM Contemporary Dance Company.

Moreover , the “Monferrato DanzArte” is the legitimate son of “DanzArenzano Arte” of Campassi, which also this year rewards the excellence of Italian and international dance, linked to a great Theater like the San Carlo in Naples. The “Monferrato DanzArte” will in fact be awarded to Claudia D'Antonio and Salvatore Manzo, who on December 23, 2023, after the Premiere of “ Don Quixote ” by Rudolf Nureyev, were surprisingly nominated Étoiles by their director Clotilde Vayer. The “Monferrato DanzArte” will also be awarded to the MM Contemporary Dance Company, a contemporary dance company directed by Michele Merola, founded in 1999 as a center for the production of events and shows and as a promoter of reviews and workshops with the aim of encouraging exchanges and alliances between Italian and international artists. The repertoire of the company, which is based in Reggio Emilia, is rich and varied, thanks to the works of Michele Merola and the creations by European and Italian choreographers such as Maguy Marin, Mats Ek, Mauro Bigonzetti, Thomas Noone, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, Karl Alfred Schreiner, Eugenio Scigliano, Emanuele Soavi, Enrico Morelli, Daniele Ninarello, Ginevra Panzetti and Enrico Ticconi, Roberto Tedesco, Camilla Monga.

The program that the MM Contemporary Dance Company will propose during the Gala “Colline in Movimento” will open with Enrico Morelli’s choreography “Elegia”, part of the production “Ballade” winner of the Danza&Danza 2023 award, as best Italian production, created by Mauro Bigonzetti for the MM Contemporary Dance Company. A title where people in search of their own path and identity appear, united by the same inclusion in a historical period, in an era like the current one, which brings vertigo and confusion. Individuals who trace new trajectories and who seek new ways to recover their course, in a moment of exile from normality. As always, Patrizia Campassi does not stop at dance as an end in itself. In fact, Cinema will also be on stage , represented by the godmother of the “Colline in Movimento” Event, the actress Marta Gastini who with her presence will consolidate the partnership between “Monferrato DanzArte”, “L'Ottobre Alessandrino” and “Alessandria Film Festival”. The Alessandria Festival will reward her for her now international professional activity, recalling her Alessandria roots, also linked to the study of classical and contemporary dance, under the didactic and artistic direction of Patrizia Campassi. It is therefore an event that creates artistic and territorial connections with Fubine Monferrato, a true bridge between the here and the other side of a stage. The added value of “Monferrato DanzArte” is undoubtedly the far-sighted idea of ​​the “Semi D'Arte” Scholarships, assigned to young students who have distinguished themselves during the academic year within accredited national and international academies. For the 2025 edition, two students from the Pole National Supérieur de Danse Rosella Hightower in Cannes, directed by Étoile Paola Cantalupo, will receive this support. The two Italians, who will join the Cannes Jeune Ballet in September, and who have distinguished themselves for their talent and demanding work are Serena Manara and Niccoló Colangelo, who will represent the school with “Crepuscolo” , a duet choreographed by Francesco Curci based on the show “Mozart danse” .

And to conclude the new event of the great scope of the “Monferrato danzArte”, namely the “Libera Costituzione” Award dedicated to video-dance works that last April 29 arrived from all over the world and that have thrilled for innovation, research and excellent quality. The first three classified will be included in the program of the October Alessandria, and the winner “Radici”, a video by a class of the Tito Livio Coreutico Institute of Milan, received 1000 euros donated by Energica of Casale Monferrato, which will circulate the work on its social channels. For more information, please refer to the official website of the event www.premiomonferratodanzarte.it