Within
Dance4Gardens
3rd edition
a project by
Compagnia Simona Bucci and Fondazione Fabbrica Europa per le arti contemporanee
funded by Città Metropolitana di Firenze
with the support of MiBACT- Dipartimento dello Spettacolo dal vivo and Regione Toscana

MEMORIES_an archive of gestures is a project by Giovanfrancesco Giannini, Fabio Novembrini, Valentina Zappa. Born within by the “Crossing the sea” project (supported by the “Boarding Pass Plus” programme promoted by the Italian Ministry for Heritage and Cultural Activities) in collaboration with Er Gao dance production Guangzhou, it is a reflection on the encounter, on the possibility of relying on the other and recognizing oneself in a common point by presenting one’s own diversity.
In a negotiation with memory, with its consolidation and stratification in the bodies, the choreography dialogues with oblivion, with the dynamics of resistance towards it but also with the space left by its right.
The body here is intended as a political body that absorbs and returns the signs of the present, responding to those political forces that aim to amplify the fear of the different, fueling racism and xenophobia. The project aims to choreographically verify if a new positive globalization based on the exchange between cultures and visions is possible and if dance can witness new glimpses of humanity.

Giovanfrancesco Giannini, born in Naples in 1990, currently collaborates with Alessandro Sciarroni, Cia Aiep Ariella Vidach (Milan), Cie Eco Emilio Calcagno (Paris), Fabbrica Europa (Florence), Cia Korper (Naples), ZA Danceworks. His works have been presented in the festivals Nao Performing Festival, FOG Triennale performing festival, Fabbrica Europa, Romaeuropa, CCDC festival Hong Kong, Korperperformer Napoli.

Fabio Novembrini is a freelance dancer based in Florence. He worked as a performer for the exhibition The Cleaner by Marina Abramovich, with Collettivo Cinetico in the production How to destroy your dance and with Masako Mastushita in Trusted Device. In parallel he is also developing a personal research and in 2018 he created his first solo When I was in Stoccolma selected by the platform of the young author dance, Anticorpi. He danced for the Balletto di Roma directed by Roberto Casarotto. In 2015 he was selected as an artist for the European project Dancing Museums and in the same year he created his first work, Shelter, with the artist Roberta Racis.

Valentina Zappa, born in Siena in 1992, trained as dancer at “Scuola del Balletto di Toscana” and “Opus Ballet” in Florence. As a freelance dancer she collaborated with Philippe Talard, Jean Guillame Weis, Hannah Ma, Giovanni Zazzera, Saeed Hani and Sang Jijia. She also worked in a short movie directed by Maurice Lai and choreographed by Noel Pong.

concept and choreography: Giovanfrancesco Giannini, Fabio Novembrini, Valentina Zappa
with the contribution of the artist Dianling Zhang
dramaturgy: Fabrizio Massini
with the support of Crossing the sea, SETA Hong Kong, Er Gao dance production Guangzhou, Compagnia Virgilio Sieni
production: Fabbrica Europa, Compagnia Simona Bucci, Aiep Ariella Vidach, Körper

[photo: Gianluca Trusso Forgia]