An internationally renowned choreographer of Tibetan origin, active in China, Sang Jijia, and one of the most prolific independent contemporary dance companies in Italy based in Rome. Apparently, nothing could be further apart if it weren’t for a special project promoted by Fabbrica Europa and several international partners that brought them together.
And successfully so. From this unprecedented pairing was born the show PA|ETHOS for nine performers of Spellbound Contemporary Ballet, founded in 1994 by Mauro Astolfi, the ensemble's leading director and choreographer.
PA|ETHOS is a work that masterfully combines the East and the West, drawing inspiration from Aristotle's Rhetoric. It is well known that the great Greek philosopher, in outlining the characteristics of the orator essential for convincing the audience, introduced the concepts of ethos and pathos, that is, moral character and emotion, in discourse. The former refers to the orator's attitude; the latter to the state of mind of the listener. Sang Jijia reflects on the art of persuasion to express two different approaches to the theme of ‘choreographic discourse’: ethos, in this case, would highlight precision, while pathos would emphasize passion and expression.
Thus, in PA|ETHOS, we see a series of movement styles drawn from both ancient Eastern arts and the expressiveness of contemporary Western dance, with nods to the formalism of William Forsythe, with whom Jijia has collaborated extensively. In the first part of the performance, Jijia explores the aspect of movement connected to the rules of social life in which interpersonal relationships are rigidly paced; in the second part, emotions are transferred into physicality, culminating in the total transparency of the body.
The soul reveals itself in its integrity. Set to original music by the renowned composer Dickson Dee, PA|ETHOS also benefits from the valuable collaboration of Luca Brinchi and Roberta Zanardo, who created the virtual set design, and Marco Policastro for the lighting design.
