Holy Shift & Rhapsody in blue

As part of Scintille. The part is a Whole, the 2026 season of ORBITA | Spellbound - National Dance Production Center, the Teatro Ambra Jovinelli is hosting two different creations on the same evening that explore imagery, movement and vision: Holy shift by Mauro Astolfi for Spellbound Contemporary Ballet and Rhapsody in blue by CCN/Aterballetto with choreography by Iratxe Ansa and Igor Bacovich.

One of the most prolific and acclaimed contemporary dance authors, engaged both as a choreographer and teacher, Mauro Astolfi founded the Spellbound Contemporary Ballet company in 1994. His dynamic and intensely physical language combines technical virtuosity, dramaturgical research and aesthetic sensitivity. Holy Shift represents a paradigm shift, a ritual of transformation that pushes dancers beyond their limits, a kind of “sacred” disorientation that invites us to delve into the fragility of certainties and recognise new possibilities in chaos.

Partners in art and in life, Iratxe Ansa and Igor Bacovich founded Metamorphosis Dance in 2013, an artistic project where their experiences find an idyllic synthesis in a rigorous, physical, abstract yet lyrical language, constructed through movement that is always surprising and impeccable. In 2024, the couple were invited by the Aterballetto National Choreographic Center in Reggio Emilia to create a new piece for the sixteen dancers of the resident company. Their piece takes its title and music from George Gershwin’s masterpiece and is a sort of joyful dreamlike journey through an enchanted forest, illuminated by a huge, fascinating moon that occupies the center of the backdrop.

Header: CCN-Aterballetto, Rhapsody in blue, photo Christophe Bernard