Gaga Dance in Monferrato: dance to free yourself

Land your body collapse. Collapse. Collapse.
So your body learns to fall while standing. A hand, an arm or a single leg may fall off, while nearly 100 other people around you learn about it. Never stop dancing. Watch and learn by following the technique of mirroringimitation of movements here guided by the metaphorical (and often very ironic) words of dancers who are teachers of Gaga: movement language based on improvisation, developed for professionals and now also loved by beginners or enthusiasts from all over the world.

I decided to try my hand at this art born from the creativity of Ohad Naharinfamous Israeli choreographer of the Batsheva Dance Companydefined by the New York Times as “one of the greatest choreographers and among the best companies in the world”.

Where does the Gaga Dance come from

Gaga comes to life from Naharin’s need to communicate with his dancers and his curiosity in the search for movement. Movements to observe, in the architectural structure The Eyecreated in Moncalvo in the heart of Monferrato, in the splendor of Ursuline28: international center for dance, residence for choreographers and dancers, venue for workshops but also an open-air theater with a dense, fascinating summer program.

A place born from the will of founder Simony Monteiro, New York dancer of Brazilian descent. In this land of 20 thousand square meters, the slender design of The Eye was developed together with Ohad. Is it no coincidence that Naharin, at Orsolina’s, reveals that he feels… at home? «Without the “how”. Here, I really feel at home.”

The Gaga Dance in Orsolina28

Piece of cake. Piece of cake.
Just thinking about it can make you a child again, make you light, give you a smile. Always dancing. Perceiving themselves crackling like corn flakes, airy like a cloud… as the teachers repeat, using the now famous phrases of the “Gaga vocabulary”. Listening, in your own head, the lightness of the word “Up” or the slow intensity of the “Down”: «The movement changes, thinking about it, right?».

One of the various questions that Naharin poses in the classes of Gaga People where many citizens of the world move, coming from Italy (a few), from its Tel Aviv, but also from Switzerland, France, Germany, New York, even Australia… Men and women from twenty to seventy years old. Ready to question themselves in body and mindthrowing every limb in the air (and in the air, any composure) to follow the liberating and creative movement of Gaga.

No, this is not a deluxe version of the ecstatic dance so loved by the people of Ibiza, to dance barefoot without inhibitions… «Nice to feel the spiritual trait. But I remain very pragmatic,” he underlines the hypnotic, highly fascinating choreographer, now 71 years old. This is not the right place to tell the intense, mysterious, enlightened life: from the childhood kibbutz to the most famous theaters in the world. To find out (highly recommended viewing) we refer you to Mr Gagawhich became in 2016 the most successful documentary film in Israeli historyin which Tomer Heymann talks about its existence, from experiences with dance icons such as Marta Graham and Maurice Béjart.

Man of charisma? Reductive. The sacred fire of art (and dance) Ohad transmits it every day. In this case also to those who, in the dense room of her gaze and of her every gesture, slowly imitate Gaga’s movements shown directly by her master. Ohad admits that he has become “less confrontational and more understanding with my dancers” thanks to the Gaga technique: many people who during this Gaga Eden tell of having freed themselves from anxieties, fears and then pains due to accidents, hospitalizations and long illnesses. The energy of that invisible thread that unites body and psyche, blocked for some, is put back into circulation.

A summer of wellness in Monferrato

At Orsolina28, enjoying the Piedmontese nature of this little paradise, people socialize in its lively glamping (among deluxe tents, shining under the trees) and in the refreshment room, the Serra dei Limoni where we meet for appetizing breakfast, lunch and dinner, strictly at Zero Kilometers, as the clearly visible vegetable fields in front of its structure certify.

Soon the young people of companies that this structure hosts will arrive to support the rehearsals thanks to the Orsolina28 Art Foundation, in its 5 dance halls. From the smallest realities, welcomed for 22 days for free (indeed, paid to develop their own project) asking in exchange only to bring the same show to the open-air stage. Initiatives open since last year also to the world of music, with Sunday morning concerts, prepared in the previous days by young musicians welcomed into the residence.
Then there are the masterclasses held by some of the most famous choreographers in the world (for a fee), where professional dancers finally meet some of their myths. Attention: tents, reception, restaurant (but also gyms for yoga, pilates, gyrotonic, chlorine-free pools and much more) are open to those who decide to buy tickets for the many activities promoted in this locus amoenus of art by booking, for example, concerts with dinner offered in the crystalline Serra dei Limoni in the middle of the greenery or musical Sunday lunches with the artists of the many concerts… as confirmed by this busy calendar of Showsof which you will find below some examples:

June 10th
Focus on Creation – Rachelle Anaïs Scott: Memoir / Ethan Colangelo: On blurred edges show at 19:30 followed by dinner

June 24th
Focus on Creation – Jacob Jonas The Company

25 June – 2 July
Jacob Jonas Intensive Program ’23 – For dancers with Jacob Jonas and his Company.

9 – 16 July
NUNES/FLOCK Creation Program ’23 – Week-long workshop with renowned choreographer Juliano Nunes (culminating in a performance at the end of the workshop) and the dancer/choreographer duo FLOCK, Alice Klock and Florian Lochner

July 15th, 7.30pm
Nunes / FLOCK creation program Student open sharing
Aperitif at sunset at 5.30pm, Show @OpenAirStage and dinner with the artists at 8.45pm

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