“Second star to the right, this is the path”…And many bright stars have appeared in the artistic sky of Messina in the last 20 years, capable of shining even when the darkness of the pandemic seemed to have obscured all hope. The school of dance, music and performing arts has blown out 20 candles “Dance Studio” by Mariangela Bonannoa grateful daughter of the city of the Strait who has made available to girls and boys the talent and knowledge acquired through years of study and training, allowing them to discover and cultivate their own talent by fueling their passion for what she herself defines as “noble and pure, beautiful and hard art”.
A happy Island, the one created by the teacher and artist from Messina in love with dance, a discipline “that transmits virtuous qualities, a house that welcomes, shapes and tempers lovingly, offering discipline and perseverance”, unparalleled virtues capable of giving shape to the person, a space suspended between dream and reality told in the homonymous show with which the school wanted to celebrate this first important milestone. On the stage of the glorious Vittorio Emanuele Theateran undisputed temple of art and culture – the “home of the people of Messina” like the president Horace Milorus loves to define it – to “speak” while dancing, after waking up from a long sleep, are famous characters from fairy tales and historical novels, loved by adults and children because they are the custodians of an ever-present “moral”. Six performances in five days, which have sold out: a great success that of The Happy Islandthe show that collects the most significant performances realized by the school from 2004 to today. After being freed from the prison in which Captain Hook had placed her, the sparkling Tinker Bell, winged fairy companion of the eternal child Peter Pan, embarks on a new journey that will take her to the Happy Island, where all the virtues delivered, along the way, to the friends she meets are contained. They are the protagonists of Alice says (Alice in Wonderland), Cinderella, The world is Mine (Aladdin), The Unnamed Love (The Betrothed), Masquerade (The Phantom of the Opera) and wam (Amadeus), which took shape in the highly original choreographies of classical, modern, contemporary, hip hop and breakdance performed by students trained by the teachers/choreographers Alice Rella, Giorgia Di Giovanni, Desirèe Trovatello and Giovanni Bertuccio, Domelita Abate, Francesco La Vecchia, Gianluca La Spada, Maria Luisa Cucinotta and naturally Mariangela Bonanno.
A story of stories that, thanks to the stainless directed by Valerio Vella with its 3D stage effects, holograms and video projections, enhanced by the lighting design by Danilo La Rosa, it catapulted the audience into an exciting parallel reality. Bonanno, moved, during the last performance wanted to remember how important realities such as the Marvan Company (of which she herself is the artistic director) – made up of students and former students who are now professionals – which in over ten years has staged dance theatre shows with live music that were particularly appreciated, the project “Racconti in danza” aimed at schools in the city and province and various training and dissemination activities on dance as a composite discipline promoted by thecultural association Dis (Danza in Salute – Sicily) and Asild (Sicilian association of teachers with degrees in dance of which Bonanno is president); with her on stage Aurelio Verzerapresident of the Paolo Ferretti Foundation Ets who supported the show.
It was remembered with great pride how the school has trained young people admitted to the most important national and foreign specialization schools; for this reason, wanting to support the training of some of the most talented students, Studio Danza has awarded five scholarships lasting one year Maurice Russian (100%), Mariachiara Crimi, Chiara Paladino, Arianna Oliva and Ilaria Raffa (50%).