“I shall take you with me on my journey from hell to paradise; as for any pilgrimage toward a sacred place, it does not matter how well-trod the route is, for everyone takes a path no one has ever walked before”: Sergei Polunin wrote these words to present his project Metànoia, which, like every true journey, is still seeking its way past the obstacles of this annus horribilis.
The world premiere of Metànoia – a Ravenna Festival’s commission for a three-part choreography divided into Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso – had to be postponed to 2021, but Polunin’s words are the best encouragement for the return of the Autumn Trilogy from 4 to 10 November. This year Cristina Mazzavillani Muti’s project, that since 2012 has extended the Festival’s programme to the autumn months, unfolds under the sign of Dante’s journey, always so true and relatable, other-worldly but also worldly, and so close to mankind’s sorrows. In the year of the celebrations for the seventh centenary of Dante’s death in Ravenna, the Festival, for which the Poet’s life and works have always been an inspiration, develops the “triptych” format through the languages of dance, music, and poetry into a journey of the Soul, in search of the lost Self.
Such is the journey of Faust rapsodia, in the Alighieri Theatre on November 7, 9, and 10: the new production, directed by Luca Micheletti and with Antonio Greco at the head of the Cherubini Orchestra and Chorus, blends Goethe’s Faust to Robert Schumann’s music. According to the Medieval symbolism, the journey is illuminated by the Woman as an instrument of redemption; the itinerary begins from the performance Quanto in femmina foco d’amor, a meditation on the female characters in the Commedia, scheduled at 7.30 pm in the Basilica of San Francesco.
For Pas de deux for toes and fingers, at the Pala De André from 4 to 6 November, the diva of the pointe shoes Svetlana Zakharova marries her art to the violin of her partner Vadim Repin – at her side the Bolshoi colleagues Denis Rodkin, Mikhail Lobukhin, Jacopo Tissi, and Denis Medvedev; at his side the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra. The programme is a gallery of precious choreographic and musical miniatures, each one of them aimed at highlighting the virtuosity of the artists.
The Autumn Trilogy, last installment of the 31st edition of Ravenna Festival, of which ENI is the main sponsor, has been made possible by the support of the Municipality of Ravenna, the Camera di Commercio, the Emilia-Romagna Region, and the Ministry of Culture, with the contribution of Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ravenna and of Copura, sponsor Intesa Sanpaolo.
Info and pre-sales (Zakharova-Repin from Oct 26): +39 0544 249244 www.ravennafestival.org
Tickets for the Pala De André and the Alighieri Theatre: 40 Euro (I sector), 20 Euro (II sector). The ticket for the Alighieri Theatre includes the entrance to the Basilica of San Francesco.
Carnet two performances with a 15%-discount
The Festival for the young people: under 18 and university students 50% discount; under 14 5 Euro accompanied by an adult person.
Tickets can be purchased online from ravennafestival.org, by phone (+39 0544 249244) and from the Ticket Office of the Alighieri Theatre (only by appointment, booking +39 0544 249244 Mon-Sat 9-13); from all the branches of La Cassa di Ravenna Spa and the tourist info-points.