German première

Physical beauty reflects purity and humanity. Nine people convey identity, dreams and seduction with their ideal measurements and enticing dance. However, their bodies are made up of bones, joints, nerves and muscles. Sublime appearance becomes anatomic analysis. Rhythm and movement freeze into immobility; vibrant hectic rushes wait for the echo, which is followed only by a cryptic silence.

»I am lovely, O mortals, like a dream of stone, and my bosom, where each one gets bruised in turn, to inspire the love of a poet is prone, like matter eternally silent and stern.« The poem »La beauté« (»Beauty«) by Charles Baudelaire from his collection »Les fleurs du mal« (»The flowers of evil«) inspired Auguste Rodin to create his sculptures »Je suis belle« (»I am beautiful«, 1882). Roberto Zappalà then drew on Rodin’s work to create his opulent dance piece of the same name »I am beautiful«.

Roberto Zappalà, born in 1961 in Catania / Sicily, belongs to Italy’s most famous choreographers. He founded his own company in his home town in 1989; he has been its artistic director to this day. His over 40 choreographies have been presented throughout the world. »La nona« (»The ninth«), based on Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, was awarded the Danza & Danza prize as the best Italian dance piece in 2015.

Puccio Castrogiovanni founded the music group Lautari in Catania in 1988. His composition for »I am beautiful« mixes traditional Sicilian folk music with contemporary music in an extremely original way. Lautari has been working with the Compagnia Zappalà Danza since 2007.