(...) Every eloquent gesture of the fingers, however small, every swift and supple dance figure—in the pas de deux or in ensemble—radiates the emotional certainty of this love and this self-sacrifice. […] Here, love says with Erich Fried: “It is what it is.” And what the dancers contribute in their respective languages sounds no less resolute. Christine Adam, Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung

But once more he saw her face, turned back towards him, in a smile bright as hope, as a promise: to return to him, grown, from sombre death; to him, alive... Then he pressed his hands against his forehead, kneeling, so as to see nothing more than that smile. (Alcestis, R. M. Rilke)

Suite Alcestis is a reimagining of Euripides’ Alcestis, a project Zerogrammi has been developing since 2014.

The story of Euripides’ heroine unfolds in two distinct yet complementary chapters, both directed by choreographer Stefano Mazzotta. The two works, each evolving from the other, draw on Euripides’ play to address love’s farewell, sacrifice and death—recurring motifs in literature across all times. But does the idea of sacrifice still have a place in contemporary education? Are we still able to perceive the heart-rending poetry inherent in farewell, even though we have grown unaccustomed to the feeling of distance? What is love in the age of liquid society?

Alcestis gives body and voice to these questions by calling upon poetry: the language of beauty and pain, of salvation and hope; a universal language capable of transcending time and cultural differences.

The first chapter of the work premiered in Germany in April 2014, in collaboration with the Osnabrück State Theatre and its dance company. The second and final chapter, “ALCESTIS (OR, THE SOUND OF FAREWELL)”, premiered in February 2015, produced in collaboration with Luft Casa Creativa, Teatro Nuovo Torino and Agorà Coaching Project.