Igra je komunikacija, to je manevar koji izaziva emocije u nama Dance is communication; it is a language that elicits emotions in us
company that is resident in two cit- ies, Dresden and Frankfurt. Do you like to travel and meet di erent peo- ple and mentalities? Is that what in- spires you, among other things? - It is one of the best things in life for me: to have the chance to work on what I love, and for this work to allow me to trav- el and to bring me into contact with new people, new places, new frequencies and inputs… All that is one of the best sourc- es of inspirations I could ask for. It keeps me on my toes, always refreshes me and shows me how many possibilities exist. Did you bring some impression from Serbia that later you incorporated into dance? - Yes, the power its people have to
a limit, I don’t believe there are limits, actually! I truly believe that the human body, and danc- ers in particular, have so much to research, so much to investigate, that we have to keep on going and create ballet for the future… There is a way to do it, and we try to do that every day at the company; to push and challenge our- selves intellectually and also physically, whilst trying to achieve a more sophisticated way of movement and choreography, which empow- ers us and gives us beautiful emotions. What does dance represent to you, and what is its place in contemporary art that seems to have been lost in experiments? - Dance is communication; it is a language that elicits emotions in us. It is something very primordial that exists in all of us. There is a con- temporary ballet belonging to the future that can speak to our society today, and we now need to develop that close contact again. We now need to start investigating how to create it while we reach out to audiences.
make things happen! Your grit!
You re-opened the Museum of Con- temporary Art Belgrade in spectacu- lar fashion! Have you had the oppor- tunity to get acquainted with the City of Belgrade’s art and culture scene? - Because of the project with the Muse- um of Contemporary Art in 2017, me and my team had the chance to be with, and to work very close with, some of the most important artistic and cultural gures in your country, such as Aja Jung (Belgrade Dance Festival), Slobodan Nakarada (Mu- seum of Contemporary Art), Ivan Tasovac (Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra)… We also collaborated with a fantastic group of local Serbian dancers... It was an amaz- ing project, and it gave us the very best rst impression we could ever have had of your culture scene. You have prepared real treats for this year’s Belgrade Dance Festival, is that right? Tell us what we can expect, I think we will also enjoy live music, in addition to dance itself? - With my company, I have prepared a very special mix programme for the Bel- grade Dance Festival: it is edgy and clas- sic and there is live music and, to end the evening, a choreography with the full com- pany on stage… Everything is going to be there, all that we’ve achieved to date working over these past four years is there, on stage. Do you like to challenge yourself, to push the boundaries of physical and mental endurance in art? Is there an end? Have you reached the limit? - I don’t think I’m ever going to reach
You design all segments of work – from choreog- raphy, via design and stage setting, writing texts, stylising the artists’ looks, adjusting the music etc. Does that mean that you have a clear vision in advance of what you want to see on stage? - Yes, I normally have a very clear concept of what I want to see on stage, what I need to see, though in some productions that
With my company, I’ve prepared a special mix programme for the Belgrade Dance Festival – controversial, but also classical, it includes live music and the evening ends with choreography that includes the entire company on the stage
A total of 16 ballet and contem- porary dance companies from 11 countries, with 20 choreo- graphic pieces and 25 solos and duets, will present themselves to the Belgrade public from 22 nd March to 12 th April during the 16 th edition of the Bel- grade Dance Festival, which will this year be coloured by “Emotions”. Among them is also the renowned Jacopo Godani, Ar- tistic Director of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company, which will once again shift the concept of contemporary dance at Belgrade’s Sava Centre on 11 th April. He’s coming back to the Belgrade Dance Festi- val to show, once again, that there are no limits for him... You mentioned once that people from the Balkans have a rhythm in- side them. What does that rhythm sound like to you? - Balkan people have movement in- side them, they are very dynamic people, very close to their physicality, and also to dance. Their rhythm is a strong beating one. You were born in La Spezia, on Italy’s Tyrrhenian Sea, but you’ve worked all over the world. Today you are the artistic director of an amazing
takes longer to take shape. Each process is dif- ferent, I must say. Sometimes I’m able to chore- ograph very quickly and create a large amount of material, other times I give myself time and the space in the process for the concept to be born. Costumes, music, stage settings happen in parallel with the choreography. Some of the concepts that I developed recently, during these last four seasons with the company, have been evolving in my mind for the last 10 years. It is an ongoing process that never stops. What do you think about the programme of 16 th Belgrade Dance Festival? Which performances would you like to see? - The Festival’s programme gives its audi- ence an unbelievable overview of what’s go- ing on in dance worldwide. I think its artistic director, Aja Jung, always manages to bring the most interesting companies to Belgrade. I would love to be able to sit and enjoy any of the shows, honestly!
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