1994 - "Futurismo e dintorni"

I Balli Plastici

I BALLI PLASTICI BY FORTUNATO DEPERO

SHADOWS
It is the most abstract action, totally based on moving constructions of shadows and coloured lights, on the music by Bartok, who wrote it under the pseudonym of Chemenow. Shadows makes reference to the theatre of shadow and light of Balla and Prampolini.
CLOWNS
The scene is composed of crimson cloth wings with zigzagged borders and big strips of cloth in rhomboid forms forming the framework of a stylized and plastic green landscape. In the front, on both sides, there are multicoloured trees in geometric thorny forms. A line of puppet-clowns, white lacquered, walk in a fun rhytmed way and dance a sort of Russian popular dance listening to a piano music. Contrasts of colours enhance the emotion conveyed by music. The clowns go out and the big dancer enters: while she is dancing, two red and yellow clowns look at a hen laying eggs.
THE MAN WITH A MOUSTACHE
A man with a moustache is walking on a golden street and multiplies: it appears a series of men with moustaches of different sizes. At the end they disappear one after the other, until just the first man remains on the stage. The whole scenary takes part in his mechanical dance. Then a blue dancer appears and a black cat eats a white mouse after playing with it. Final rain of cigarettes while three drunk men with moustache dance.
THE SAVAGES
A group of black savages on the frontstage and a group of red savages on the backstage are dancing and struggling under changing lights: red light on a black background and black light on a red background. In a total and sudden darkness green eyes shine After a mechanical duel between two savages, the one red and the other one black, to possess a big savage woman, the stage is again plunged into darkness: other green eyes shine, then the belly of the giant opens revealing a little green theatre extremely bright, where a small silver savage is dancing with a red heart in his hand. Out of the mother's belly, he will be divored in short time by a big green snake.
THE BLUE BEAR
A bear is dancing with an ape. The action, which probably derived from the "Zoo", is based on the comical hints suggested by the dance of a bear and an ape.