The fifteenth edition of the international Teatro a Corte Festival continues the exploration of the contemporary European scene through a plurality of languages, from dance to circus, from figure theatre, to video performance.
The UK is represented by incredible and very different artists: Billy Cowie, Gandini Juggling and Gob Squad.
Gandini Juggling, described by The Times as "A splendind blend of talents imbued with both elegance and wit", is the vanguard of contemporary circus. At the festival, they perform 8 Songs, a series of choreographed juggling vignettes set to 8 classic rock and roll songs, which is a tribute to the mythical landscape of popular music. From Dylan’s stream of consciousness realms to the Velvet Underground’s troubling landscapes, from David Bowie’s soulful escapades to the rocking Rolling Stone’s anthemic joy de vivre. (Stupinigi, 18 July @ 17:30 / 18:00).
Gob Squad is a group formed by UK and German artists. Their performances and videos search for beauty in the everyday and try and explore the point where theatre meets art, media and real life. Western Society (which the NY Times describes as “Truly profound… a deliriously sane portrait of the age of the selfie… they show a portrait of civilisation in the 21st century") is a sort of frame through which we can peep into the living room of an unknown family, and ... recognize ourselves. (Teatro Astra, 23 July @ 21:00).
Billy Cowie is an artist with a multifaceted personality: he works as a professor at the University of Brighton, he is a writer, filmmaker and soundtrack composer working in the field of theatre and dance performances and installations. At his third participation to the Teatro a Corte, he presents a performance entitled Art of Movement, a combination of video dancers and two real dancers, cleverly camouflaged in the virtual reality and which makes them indistinguishable from the live dimension. (Rivoli, 1 August @ 16:30 / 18:00).