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New Breed Choreographer Spotlight: Davide Di Giovanni

published

22 November 2019

Photographer

Predro Greig

Davide Di Giovanni started his dance life in Teatro Alla Scala in Milan when he was 15. Since then, he spent time at ballet school Balletto Di Toscana, has worked for the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz with choreographers Marco Göcke, Alexander Ekman and Jø Strømgren, danced in William Forsythe’s One Flat Thing and worked on new creations with Christopher Roman, Nanine Linning, Georg Reischl and Jacopo Godani. The Company dancer is now one of four choreographers for this year’s New Breed.

Q. How would you describe your choreographic style?

Contemporary! I believe that the most contemporary way of dance is classical movements, seen from another point of view.

Q. Does the music play a big role in your creative process?

Yes, the music plays a big role in my work. When I dance I feel the notes inside my movements. I imagine myself in between the music world and the physical. I believe my choreography is the result of the union of this.

Q. What is the inspiration for your work In Walked Bud?

The inspiration for my work is a silent movie and how fascinating and deep that world is for me. There was no space for voices but only faces and body languages on a black and white platform full of shade and light. All of that is mixed together with a piece of jazz improvisation based on a famous theme called In Walked Bud.

Q. What can audiences expect from your work?

Picture a scene from an old time movie that brings them to question things of this time.

Q. What has been your career highlight so far?

My career highlight was teaching at Paris Opéra and seeing something that I created with my body and my soul, and have it transferred to another body will never get old.

Q. What are you currently listening to and which books are on your bedside table?

I’m currently listening to classical music by Rachmaninoff, Chopin and Ravel. Pretty romantic and nostalgic vibes. I like to mix it with jazz or electronic and bring myself back to earth by the rhythm. Books at the moment: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, Find Me by André Aciman and Harry Potter; always since I was a kid.

Q. Who/what are your influencers?

I’m most influenced by the artists and geniuses of this world. The ones that speak of love, death and time. Choreographers like Marco Goecke, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián. As well as fashion designers Prada and Ludovic de Saint Sernin.

See Davide's latest work In Walked Bud as part of New Breed from 28 November to 7 December in Sydney.
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