Pubblico dominio
From La Scala to the foundation of Aterballetto
After a brilliant career as a performer at La Scala, dancing alongside icons like Carla Fracci, Amedeo Amodio felt the need to break the molds of traditional ballet. In 1979, he took on the challenge of Aterballetto in Reggio Emilia. Under his guidance, the company became a unique experimental laboratory in Italy, inviting avant-garde choreographers and commissioning original music, marking a golden age for Italian dance in the world.
An aesthete of movement. His choreographies are never just technical exercises, but complete dramaturgical visions. He has been able to reinterpret the classics with a modern sensitivity, stripping them of decorative elements to seek their emotional and sculptural essence.
A "dream" Nutcracker
One of his most beloved and performed productions is undoubtedly The Nutcracker, created in 1989. In this version, Amodio departs from the nursery tale to explore the dream world and the shadows of adolescence, with sets and costumes by Emanuele Luzzati. The show has become a classic of the Italian repertoire, selling out for decades in every theater.
Cinema and Opera: the partnership with Liliana Cavani
Amodio has often crossed the boundaries of pure dance to collaborate with cinema and opera. Famous is his partnership with director Liliana Cavani, for whom he choreographed cult films such as Beyond Good and Evil and The Skin, in addition to important opera productions. This openness to other arts allowed his style to be enriched with a rare narrative force, where the choreographic gesture becomes a theatrical word.
The "Mediterranean" Carmen
In 1995, he signed Carmen, set to Bizet's music arranged for a chamber ensemble. It is a version stripped of stereotypical Spanish folklore, focused on the tragedy of freedom and destiny. Originally interpreted by stars like Elisabetta Terabust, Amodio's Carmen remains a masterly example of how dance can dialogue with universal myth without losing modernity.
Magisterium in Palermo and artistic legacy
Between 2003 and 2006, Amodio took over the direction of dance at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, bringing his experience and rigor to one of the most prestigious foundations in Southern Italy. Today, his legacy lives on not only in his many works revived by leading companies but above all in the mark left on generations of dancers and choreographers who learned from him the importance of culture and intellectual curiosity applied to dance.
This article is part of the section dedicated to masters of the stage and choreographers of italianopera.
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