hear the silence
for Residenza No.12 - Saluzzo (CN) Italy
The choreographic residency in Saluzzo represents a key stage in the international project developed by EIDART, Varna Dance Theater Foundation, Polish choreographer Anna Hop, dancer and choreographer Federico Zeno Bassanese, and theatre director Joseph Alford, with contributions from Dorotea Crameri and Edo Frenkel (electronic music and sound dramaturgy), the VR production team led by Konrad Ziaja, and with the support of the Polish Dance Theatre. At the heart of the research lies the intersection between body, technology, and augmented reality—a pressing reflection on our contemporary world.
This residency is part of a three-year project unfolding across Poland, Bulgaria, Italy, Germany, and other European countries, and is included in the “Residenza No.12” program.
The Saluzzo stage will offer a group of artists the opportunity to alternate between choreographic research and creative rest, within a context that fosters cultural exchange, dialogue between practices, and the development of a shared performative vision.
The core of the research focuses on relational dynamics between the real and virtual worlds, exploring how technology is reshaping our habits, our physical language, and our relationship with solitude. The dancers will move between choreography, improvisation, and interaction with electronic sound, in a sensitive inquiry into how the body changes when it exists solely through the mediation of an interface.
Inspired by the dystopian world of George Orwell’s 1984, the dramaturgy takes the shape of a contemporary fable: a person lives immersed in a hyperconnected reality, yet remains profoundly alone. Relief appears in the form of an AI “companion,” which at first seems to offer presence and rhythm, but gradually reveals itself as another kind of algorithmic prison. Only when reality breaks in—through an unexpected visit, a child, a human gaze—does a glimpse of authentic connection re-emerge.
The residency is conceived as a space for reflection, listening, and creation—a time to nurture the creative process without the pressure to deliver immediate results, fully aligned with the objectives of the hosting program. The choreographic research becomes a tool for investigating urgent questions: how does the body change when it lives in the virtual? How does it move when interacting only with intangible entities? What rhythm defines a day without pauses, dictated by algorithms and advertising? And finally, what happens when the real—a neighbor, an infant, a glance—breaks into the screened-off space?
In Saluzzo, the work will take shape through direct exchange among artists from different nationalities, aiming to connect territories, languages, and generations through an immersive and transcultural artistic experience.
Through this project, the creative team seeks to ask—both of themselves and the audience—a crucial question: Where is the boundary between the real and the artificial today? And above all, where does the human find refuge?
TEAM
Coreographer and Project Manager: Federico Zeno Bassanese
Artistic Advisor: Gennaro Chianese
Composer and Musician: Dorotea Crameri
Dancers: Fiammetta Gotta, Emma Frandino, Daniel Agudo Gallardo
