choreography and direction Roberto Zappalà

dancers Adriano Coletta, Alain El Sakhawi, Roberto Provenzano, Fernando Roldan Ferrer, Salvatore Romania,

Musician Puccio Castrogiovanni (I Lautari)

photos Gianmaria Musarra

with the support of Ministero per I Beni e le Attività Culturali

Instrument 1 is the first step of the project Instruments, through which Roberto Zappalà, on the way of his recent choreographic journey, deals with the body in relationship with the sound, the noise, the music.

“Instrument 1 <scoprire l’invisibile>”, is a full-evening performance dedicated to the exploration of Sicilian habits and traditions, but in particular to the “marranzano” (jew’s harp), a typical Sicilian instrument often related to the “mafia” and which evokes traditional sicilian sounds. For this production the musicians I Lautari, together with the choreographer Roberto Zappalà, made a deep research on the instrument which led to suggestive and original sounds and rhythms. The production has been premièred for the coproducer Etnafest Arte on august 2007 and it is the first step of “re-mapping sicily”, a new journey by Roberto Zappalà which aims at rereading Sicily through his language. On stage seven male dancers and Puccio Castrogiovanni, leader of the band I Lautari, with his “marranzano”.

From the “beginning” each journey is bound to a map; and the map is always a journey, if you follow it before starting or if you draw it the way home. You can ride through concepts, stereotypes, beliefs, habits, in a place where the maps are worn out and you need to get new ones. As Gesualdo Bufalino said, Sicily doesn’t exist , there are hundreds of Sicilies and each of them has its own interpretation. And for the interpretation we need the instruments and the performance uses one of them, the marranzano, to open roads and journeys covered by the dance in a sweet and obscure way . Each instrument is a also a prosthesis, and the prosthesis marranzano helps to fish in the “sea” Sicily.