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GIOVANNI INSAUDO
ASSOCIATED ARTIST
I VESPRI | Giovanni Insaudo is a contemporary dance collective founded by choreographer Giovanni Insaudo. The collective was established as a space for artistic research and creation, with the aim of developing a recognizable choreographic language capable of engaging in dialogue with theater, visual arts, and an installation-like approach to the stage.
The collective takes shape through the work of Giovanni Insaudo, choreographer and creator of the works, and Sandra Salietti Aguilera, dancer and assistant choreographer, a key figure in the processes of creation, transmission, and development of the repertoire.
Giovanni is the recipient of the Danza&Danza Award for Best Emerging Choreographer, as well as Newcomer of the Year for Tanz Magazine. His artistic vision has been shaped through collaborations with prestigious companies (Semperoper Ballet, Linz Opera, Graz Opera, Gärtnerplatz Theater), allowing him to refine a distinctive approach that blends physicality, emotion, and storytelling.
His language is rooted in emotion and physical transformation, pushing the boundaries of contemporary dance through the use of theatricality and innovative spatial dynamics with a cinematic perspective.
Since 2025, the collective has been an associate artist at DANCEHAUSpiù.
NOSTALGIA
ph Salvatore Lazzaro
Choreography: Giovanni Insaudo
Choreography assistant: Sandra Salietti Aguilera
Dancers: Sandra Salietti Aguilera, Hélias Dorvault
Second cast: Sandra Salietti Aguilera, Thomas Martino
Video: Alfonso Fernández Sánchez
Production: DANCEHAUSpiù
With the support of I VESPRI, TanzLabor ROXY Ulm
With the support of Twain_Direzioni Altre, Palcoscenico Danza
Duration: 50 min
NOSTALGIA is a profound reflection on the longing for the past, the desire, and the need to relive unique and unrepeatable moments. In a world where everything is constantly changing, Insaudo takes us on a journey born from his melancholic yet optimistic nostalgia for the fragments of life experienced on stage. The performance focuses on the time frame between the final moments of a show and the first applause from the audience, challenging the traditional chronology of a performance and
chaotically retracing the dancer’s emotional spectrum. Insaudo questions what would change if we viewed the final bow of a performance as an iconic image, asking whether the artist has ever truly stopped performing or if they remain trapped in a
different dimension.
The work incorporates a narrative device—a documentary-style video—which, much like memories that emerge in a non-linear way, constructs the scene through an unconventional sequence. The performance becomes a perceptual shift for the audience, immersing them in the creative process and the emotions it evokes in the dancers.
DIVA
ph Alice Colombo
A perfromance by Giovanni Insaudo
Choreography assistant Sandra Salietti Aguilera
Performers Sandra Salietti Aguilera e Gianmarco Martini Zani
Production DANCEHAUSpiù 2024
Co-production Festival Danza in Rete Vicenza/Schio
'Diva' is the new performance by Giovanni Insaudo, which explores the timeless figure of the Diva and her idealisation in popular culture. The work is mainly inspired by the diva par excellence, Marylin Monroe, and offers a glimpse into the private and often lonely lives of these icons of fame from the 1950s.
The performance attempts to unveil the introverted reality behind the glamour, media attention and public idealisation by highlighting the contrast between what the public sees and what the divas actually experienced, and by highlighting the often negative influence of male figures in their lives.
In the era of the 1950s, divas were often subject to the control and influence of powerful men who could shape their careers and personal destinies. These men, whether producers, directors, managers or even husbands and lovers, played a significant role in deciding the path of the divas. Many times, the divas were forced to conform to male expectations, limiting their autonomy and stifling their creative potential.
I'VE SEEN THAT FACE BEFORE
DIRECTION, COREOGRAPHY AND COSTUMES | Giovanni Insaudo
DANCERS | Sandra Salietti, Hélias Dorvault
VIDEO | Alfonso Fernández Sánchez
MUSICS | Haussman Bvd, Minus Sixty One / WOODKID
ITALIAN PRODUCTION 2024 | DANCEHAUSpiù
Synopsis:
I’ve Seen That Face Before” describes the thoughts, feelings and sensations that arise for the performer in the moment between the last seconds of the performance and the first bow. The extreme contrast between the physical exertion offered in the show and the humble acceptance of applause and admiration that follows. An attempt to process an entire spectrum of emotion in the blink of an eye. Is there actually space for this, or are the bows a performance in themselves? Does the performer have the opportunity to disconnect from the performance, or is the very act of being observed prolongation of the act?
Concept:
“I Have Seen That Face Before” is my exploration of the inner space of a performer. Of the continuous and elusive tension of an act that is ceasing, or that perhaps within it, contains a new beginning. It is my desire to analyse, deepen and stage, together with the dancers, the sensations that agitate their bodies in those few moments. A whole spectrum of emotions, a moment of pure and maximum sharing as well as of the most extreme intimacy. The contrast between the physical effort offered in the performance and the humble acceptance of the applause and admiration that comes with it. How can it be elaborated? What is triggered in a dancing body? And what repercussions does this have on the spectator?