Beijing, Poly Theatre, 3-4 March 2006, 7:30pm
Shanghai, Grand Theatre, 8-9 March 2006, 7:15pm

Aterballetto, founded in 1979 and made up largely of solo dancers, is one of the main companies for dance production and distribution in Italy and the first permanent ballet troupe outside the Opera House circle.
For their forthcoming China tour, Aterballetto will bring three contemporary works, Homage to Bach¨CSongs¨CCantata, that are the signature pieces of Mauro Bigonzetti, one of Italy's most outstanding choreographers. These works "will fully showcase the versatility and the expressive power of the Company" (Mauro Bigonzetti).

Homage to Bach
In commemoration of the 250th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach's death, Mauro Bigonzetti pays a personal homage to the great composer. Through the use of dance, in a pure, essential and unadorned form, the choreographer interprets Bach's musical universe, the geometric and architectonic perfection, the equilibrium between human and transcendent.
For this homage, Bigonzetti extrapolates from his "Comedia canto terzo" (inspired by Dante's Paradise) some passages and set them on Bach's music: intimate atmospheres fade into choral moments, creating thus an ideal and symbolic journey through some of Bach's most renowned sheets of music, carefully selected for their particular hues. Among the excerpts there are an original interpretation by Glenn Gould and a precious and delicate version for the accordion.

Songs
An exploration into the deeper aspects of psychological conditions, between the hidden folds of being and its infinity of phases. When dance carries and expresses the most intrinsic and visceral feelings there is no when and there is no where, but only now and always.
With Songs, a sensual and refined pas-de-trois, Mauro Bigonzetti returns to Henry Purcell, one of his favourite composers, close to his own sensibility. Purcell, a unique genius and a singular master in the expression of human passions, is contemporary in language, timeless in subject matter and is the author of the "Songs" which give the title to this work.
Originally created for two male and a female dancer, since 2002 there is also a new version exclusively for male dancers.

Cantata
Cantata is a choreographic work characterized by strong colours, typical of Southern Italy; with its passionate and visceral expressiveness, it calls up the wild Mediterranean beauty. Through an instinctual and extremely vital dance, it portrays the relationship between man and woman in its various stages: seduction, passion, skirmish and jealousy. Cantata is also a tribute to the Italian culture and musical tradition, a "folk" music work in the noble sense of the word. It features Italian music from the XVIII and XIX centuries, ranging from lullabies to the "Pizzica Salentina" and Neapolitan serenades.