Choreography: Michele Merola
Music:Igor Stravinsky, Stefano Corrias
Light designer: Cristina Spelti
Costume: Patricia Villirillo
Dancers: MMContemporary Dance Company (7 dancers)
The first Pulcinella ballet was at Opéra de Paris in 1920, by Ballets Russes, with Stravinskij music. For his version, Michele Merola follows his own path, but respecting the past. The music score mixed some parts of the ballet music with “new pieces” composed by Stefano Corrias. This blend of music express intimate moments, to adjuve the comprehension of Pulcinella identity and character: the choreographer has emphasized his loneliness and melancholy. “Pulcinella – said Merola – is a person, a thought of loneliness as well. He is a never die thought: he always rises up as symbol of his eternal rebirth, because the freedom in him could be repressed, but at the end he always finds his rescue”. In this version, story and characters have been reduced: Merola keeps the two couples of lovers, Pimpinella, the young lady beloved by Pulcinella and the Wizard, that uses light as a guide to find a way out during the story. The choreographer has chosen to focus on the character of Pulcinella and the main events of his story: his love for Pimpinella, his presumed death, the happy end as a symbol of rebirth. ”The final scene – said Merola – when Pulcinella wears again his hat, symbolizes his choice: he realizes that it’s frustrating to be as the society wants, so he chooses to be himself, he chooses the truth.”
