The OperaEstate festival in Bassano del Grappa (Italy) is a dance, theater, classical and modern music, art installation festival.
Choreographer Ian Yves Ancheta was here in residence during the ‘spring edition’ in April 2022. Together with Dance Well, a research project for people with Parkinson’s, he has made a special piece in the churches of Italy between beautiful images.Together they created an open playground where compositional forms appeared while connecting to the moving body. Instead of initiating, they released the movement and put patience and deep listening skills to the test.
– How did you experience this?
”In the beginning it was a challenge because tuning in to this work requires time. We also entered the proposals with a sense of eagerness which didn’t always help with the patience. However, this ultimately led to a lively, welcoming and inspiring working environment. And that’s the most important thing for me and I really enjoyed that.”
– What impressed you the most?
”I was especially impressed with how much knowledge and experience the dancers have in working with the concepts we were trying to embody. They were articulating the complexity of the work for me to gain a new understanding of it. It was an enriching process that I learned a lot from. I am very inspired and touched by these beautiful dancers!”
In many ways, Ian’s interests often revolve around navigating uncertainty. The work with Dance Well has challenged him to portray this in a creative, light-hearted and tangible way. He describes this experience as an ongoing exercise that inspired him through this work. He calls it a life skill that he hopes to continue developing and sharing in his work. Furthermore, Ian has experienced that this research has worked for people with Parkinson’s. He believes this approach has potential for other groups as well. Ian has plans to try it in the future with students and as a participatory proposal for an audience.
