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In Performance: Annamaria Ajmone – La notte è il mio giorno preferito at Santarcangelo dei Teatri (Italy)

Annamaria Ajmone: La notte è il mio giorno preferito
Santarcangelo dei Teatri

Annamaria Ajmone is an Italian dancer and choreographer whose work centres around the idea that the body is a malleable material that has the ability to transform a space into a place. In her piece ‘La notte è il mio giorno preferito’ (‘The night is my favourite day’), she enacts the practice of tracking animals as a way to gain further insight into their psyche and as a means to embody an animalistic gaze. The piece was inspired by the work of Baptiste Morizot and can be seen as the realization of a score sourced from his text entitled ‘Sur la piste animale.’

We are led through an elementary school playground to an outdoor theatre space– a simple raised black stage with brightly colored flora, feathers and matted wigs hanging from the rig. A striking mixture of the natural and synthetic. It’s 10 pm, and against the dark backdrop of the sky, the colors are reminiscent of the fluorescents we might find in some amphibians or bioluminescence found in the deep sea. 

There are three clear segments. The first begins when Ajmone enters the space with a simple hum and follows a clear path winding around the stage — following a specific map in her mind. She takes on the form of many animals as if trying on different species for size, getting a taste of what it must be like to be them wandering through the wilderness. 

The space then goes black and a small magenta spotlight bounces around the stage. We get glimpses of Ajmone’s movements. It’s a transference of roles: Ajmone is now the animal and we, the audience have become the trackers. Our only light source is the bouncing magenta spotlight, so like animal trackers, we have spaces and gaps in vision, information, and understanding of the species.

The final segment begins with Ajmone painting her tongue with fluorescent black light paint and performing a choreographed tongue dance. In this section, her transformation into this nocturnal animal is solidified. The soundscape reaches a climax of natural and mechanical sounds converging as Ajmone’s movements begin to dance the body rather than the body dancing the choreography.

Annamaria Ajmone: La notte è il mio giorno preferito
Santarcangelo dei Teatri

July 8 21.30
July 9 22.00
July 10 22.30

Scuola Elementare Pascucci
piazza Ganganelli, 25

Photo ©Andrea Macchia

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Marisa Conroy (they/them) is a New York-based, San Francisco raised and Dublin-trained multidisciplinary artist. Their work combines AI-generated media, haunting sound design, and live audio mixing filtered through the human body. They’re interested in exploring the interstitial spaces where words, concepts, and imagery are lost in translation. Their current obsession is figuring out how to perform the action of AI processing live on stage through the body. Their work is radically queer and unexpectedly scientific. They hold a BA in Theatre and Performance Studies from UC Berkeley and is an MFA in Theatre candidate at Sarah Lawrence College. Recent line producing credits include The Care Cafe facilitated by Lois Weaver for Anu Productions, NY Pops Up, a six month initiative through the NY Governor’s office to bring the arts back to NYC during the COVID 19 pandemic, Live Collision International Festival 2020, and Curran Under Construction SF (2016-2016). Creative Producing credits include GirlPlay by Sarah Richardson (****The Stage), Initiation by Matthew Bratko & Frank Sweeney (Dublin Fringe Festival 2020 Commision), GAA MAAD (Dublin Fringe Festival 2019 Commision), SAUCE (***** The Irish Times). Website: marisaconroy.com

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