SPORTOPERA
BY CLAUDIO DI PALMA E VESUVIOTEATRO
CAPODIMONTE, MANIFATTURA DELLA PORCELLANA (PORTA MIANO)
FROM 23 TO 30 JUNE
Hubris refers to the urge to commit transgressions against the will of the gods, an instinctive but systematic rebellion against the sense of an ending. The signs of hubris can be seen in establishing a record, whether a personal one or an all-time record, in following unexpected paths, in obstinately trying to beat time and natural equilibria, in other words, in the giddiness that accompanies any sporting feat. An exclusively human demand aimed at the quasi-sacred identification of the athlete’s body which, while respecting the rules, becomes the temple of knowledge, inspired lightness and self-determination. This is arguably what is meant by religio athletae – the worship of athletes – in which the cult values of ancient sport merge with those of modern athleticism. The search for a sacred significance in an athlete’s gesture should be the lens through which SportOpera 2021 can be read.
DUE PUGNI GUANTATI DI NERO
WITH FEDERICO BUFFA E ALESSANDRO NIDI (PIANO)
PRODUCTION INTERNATIONAL MUSIC AND ARTS
MANIFATTURA DELLA PORCELLANA 28 JUNE HOUR 21.00 DURATA 70 MIN
This is one of the most famous images of the twentieth century: the Afro-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos are on the first and third step of the podium of the 200 metres race at the Olympic games in Mexico City on 16th October 1968: their fists raised in the air, the black gloves (the symbol of black power), barefoot (the sign of poverty) and their heads lowered. In the middle there is Peter Norman, an Australian athlete who wears the Olympic Project for Human Rights cockade in solidarity with the two athletes. The careers of the two Afro-Americans ends as soon as they step down from the podium and their lives become hell. They weren’t just two black men and a white man asking for respect and justice on that podium. they were three human beings.
PHOTO GALLERY
