“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

Cristiana Morganti graduates in Classical Dance at the National Dance Academy in Rome and in Modern Dance at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen. She widens her training studying in Denmark with the Odin Teatret of Eugenio Barba. In the following years she collaborates with a number  of established choreographers such as Susanne Linke, Urs Dietrich,  Felix Ruckert, Joachim Schlömer.

From 1989 until 1992 she is a member of the company Neuer Tanz directed by VA Wölfl and Wanda Golonka. She participates to the creation of the pieces Räumen, Gelage, Sieben Miniaturen, Ballet nr 5 and she dances in many repertory pieces, among them: Leitz, Die Schiefe, Das Böse Minute. 

From 1993 until 2014 she is solo dancer at Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal. She dances in most of the repertoire performances and participates in many new creations such as: Trauerspiel, Danzon, Der Fensterputzer, Masurca Fogo, O Dido, Agua, Nefés, Rough Cut, Bamboo Blues. As part of Pina Bausch Tanztheater, she also starred in Pedro Almodovar’s film Talk to her (2001) and in Wim Wenders’ Pina (2011).

In 2010, Cristiana Morganti begins her choreographic activity with creating and interpreting her homage to Pina Bausch Moving with Pina. The performance staged to great acclaim and has been since continuously  on tour in Europe and abroad. In 2011 she receives the Positano Leonide Massine Prize as Best Contemporary Dancer of the Year. 

It follows a long collaboration with the Conservatoire Nationale Superieure de Paris where she creates several choreographies: From here to there (2011), Out of twelve (2012), Sacré Printemps! (2013), Petit Rêve (2017).

For her piece Jessica and Me she has been awarded in 2014 the Critic Prize Danza & Danza as best Interpreter/Choreographer of the year. Jessica and Me  has been presented in over 50 cities around the world, and is still  touring internationally. Among the most prestigious dates: Dublin Dance  Festival (Dublin), La Biennale de la Danse ( Lyon ), Festival Equilibrio  (Rom), Théâtre des Abbesses / Théâtre de la Ville (Paris), The Place  (London), Tanz im August (Berlin), Dansens Hus (Stockholm), Festival  Bipod (Beirut), Euro Scene (Leipzig), Kuopio Dance Festival (Finland),  Festival Temporada Alta (Spain), Festival Santiago a Mil (Chile). 

2016 is the year of A Fury Tale, a piece that  Cristiana Morganti creates for two outstanding female dancers coming  from the Pina Bausch Company. The piece has been on tour in Italy, France and Germany. For the well known Italian company Aterballetto she  creates in 2017 the piece They didn’t know where to leave me.

In Summer 2018 she collaborates with the Accademia Nazionale D’Arte  Drammatica Silvio D’Amico in Rome and presents the dance-theater  performance Without knocking in the frame of Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto. In 2019 Another Round for Five,  a piece for 5 dancers, makes its debut in Napoli Teatro Festival and  goes on tour in Italy before and after the Pandemic. In June 2020  Cristiana Morganti receives the prestigious Prix du Syndicat Professionnel de la Critique francaise as best interpreter for her piece Moving with Pina. It follows in 2021 the Performance Site Specific In Another Place created  in collaboration with the dancer Kenji Takagi and cellist Emily  Wittbrodt for La Salle des Nymphéas at the Orangerie Museum in Paris. 

The piece Behind the Light (premiere October 2022 in Festival Aperto – Reggio Emilia) sees her again on stage as author and  performer. Right after the première she receives the ANCT Theatre  Critics National Association Award for her artistic career. Her latest  creation Young Birds, a full evening piece for the Junior Company of the Accademia Dimitri of Verscio (Locarno), makes its  debut in May 2023. The show toured Switzerland form May to September  2023. 

After the long and happy collaboration with il Funaro – Pistoia,  Cristiana Morganti is currently an associated artist of ATP – I Teatri  di Pistoia (IT).

Source and more information: https://cristianamorganti.de/

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