by Valentina Fin and Camilla Monga

Music: Valentina Fin, Manuel Caliumi, Marcello Abate
Direction, choreography, stage design and lighting: Camilla Monga
Dance: Francesco Valli and Camilla Monga
Production: Nexus Factory
Co-production: VAN, Festival Danza in Rete, Armunia

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Cohors traces a unique narrative that brings to the stage some of the most representative female figures in early music, told through the works of some of the most important composers of the period.

The musical and choreographic journey begins with Hildegard von Bingen, medieval mystic and visionary composer, and then traverses fundamental episodes of the early musical tradition: the story of Clorinda and Tancredi, Dido’s yearning lament and the melancholy lament of the Nymph, all the way to Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa’s Ardita Zanzaretta.

Through the compositions of Monteverdi, Purcell, and Gesualdo, the performance develops into a sound and choreographed narrative that interweaves voice, gesture and music, exploring atmospheres of experimentation. Ancient scores are reinterpreted with a modern dramatic tension, where dissonances and improvisational variations move between tradition and contemporaneity.

The stage arrangement sees the musicians and singer in direct dialogue with the dance, incorporating the body as an integrated element of the musical score. The presence of the female voice becomes dramaturgical fulcrum, capable of influencing gestures and postures, evoking passions and dynamics that traverse fragility and strength.

In Cohors, dance and music come together to create a performative rite that restores the timeless power of ancient music, transforming it into a living anachronism, where audience and performers share an immersive experience of listening, movement and imagination.

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