“Do you want me to dance, or do you want me to talk?” In Jessica and Me, the long-standing soloist of the iconic Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal does both with irresistible charm, talent and comic flair. With a shock of black curls, an infectious laugh and a pair of red stilettos, Cristiana Morganti offers us a tantalising glimpse into her career, from her classical ballet training to her fateful meeting with Pina.

This much anticipated new solo show is a self-portrait in two voices: her inner self (Cristiana) and her alter-ego (Jessica). Alternating between losing herself in a whirlwind of movement and observing herself with a fierce and unrelenting humour, this is a fascinating exposé on the life of a star dancer – both on and off the stage. This will be the first time that she will perform the show outside her native Italy.

Source : Dublin Dance festival

Credits

SOLO CREATION 2014

Choreography and dance performance Cristiana Morganti
Theatrical collaboration  Gloria Paris
Light design Laurent P. Berger
Video Connie Prantera
Musical advice Kenji Takagi
With the support l'Institut Culturel Italien
Production il Funaro Centro Culturale Pistoia (Italie)
In collaboration with Fondazione I teatri Reggio Emilia (Italie)

Video Production Maison de la danse during the Biennale de la Danse
Video direction Fabien Plasson
2016

Italian dancer and choreographer Cristiana Morganti trained in classical dance at the Accademia Nazionale di Danza in Rome and in contemporary dance at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, Germany, where she developed collaborations with several choreographers such as Susanne Linke, Urs Dietrich, Joachim Schlömer, Va Wölfl and Wanda Golonka. She also attended acting courses with Odin Teatret and Eugenio Barba, and trained in contemporary dance with Carolyn Carlson. In 1993 she joined Pina Bausch’s company at the Tanztheater in Wuppertal, and still works there today. She dances in practically all of its repertoire, and has been a soloist un many new works. In 2011 Cristiana Morganti received the Positano Leonide Massine award as best contemporary dancer of the year.
As a choreographer, she devised the dancing lecture MOVING WITH PINA (2010) in tribute to Pina Bausch. This piece, which has enjoyed great success, is a journey through Bausch’s world, in the form of a danced autobiography full of anecdotes and humour.
Since 1997, Cristiana Morganti has also run dance workshops with Dr Laura Bertelé for teenagers suffering from scoliosis and severe mobility problems. She is also Associate Professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieure of Paris (CNSMDP) and at the Accademia Nazionale di Danza in Rome. She appeared in the films Parle avec elle (Pedro Almodovar, 2001) and PINA (Wim Wenders, 2011).

Source : Biennale de la danse de Lyon

Born in 1977, Fabien Plasson is a video director specialized in the field of performing arts (dance , music, etc).

During his studies at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (joined in 1995) Fabien discovered video art. He was trained by various video artists (Joel Bartoloméo Pascal Nottoli , Eric Duyckaerts , etc).
He first experimented with the creation of installations and cinematic objects.

From 2001 to 2011, he was in charge of Ginger & Fred video Bar’s programming at La Maison de la Danse in Lyon. He discovered the choreographic field and the importance of this medium in the dissemination, mediation and pedagogical approach to dance alongside Charles Picq, who was a brilliant video director and the director of the video department at that time.

Today, Fabien Plasson is the video director at La Maison de la Danse and in charge of the video section of Numeridanse.tv, an online international  video library, and continues his creative activities, making videos of concerts, performances and also creating video sets for live performances.

Sources: Maison de la Danse ; Fabien Plasson website

More information: fabione.fr