The Festival gives the floor to the next generation of artists: daily at 11 am the Ancient Franciscan Cloisters by the Tomb of Dante turns into stage for events that celebrate, rediscover, explore the Poet’s extraordinary legacy. At the helm, students, actors, musicians, dancers; participants to the call with the same name and local subjects. In collaboration with Comune di Ravenna, thanks to Società Dante Alighieri and Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ravenna that owns the Cloisters, the Festival renews its commitment to make Dante’s heritage a living part of its programme with the 39 performances of Young Artists for Dante and the seven different events, always for a 1-euro ticket.
L’amore degli angeli (The Love of the Angels, June 6-8) of the Liceo Artistico “Nervi-Severini” di Ravenna opens Young Artists for Dante. Starting from a 19th-century sculpture by Giulio Bergonzoli, whose original cast is kept at the Accademia di Belle Arti, the play reflects on the nature of Art and praises depth – that third dimension which features in sculpture as much as in theatre – as opposed to the quick, mindless, and often banal vision of the world mirrored by the two-dimensional hi-tech screens. The Cloisters then showcase the work-in-progress of Who Cares? (June 9-15) that – within Sedimenti (a section of the project Petrolio by Matera2019, dedicated to the relationship between man and nature) – makes Ravenna one of the creative residences for four young choreographers of the Mediterranean, that “sea in the middle of lands” whose vocation is to unite rather than separate. Back to the future with Dante 2k21 (June 16-20) of the Collettivo Lunedidante, that imagines a time when the Comedy has become obscure and the new language of the year 2121 – a melting pot of rap language, tech lingo, Anglicisms, abbreviations, intensifiers – challenges Dante’s language. Another impossibile journey with Le stelle di Dante (The Stars of Dante, June 21-27), in the company of two bizarre robotic aliens discovering Dante’s work: the funny and singular narrative by puppets of All’inCirco is also a chance to wonder on the relationship between science and poetry. Il canto dei diavoli (The Canto of the Demons, June 28 – July 4) focuses on the canto XXI of the Inferno, where corrupt politicians are punished in boiling pitch and where the worst species of demons live – the Malebranche! With a group of children in the role of the demons and actors Franco Costantini, Giovanna Vigilanti, and Cesare Flamigni, Malebolge Club also includes songs and clowning. The surviving Greek music has inspired Teleion (July 5-11) with Camilla Lopez (vocals and percussions) and Matteo Ramon Arevalos (piano, prepared piano, and percussions) trying to combine ancient and contemporary sounds to conjure imaginary days of yore. But what does Bob Dylan share with Dante Alighieri? Bob Dylan in Hell (July 12-14) is a journey through Dante’s Inferno with the songs of American singer-songwriter and Nobel prize winner Bob Dylan, with the Malafesta Theatre Company and based on the book of the same title by Luca Grossi.
