Enzo Celli

Biography

Enzo Celli was born in 1972 in Sora. He approached dance as a self-taught person through hip hop. The passion for teather brought him to found the Botega Dance Company at the age of 23.

His works have been set on prestigious theatres including: Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theatre (New York), Salvatore Capezio Theatre (New York), James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Art Center (Huntsville - Texas), La Cigale (Parigi), Teatro dell'Opera di Erfurt (Germania), Na Strastnom Theatre (Mosca), Russia Dramma Theatre (Ufa, Russia), Teatro Sao Pedro (Porto Allegre, Brasile), Teatro Guaria (Curitiba, Brasile), Teatro nazionale di Belgrado (Seriba), Teatro Municipal Joaquim Benite (Lisbona), Espace Robert Hossein (Lourdes), Auditorium Conciliazione (Roma).

Even though Celli has codified a technical language belonging to the contemporary dance field called MEME, it is the use of simple gestures appreciated by the audience that the essence of his poetic language reveals itself. Enzo Celli’s work, focusing on man, from the start has aimed to create an uncommon poetic language able to deal with sociological topics.

In 1995, he founded his first company, Botega, whose activities and productions aroused the interest of Vittoria Ottolenghi. In 1998, Enzo Celli's company received the ministerial grant from the Ministry for Goods and Cultural Activities. Enzo Celli becomes thus the youngest choreographer subsidized in Italy. It was Ottolenghi’s interest in Celli’s work that encouraged him to develop his natural instinct towards choreography. From this encouragement he gave birth to his first works: I trionfi del Petrarca with music by Maestro Berio, Ovo, una Maratona per Peter Gabriel with music by Peter Gabriel as well as a collaboration with Lindsay Kemp. Since 2008, Celli has collaborated with Bashkortostan State Academy in Russia and UFMG University in Brazil.

In the spring of 2012, while on tour with Botega Dance Company in Brazil, he carried out a social project at Centro ADAV in Ibiritè aimed to realize choreography performed by boys and girls coming from hard social and economical environments. That July, he moved to the United States where he taught several classes at Peridance Capezio Center and Dance New Amsterdam (in collaboration with Modern Guest Artist series) in New York. By October he was a guest guest teacher at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) in Huntsville, Texas. During his residency in the United States, he joined renowned festivals in New York, Philadelphia and Houston allowing him the opportunity to perform Faun at the James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Art Center in Huntsville along with the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theatre for the Dance Gallery Festival.

By 2013, Igal Perry had commissioned Enzo Celli, Ohad Naharin, Dwight Rhoden and Sidra Bell, to create new work for Peridance Contemporary Dance Company. Celli's work I'm HERE debuted at the Salvatore Capezio Theatre in New York. He also reestablished The Rite of Spring for the Peridance Certificate Program. That fall, Enzo received an artistic residency from SHSU where he taught several classes and created the commissioned work Buona Strada for the student company. Celli rounded out 2013 with performances by CELLI CONTEMPORARY BALLET at Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theatre for the Dance Gallery Festival and Salvatore Capezio Theatre in NYC for “Peridance Presents” as well as a teaching residency at Sarah Lawrence Dance College in New York.

Thanks to Enzo Celli’s versatility in dance, he is able to venture on to works that are not closely related to contemporary dance. In 2014, he was called to make the choreography for Musical Officer of John Paul II. His latest work, Giselle, debuted at Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome with fifteen minutes of applause in November 2014.

In 2015 he founded VIVO, new project that forms part of contemporary dance into which all previous experiences in creative and formative.

In the 2016/2017 season he is appointed coordinator of contemporary dance settlements at MoveOne in Milan. Join the faculty of Manhattan Dance Project (USA) and DanceStar (Croatia).

In 2017 he was appointed personal adviser to the Mayor of Sora for major cultural projects. Also in 2017 is the director of the docufilm "Iùcela".

Below are some of the choreographer’s most important works and collaborations:

June 2006 Celli was a collaborating choreographer for the event “L’amour et son amour, l’uomo che danza e la sua aspirazione” directed by Vittoria Ottolenghi and performed by the soloists Roberto Bolle, Vladimir Derevianko and Viviana Durante at Todi Festival. Also in June 2006, Botega Dance Company, together with Alvin Ailey Company, Bèjart Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet and Staatsballet München, joined the Dance Gala Amores as a guest company under the direction of Vittoria Ottolenghi. 2008 brought Celli to the Bashkir State Academy in the Republic of Bashkortostan (Ufa, Russia) to teach and collaborate with the Russian Drama Theatre. That was also the year that Botega performed Subway at La Cigale Theatre in Paris. In 2011, Botega Dance Company performed Fragile at the Russian Drama Theatre and at the Na Strastnom Theatre in Moscow. In September 2009, Enzo Celli was a resident choreographer at Topaz Art in New York and debuted at Versiliana Festival in August 2010 with his remake of Giselle to great reviews and success. He was also a guest at the Erfurt Opera House (Germany) that same year. In 2012, his Company was a guest at Yesou (Korea) for Expo 2012.

VIVO Ballet

VIVO Ballet was born in 2015 by an idea of Enzo Celli and Fulvio Pallisco, Elisabetta Minutoli and Marco Sabbatini completed the team that launched the group.

VIVO Ballet has presented itself on the scene of contemporary dance, from an early stage, as an innovative reality, even from a managerial point of view.

It consists of a Center for Professional Education based in Rome, and a dance company made up of a double cast: one American directed by Amy Elizabeth based in Houston and one European directed by Olja Jovanovic based in Vršac in Serbia.

Botega Dance Company

Botega is a breeding ground of dancers coming from different formative experiences and sharing a strong disposition towards artistic research and the contamination of styles. Botega Dance Company's dancers technical background includes contemporary, ballet, break dance and hip-hop. Although Botega's dancers follow a common artistic research based on the style contamination and the choreographic coherence, their own artistic nature has not been perverted. Botega Dance Company's style is based on a strong theatrical and physical impact. Although it isn't a theatre-dance company, theatrical elements are important subjects belonging to the company artistic background. Therefore, each dancer can dance as a soloist and put his own individuality on stage.

Meme

Celli developed a type of technique called Meme. In order to create a dynamic characterized by a strong physicality in relation to the floor, Meme's main exercises focus on the core of body and its relation to movement. Working on the dynamic and the rhythm of bounce, the circularity, together with a new self-perception, become important elements of study.

Honours

About his contaminated choreographic style, three graduation thesis were written and discussed:

Work

1. 2016 THIRD DAY | Performance Cloud Series
2. 2016 DISGELO - sòlar
3. 2016 DISGELO - the gift
4. 2016 In my son’s hands
5. 2015 Zònton
6. 2014 Giselle (second edition)
7. 2014 Non abbiate paura (musical)
8. 2014 Là… Qui
9. 2014 [T]here
10. 2014 Il Giusto
11. 2013 Forma Italiana
12. 2013 Santa
13. 2013 Buona Strada
14. 2013 Shutdown
15. 2013 Beleza
16. 2013 Nijinsky il pazzo
17. 2013 The rite of spring 
18. 2013 I’m Here
19. 2012 Après-midi d’un faun
20. 2012 Alda
21. 2012 RES
22. 2012 Santa Caterina
23. 2011 Fragile
24. 2011 Naji
25. 2011 Vita da strega (musical)
26. 2011 Corpo Morto
27. 2011 Subway
28. 2011 Sinan
29. 2011 150
30. 2010 Irritante [Vexatious]
31. 2010 Giselle 
32. 2009 Hic et nunc
33. 2008 NUJ
34. 2008 Paracasòscia
35. 2007 Ostro
36. 2006 Homme
37. 2005 Uléss Ulà
38. 2004 Sircus
39. 2003 Il Moro
40. 2002 Astamanèra
41. 2001 Sc’Impis
42. 2000 Brivido
43. 1999 Edge
44. 1998 D.R.E.P.