Logo: Wesleyan University
  • Tools
    • WesPortal
    • Directory
    • Library
    • OneStop
    • WesConnect
    • Calendar
    • WesMaps
    • WFS
    • Moodle
    • EMS
    • GApps
  • About
  • Admission & Financial Aid
  • Academics
  • Campus
  • Athletics
  • Give
  • Students
  • Alumni
  • Parents

Creative Campus

Feed on
Posts
Comments
« Sarah Wolfe ’12 previews “The Last Five Years”
Senior Thesis Video: Lucy Strother ’11 »

Barbara Fenig ’11 reviews Dewey Dell’s “Cinquanta Urlanti Quaranta Ruggenti Sessanta Stridenti”

Sep. 28, 2011 by bfenig

Barbara Fenig ’11 reviews Dewey Dell’s “Cinquanta Urlanti Quaranta Ruggenti Sessanta Stridenti”.

Dewey Dell: Cinquanta Urlanti Quaranta Ruggenti Sessanta Stridenti. (Left to right): Sara Angelini, Agata Castellucci, and Teodora Castellucci. Teatro Palladium, Rome, Italy. October 2010. Photo by Demetrio Castellucci.

The final performance in Dewey Dell’s two-week residency at Wesleyan University concluded with the American debut of Cinquanta Urlanti Quaranta Ruggenti Sessanta Stridenti. The title, which translates to “Roaring Forties, Furious Fifties, and Shrieking Sixties”, evokes the names of three westerly winds that haunt the Antarctic seas. The piece charts the story of a ship as it becomes cloaked by the winds. Against the silver and black backdrop of the set, which depicts the depths of the ocean, the ship grows into an enormous organism whose borders are blurring, corresponding with the winds, the sea, and the world as prescribed by Dewey Dell’s trio of dancers.

Dewey Dell’s creativity was well received by the packed audience at the sold out show. Siblings Teodora, Demetrio, and Agata Castellucci along with Eugenio Resta formed Dewey Dell in 2007. Teodora serves as the group’s choreographer, Demetrio as the composer, Eugenio as the light and set designer, and Agata as a leading dancer. As the performance progressed, Teodora, Agata and guest performer and friend Sara Angelini became representations of the boat, enveloped by their environment: their bodies synonymous with the elements as they danced around the Center for the Arts Theater stage.

Sponsored by the Center for the Arts and the Theater Department as an Outside the Box Theater Series event, Dewey Dell’s performance created a striking portrait of the world of the sea. The dancers wore costumes, which affirmed them as ethereal beings—a mirage of black costumes and white face paint, framed with black squares on the core of their faces—hiding their identities. The trio wore padded voluptuous hips, a confirmation of their feminine connection with nature, and thus the cinquanta urlanti quaranta ruggenti sessanta stridenti. In the question and answer following the performance, the trio also remarked that their authoritative hips remind them of the form of the boat and the temptation of sea sirens.

The performance’s electronic music was symbiotic with its commentary about nature as it replicated waves crashing, reacting to the boat, and the overall power of nature. The music’s aggressive vibrations mimicked the deadliest of waves, which were followed by the shrieking crew, cracking wood, and the buzzing hum of the moments between each dramatic wave, which provided melodic reprieves for the audience. Each time a wave would strike, it ripped the dancers back into the swirl of nature’s power.  The performance maintained a constant comparison between the bellowing of the crew and the murmur of the ocean.

During Dewey Dell’s residency, I heard about the brilliance of the group: how they were interacting with Wesleyan students, generously cooking Italian meals in Juniors’ LoRise apartments, roaming around campus, and teaching bits of Italian. This intriguing contrast is evidenced in Cinquanta Urlanti Quaranta Ruggenti Sessanta Stridenti as Dewey Dell is at once burgeoning talent and prophetic genius.

Tags: Dance, Music, Theater and Live Performance

Posted in Dance, Music, Theater

Comments are closed.

    • Creative Campus

      • Creative Campus – About
      • Creative Campus – Blog
      • Creative Campus – Home
    • Reblogged

      • Middletown Patch
      • The Middletown Eye
    • The Center for the Arts

      • Center for the Arts – Blog
      • Center for the Arts – Box Office
      • Center for the Arts – Events
      • Center for the Arts – Facebook
      • Center for the Arts – Home
      • Center for the Arts – Twitter
    • Wesleyan University

      • Department of Dance Blog
      • Friends of the Davison Art Center Blog
      • Green Street Arts Center Blog
      • The Writing Workshop Blog
      • WesLive – Wesleyan's Community Blog
      • Writing at Wesleyan Blog
  • About

     
    Creative Campus

    There are 135 Posts and 15 Comments so far.

  • Categories

    • Community Engagement
    • Cooking
    • Dance
    • Film and Video
    • Food
    • Music
    • Student Groups
    • Studio Art
    • Theater
    • Uncategorized
    • Writing
  • Recent Comments

    • Maureen Coffey on Behind the Scenes with Muslim Women’s Voices
    • Sunu Puguh on Emma Gross ’15 reviews “Sundanese & Javanese Puppet Plays”
    • Lucie Douglass on Sarah Wolfe ’12 interviews Lily Haje ’13 about “Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights” (April 26-28)
  • Archives

    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • September 2014
    • April 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
  • Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org

Creative Campus © 2021 All Rights Reserved.


Wesleyan University

44 Wyllys Avenue
Middletown, CT 06451
60-111-1111

  • Contact Us
  • Copyright & Privacy

© 2014 Wesleyan University

Resources

  • Human Resouces
  • Library
  • ITS
  • Student Accounts
  • Residential Life
  • Career Center
  • Offices & Services

Find It

  • Employment
  • Directions
  • Give
  • Apply
  • Athletics
  • CFA
  • Events
  • Visit Wesleyan
  • WESU (radio)

Tools

  • Portfolio
  • Directory
  • Library
  • OneStop
  • Wesconnect
  • Calendar
  • WesMaps
  • WFS
  • Moodle
  • EMS
  • Gapps

Connect With Us

Facebook Twitter Flickr YouTube Tumblr Google Plus
iTunes U