a performative event in honour of Italian maximum poet Dante Alighieri on the 700th anniversary of his death
with Alberto Martinez Guinaldo, opera singer Fritjof Fuglesang
and 37 students from CISPA – Copenaghen International School of Performing Arts: Noora Sofia Virta, Johanna Matilda Valle, Susanna Kaukonen, Joona Juntunen Ada Josefine Moe, Ava Fernanda, Kustaa Tuohimaa, Farqad Al-juburi, Roosa Honkanen, Tuike Oja, Patrick Torring, Carolina Pazmino, Julius Chávez, Maria Freire, Birta Sól Guðbrandsdóttir, Minna-Mari Määttälä, Noora Sointu Vuorela, Claire Tht, Venja Laakkonen, Toni Riihiluoma, Sofia Ghedini, Nora Kopp, Liath Gleeson, Aleksantra Korhonen, Tara Sól, Fanny Paananem, Catarina Afonso, Inka Turtola, Helmi Linnosmaa, Atli Benedikt, Aldís Ósk Davíðsdóttir, Jón Gunnar Vopnfjörō Ingólfson, Deniz Kaya, Luukas Parkkonen, Alexander Granvik, Justas Randev, Matthías Harðarson
dramaturgy and direction Giuseppe L. Bonifati, IT
dramaturg and acting coach Lars Henning, DK
original music Claudio Passilongo, IT
accordionist Jónas Ásgeir Ásgeirsson, IS
set design Linda Sugataghy, HU
choreography Melody Putu, ZA
lights and sound Valet, DK
assistant Lide Martinez Abaigar, ES
a partnership DOO performing arts group (IT) / Det Flyvende Teater / CISPA – Copenaghen International School of Performing Arts, University of Copenhagen- Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies, Societá Italiana Dante Alighieri in Copenhagen, Studenterhuset – Campus Service (DK),
with the support of MIBACT – Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Dante 2021 Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Italian Cultural Institute in Copenaghen Lasson Andersens Fond Municipality of Copenhagen
photo: Fred Gustavos
The audience will be introduced into the space of the performance, the evocative old university library, by Dante and Virgilio, embodied by Spanish actor Alberto Martinez Guinaldo and Danish opera singer Fritjof Fuglesang. Dante and Virgilio guide the spectators into the horrific empire of Inferno. “Lasciate ogni speranza o voi che entrate”. The infernal creatures, dressed in firefighter suits, are waiting to receive a visit from the outside world. They quiver for telling a story that burns them inside: they all have a secret sin to confess. The audience participates in a speed-date with the various creatures populating Inferno. The idea is to give a very intimate experience to the spectators, who will be able to change partners every five or ten minutes. 451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which sins ignite in Hell and turn into ashes, with the confessions made to the visitors from the earthly world. The spectators will be introduced into a hellish prison of knowledge, where the penitents are forced to atone for their earthly sins. Precisely to burn inside, like the protagonists of many literary works do. The infernal creatures will be personified by the thirty-seven student actors from CISPA Copenhagen International School of Performing Arts.
The performance is the result of a partnership with the Italian Cultural Institute of Copenhagen and Societá Italiana Dante Alighieri, and a collaboration with Prof. Pia Schwarz Lausten, associate professor of Italian literature at the Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies – University of Copenhagen. A special thanks to Maja Baggesen (KU). The event was conceived for celebrating Dante in Denmark.
Premiere: 14 September 2021, Universitetsbiblioteket in Fiolstræde, Copenhagen (DK)
