LA PRIMA DANZA / THE FIRST DANCE is a site-specific contemporary dance project resulting from the collaboration between Fondazione Fabbrica Europa and Bigi Paoletti/Fritz Company by Damiano Ottavio Bigi and Alessandra Paoletti.

The project aims to transform spaces of historical and artistic heritage into devices for performative experiences articulated in different chapters, fostering a deep connection between territory, place, artwork, and audience through dance.

THE BUTTERFLY DREAM 

La Prima Danza / The Butterfly Dream was presented in Seoul in October 2025 at the Nakseonjae Hall of Changdeokgung Palace, and will be presented in Europe in June/July 2026 at various heritage sites.
The project is funded by Fondazione Fabbrica Europa, Ahn Aesoon Company, one of the leading choreographic groups in the Korean scene, and by 2025 Kore.A.Round Culture – Bilateral International Collaboration Program for Arts & Culture.

Here, Damiano Ottavio Bigi and Alessandra Paoletti, together with Korean choreographer Ahn Aesoon, work on the creation of a two-part piece with dancers Na-eui Kim, Ji-hyung Kim, Seong-hyeon Park, Hyeon-seok Lee, You-joung Lim, and Joung-youn Son.

La Prima Danza / The Butterfly Dream draws inspiration from the complex history of Changdeokgung Palace, understood not merely as architecture, but as a site shaped by political transformations, destructions, reconstructions, and rewritings of memory that remain unresolved to this day. A dynastic residence and ritual space, later a place scarred by war and colonial occupation, and today a museum and heritage site, the palace is conceived as a spatial and symbolic device, embodying a trajectory shared by many other sites where architectures from different historical periods accumulate, leaving both material and immaterial traces.

Starting from the Korean context, the work opens onto a broader, more universal perspective, placing Changdeokgung in resonance with other places that have undergone similar processes of transformation and re-signification. The historical density of these spaces becomes the ground for choreographic and dramaturgical exploration, and the performance acts within them as a tool of mediation and activation, inviting the audience to perceive them not as closed objects of the past, but as active presences, where historical and symbolic layers continue to generate resonances and contemporary tensions.

Bigi Paoletti Fritz Company is an artistic project and dance-theatre company founded in 2020 by dancer and choreographer Damiano Ottavio Bigi – a longstanding member of Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch and performer with Dimitris Papailioannou – alongside actress and director Alessandra Paoletti, a graduate of the National Academy of Drama “Silvio D’Amico” who has also worked extensively as a guest director for the Istanbul Municipal Theatre. Their collaboration began in Istanbul in 2013 with Yuvaya Dönmek, Babam için – Back Home, to My Father, created for the Istanbul Municipal Theatre. Since then, they have developed both pedagogical and creative projects, engaging with artists from diverse cultural and disciplinary backgrounds.
Their work explores a dialogue between different languages, traversing dance, theatre, and visual arts, and has been presented internationally at major venues and festivals, including Torinodanza Festival, Festival Equilibrio, One Dance Festival, Tanec Praha, Fabbrica Europa, Gdansk Dance Festival, Aerowaves Dance Festival Luxembourg, Le Chaînon Manquant, Le Temps d’aimer, Istanbul Municipal Theatre, Gorizia Dance Festival, Teatro Grande (Brescia), Visavì Gorizia, Nid Platform 2022/2023/2024, Bengaluru Hubba Festival, Serendipity Arts Festival (Goa), Living Dance Festival (China), LDTX Beijing Festival, ACT-Shanghai Contemporary Theatre Festival, and the Asia-Europe Cultural Festival (ASEF).

Ahn Aesoon Company uniquely merges Korean identity with contemporary sensibilities. Since its founding in 1985, Ahn Aesoon has developed a distinctive choreographic style by reinterpreting the Eastern traditions and concepts through contemporary dance. Her work, marked by dynamic movement, refined rhythm, and distinctive spatial composition, has positioned her at the forefront of Korean contemporary dance.
Following her 1998 Grand Prix at the Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Bagnolet, Ahn has been invited to major festivals in Germany, Singapore, Mexico, and Japan, and is documented in the Oxford Dictionary of Dance and International Dictionary of Modern
Dance. Through collaborations across film, theater, and visual arts, she continues to expand contemporary dance expression. Having served as artistic director of the Seoul Performing Arts Festival(SPAF) and Korea National Contemporary Dance Company, Ahn remains central to Korea’s performing arts landscape. Having established an independent position for Korean contemporary dance on the international stage, Ahn seeks new choreographic possibilities that transcend cultural boundaries through this project.
Choreographer Ahn Aesoon has built a distinctive artistic world over 40 years by translating traditional Korean concepts such as play, shamanism, and kokdu into the language of contemporary dance. Moving beyond the reinterpretation of traditional movements, she has explored Korean corporeal aesthetics and sensibility, developing a unique choreographic language where improvisational playfulness meets refined spatial awareness. Having established an independent position for Korean contemporary dance on the international stage, Ahn seeks new choreographic possibilities that transcend cultural boundaries through this project.

La Prima Danza/The Butterfly Dream
as part of La Prima Danza, a site-specific dance project
A Fondazione Fabbrica Europa per le arti contemporanee production

choreography and direction: Damiano Ottavio Bigi & Alessandra Paoletti, Ahn Aesoon
performers: Na-eui Kim, Ji-hyung Kim, Seong-hyeon Park, Hyeon-seok Lee and You-joung Lim
sound design: Jung-hoon Pi
costumes: Seonoc Im
sound engineer: Ju-won Jeon

concept and project direction: Maurizia Settembri
production: On Sim, Elisa Godani with Greta Poli
associated producer: Hye-yeon Ki
consultant for international collaboration: Andrea Paciotto

carried out with the support of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Korea)
KOFICE (Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange)
2025 Kore.A.Round Culture – Bilateral International Collaboration Program for Arts & Culture (Korea)
Ministero della Cultura, Dipartimento per le attività culturali – Italy
Direzione regionale Musei nazionali Toscana (Florence)

partners: Fabbrica Europa | Secret Florence | Florence Dance Festival | City of Florence
CROSS Festival | Fondazione Egri Danza CRID | City of Verbania
Associazione Tersicorea – Cortoindanza | cedac Cagliari

Photogallery

photos at Changdeokgung Palace, Nakseonjae Hall, Seoul

photos: ©KoreaAroundCulture