Venice, a great open-air theater: the streets, the canals, the traditions,
the ancient shops and the sumptuous buildings,
but more generally the atmosphere of the Serenissima,
have inspired the creativity of the most famous artists of the last Millennium.
It is no coincidence that the city was one of the symbols of the affirmation of the European theater when, between the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, its streets were teeming with theaters with beautiful architecture, yet another symbol of artistic and cultural prosperity of which Hotel Ca’ Bonfadini is also a son.
The link between theatrical art and our city is unique in its kind, and for this reason, a few days before the start of the new season of Teatro La Fenice, we want to take you on a journey to its opera.
There are many authors who over the centuries have linked their name to Venice.
But the relationship between the Serenissima and theatrical art has a centuries-old history, which is not consumed exclusively within the many theaters of the city, but is born inside those palaces that, like Ca ‘Bonfadini, rise along the canals of the city of the ‘500: symbol of prestige, decorum and culture, it is precisely in the large halls of these wonderful buildings that the first performances are held and organized by the noble families and reserved for a limited and selected audience.
Since its inauguration in 1790, Teatro La Fenice has been one of the most renowned and coveted theaters in the world, a symbol of which the Lagoon is still proud and which, like the Hotel Ca’ Bonfadini and the other historic Venetian buildings, preserves and at the same time passes on a centuries-old tradition devoted to beauty.
In this place, although opera and literature are pillars of Venetian culture – with performances and composers from every Era that have inspired and paid homage to the island – it is another art to be the protagonist.
Teatro La Fenice is in fact, the home of dance in all its forms. The experience of Ballet in Italy takes shape in the first place right here, even before other prestigious “temples”, leading the way among the examples at La Scala in Milan and at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples.
Especially in the Twentieth Century, dance reaches its maximum splendor among the performing arts, with the arrival in the city of dancers from every corner of the Globe. The stage of Venice becomes home to great records: the performance of Giselle 1978 – a symbolic representation of Ballet – sees on stage a very young Elisabetta Terabust alongside the famous Rudolf Nureyev, for the first time in the city.
With the emergence of this kind of works, the then director of the Teatro La Fenice Italo Gomez asked the American Carolyn Carlson, a historical figure of the dance of the time, to give shape to a body of young dancers based on the GRTOP French model: hence, in 1980 Teatro Danza La Fenice was born, the first real example of theater of its kind on the Italian territory. In 1984, when Carlson’s experience came to an end, some dancers of the group founded Sosta Palmizi, a dance company that still lives in Venice.
The Ballet was born, evolved and expanded here, giving further prestige to Venice and to the art itself… as well as an emotion for the eyes of every single spectator.
Choreography, costumes and plays of lights and sets: through dance, conducted by music, stories and narratives come to life in a harmony that becomes a single thing with the elegance of the building. Nowadays, the Ballet it’s still is loved: harmony, delicacy and gracefulness become something unique..
From November 2022, a calendar of performances will animate La Fenice: alongside compositions and performances recited, appointments every week that will accompany the city with performances by the greatest performers in the world, such as Lac, which in May will bring back to the stage Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo.
Choosing to stay among the suites of Hotel Ca’ Bonfadini is an opportunity to immerse yourself in art even before entering in a theater, and breathe the unique and timeless atmosphere typical of this extraordinary art.
