by Cesare Zucca

I’ve been following NoGravity for years, and they always manage to bring something new and captivating to the stage each season. But their new production, AVANGARD, the show that debuted tonight Teatro Menotti, Milano, completely blew me away.
Directed with his signature brilliance, Emiliano Pellisari has crafted countless moments of sheer beauty and sublime harmony.

On stage, six powerhouse performer-acrobats—true dancer-athletes—move beneath an overhead camera that captures their every motion, projecting it live onto a massive screen. Clad in nude-effect costumes, they execute movements that are fluid, effortless, and astonishingly precise.

The imagery ranges from breathtaking moments of weightlessness to a cheeky spin on classical ballet (trading traditional tutus for newspapers), along with evocative fan dances and intricate geometric routines involving six design chairs that constantly lock together into unexpected, captivating architectural forms.

The six performers at the heart of this hypnotic new show are nothing short of phenomenal. It’s an absolute triumph that deserves to be a massive hit, not just in Italy, but on international stages worldwide.

Eccezionali le sei protagoniste di questo nuovo, accattivante, ipnotiizzante show, che secondo me, avrà un enorme successo e non solo in Italia, ma anche all’estero.

Grazie.Milan:till November 8th, Teatro Menotti Hosts AVANTGARDE, a visual and performance manifesto celebrating 20 years of NoGravity Theatre. The show seamlessly blends contemporary dance, physical theatre, optical illusion, and fine art, continuously challenging the audience’s perception, transporting them into a timeless dimension.Inspired by the groundbreaking 20th-century avant-garde movements—from Futurism to Bauhaus, as well as the pioneering stagecraft of figures like Loïe Fuller and Vaslav Nijinsky, AVANTGARDE moves away from traditional narrative to create a total work of art where theatre, physics, and visual perception intersect.

The stage operates as a dynamic, architectural machine. Through a clever interplay of mirrors, sharp light design, and invisible suspension techniques, the space tilts, fragments, and morphs before the audience’s eyes, creating impossible geometries and weightless figures.

NoGravity Theatre’s most extraordinary trademarks is the complete absence of CGI, digital tricks, or video projections. Every floating body, optical illusion, and shifting silhouette happens live, in real time, relying solely on the extreme physical prowess of the dancer-acrobats and a mechanical stage design adapted from Baroque theatre machinery.

The soundtrack it is a fusion of classical, experimental, and modern electronic music.

The sound research features collaborations with renowned music producers and artists, including Davide “Boosta” Dileo (keyboardist and co-founder of Subsonica), crafting an immersive audio environment designed in total harmony with the dancers’ physical movements.

Concept, Set, Costume & Light are designed by Emiliano Pellisari, the amazing Choreography crested by Emiliano Pellisari and Mariana/P (Mariana Porceddu)

The excellent cast includes Mariana/P (Principal Dancer, Leila Ghiabbi, Giada Inserra, Marianna Caratelli(Rotating cast members also include acrobatic dancers such as Polina Kliuchnikova, Carolina Amoretti, Margherita Petrosino, and Ginevra Cicatiello).

After years of pushing the boundaries of physical performance and turning the impossible into reality, NoGravity Theatre returns to Teatro Menotti with AVANTGARDE, a dreamlike journey and a mesmerizing visual experience that you don’t want to miss.

Teatro Menotti, Via Ciro Menotti 11, Milano
to buy tickets
https://www.teatromenotti.org/evento/avantgarde.aspx
biglietteria@teatromenotti.org