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EsOn tour • Created in 2021
White Out
The conquest of the useless
Piergiorgio Milano [Be/It]
Dance, circus, alpinism
When mountaineering becomes a stunning experience, a fusion between dance, theatre and contemporary circus. Piergiorgio Milano achieves a feat: restoring on the flat of a scene the emotions linked to the vertiginous verticality and immensity of the high mountains. Skis, karabiners, ropes are here diverted to create powerful images and new choreographic possibilities.
In mountaineering, the term “white out” refers to the complete loss of landmarks due to particular weather conditions: snow and clouds distort the reflection of light, creating an apparent uniformity between sky and land and making it impossible to move in any direction.
White Out is an ironic and dramatic, amusing and poignant journey, not only into the natural landscape evoked on stage but into the human inner self. The mountain, therefore, as a mirror of man.
Freely inspired by the writings of mountaineers Walter Bonatti, Giampiero Motti, Enrico Camanni, Jon Krakuer, Joe Simpson, Mark Twight, Reinhold Messner.
“The highest ambition of this show is to transform mountaineering into an artistic language. To create a choreographic experience and a visual synthesis in such a strong way, that the vastity of the mountain is transported inside the theatre, so the audience could breath and taste the snow, the storm, the rocky vertical cliffs.”
Piergiorgio Milano
Credits
Writing, directing and choreography Piergiorgio Milano With Javier Varela Carrera, Piergiorgio Milano, Luca Torrenzieri With the essential help of Florent Hamon Lighting design Bruno Teutsch Costumes and sets Raphaël Lamy, Simona Randazzo, Piergiorgio Milano Sound creation Federico Dal Pozzo Many thanks to Francesco Sgro, Matias Kruger Co-producers Torinodanza festival – Teatro Stabile di Torino Teatro Nazionale // Malraux scène nationale Chambéry Savoie dans le cadre de ‘Corpo Links Cluster’ soutenu par PC INTERREG V A – Italia-Francia (ALCOTRA 2014-2020) // Les Halles de Schaerbeek // Fondazione i Teatri Reggio Emilia // Flic – Reale società ginnastica di Torino // Teatro La Caduta Résidences Flic – Residenza Surreale // Fondazione Emilia Romagna Teatro // Teatro Asioli di Correggio // La corte Ospitale // Teatro Frida // Dinamico Festival // Garage 29 // Festival Moncirco With the support of Maison de la Culture Famenne-Ardenne, La Cocof, Théâtre Marni, Compagnia di San Paolo dans le cadre de “ORA! Produzioni di Cultura Contemporanea”, Wallonie-Bruxelles International (WBI)
Piergiorgio Milano is an artist full of inventiveness, who does good, giving vitality to visual theatre, physical theatre, in the wake of Castellucci, Pipo Delbono, Pina Bausch. There is a spectacular dimension in the sense that there is a physical level and a technicality that sweeps everyone off their feet, that is very federative, a writing that is not at all narrative, that is very clever, a plastic quality of the composition that makes it, for me, a proposition that sweeps everyone off their feet.
Our favourite was White Out. Contemporary circus, revisited as an alpine circus. A breathtaking performance, transporting the audience into the immensity of the mountains, with the help of appropriate equipment: carabiners, skis, ropes, harnesses… A creative and choreographic challenge that is truly out of the ordinary…
And Piergiorgio Milano, choreographer and performer, with a skilful blend of dance, theatre and circus arts, accompanies us, with the poetry of movement, with the strength and aesthetics of gesture, with the fascination of the imagination, into this world that is not only evoked but also punctuated by life stories. And we were completely fascinated by this.
The movement frees itself, in communion with its partners, for a poetic score carried by a crescendo of music ranging from Whitney Huston to Lou Reed. A sound set that was one of the main components of the show, which evokes the tireless and useless quest of man.
The company
Piergiorgio Milano [Be/It]
Choreographer, dancer and acrobat
“My choreographic language is the result of years of research into the encounter between dance, theatre and circus arts. My performances are characterised by a strong theatrical aestheticism on which dance can rely and develop in full freedom of poetry and virtuosity. I am situated on the border between different arts, categories or disciplines; it is in the tendency to go beyond this border that I find the strength that will feed my creative processes. I dedicate myself entirely to this so that my work will be the fruit of this radical contamination between dance, circus and theatre.”
Collaborations
Piergiorgio Milano has worked and collaborated with many international artists including: James Thiérrée, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Rodrigo Pardo, David Zambrano, Roberto Olivan, Raffaella Giordano and Boris Gibé, for whom he plays the second cast of his show L’Absolu. He created and directed the choreography for the film “Il Flauto Magico”, produced by the Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio and Paco Cinematografica Roma.
He teaches physical theatre and contemporary dance in various European schools and companies, including: SEAD University of Contemporary Dance, Salzburg; Danscentrumjette, Brussels; Athens Video Dance Festival; Tripspace, London; Université du sport de Chambéry; Opus Ballet – Florence; École de cirque de Lomme, Lille; Le Lido, Toulouse Circus School; Flic, Turin Circus School.
