performanceFrancesca FoscariniAnimal

A performance that interweaves art and nature, exploring the deep connection between living beings, inspired by the unique vision of Antonio Ligabue.

Inspired by the painter Antonio Ligabue and his interest in the animal world and self-portraiture, Animale explores the common Indo-European root ane (breath) of the Italian words anima and animale and their many variants. What do humans have in common with other animals and what is their singularity, their ‘soul’ as a species? And how does this singular ‘animality’ relate to nature?
The tragic nature of life is countered by the hope given by a sudden and unexpected sign: it is the human (animal?) feeling, our gaze into the world. Intuitions not dissimilar to those of the ‘animal painter’, as he liked to call himself, Antonio Ligabue, when he painted a nature of struggle in which every living creature is a prisoner of its own instinct, of its own destiny as a species, where one kills and is killed, and no escape is possible, but at the same time, like a sudden promise of paradise, a butterfly takes flight, a flower opens, a delicate dragonfly hovers in the fresh morning air.

conception and creation Francesca Foscarini e Cosimo Lopalco
choreography Francesca Foscarini
original music Andrea Cera
video Licor ne Maider Fortune
Lighting design Luca Serafini
Technical support Alex Nesti
consulting and video-projection programming Andrea Santini,
Costumes Giuseppe Parisotto
Voices Miki Seltzer in Genesi 2 (19-20), Bela Lugosi in Bride of the Monster Ed Wood
Sound Seals Martin Clarke
summer Seals Martin Clarke, Summer Sunset Eckhard Kuchenbecker, Tikal Dawn Andreas Bick