Company Blu

COMPANY BLU DANZA

Alessandro Certini and Charlotte Zerbey conducted their technical and artistic development of contemporary dance work in various European countries since 1979 and in 1989 founded Company Blu in Florence, Italy. Company Blu’s artistic exploration stretches from the production of full-length works to choreographic research, from improvisation to teaching. They are in residence for years at Teatro della Limonaia in Sesto Fiorentino (FI), and from 2013 to 2015 part of TRAM (Teatro di Residenza Artistica Multipla), and are supported by the Tuscan Region and the City of Sesto Fiorentino.

Company Blu has presented its work at festivals and theaters: Biennale Danza di Venezia, Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Teatro Comunale di Ferrara, Reggio Emilia Teatri, Dance Umbrella Londra, Rotterdam Festival, Uthrect Festival, Purcell Room Queen Elizabeth Hall Londra, International Tanz Festival Freiburg (D), Teatro Nacional de Caracas. Locally presented in theaters and festivals: Festival of Castiglioncello, Fabbrica Europa, Cango Florence, Teatro Studio Scandicci, Pistoia Teatro Manzoni, Teatro della Limonaia.

Company Blu received the choreographic award Danza & Danza for Tempesta di Sogni, and the IMAIE award for the “SHOPTALK” publications.

CHARLOTTE ZERBEY

Choreographer, dancer, vocalist

has been active for over 25 years in contemporary dance in Italy, Europe and the United States. After obtaining a traditional education in modern and classical dance at the University of Utah from '79 to 82. In Europe since 83, Charlotte initially worked with the company Group / O Katie Duck (I), then collaborated with Gaby Agus, London – 1987 Lying on warm concrete, with Gaby Agus, Riverside Studios, London; 1987 Tin, with Gaby Agis, Festival Dance Umbrella, White Chapel Art Gallery, London; 1988 Free Fall, Film diretto da Bob Bentley 1993 Hortus Botanicus, with Company Hamilton, ICA London – 1993 Quartetto, with Parco Butterfly, Estate Fiesolana, Fiesole (FI); 1994 to 2007 Twenty to Eight - Travelogue I, with Sasha Waltz and Guests, Berlin (D) replicated extensively in Europe and the United States from 1993-2001, brought back in 2008 in and in 2009 in Paris.

In 1989 she co-founder director and choreographer with Alessandro Certini of Company Blu.

Rewarded Danza & Danza in 2000 for the choreography, “Tempesta di Sogni”, produced by Armunia Festival Castiglioncello, Charlotte has been present at international festivals such as Rotterdam Festival, Dance Umbrella London, Festival De Dansa Post Modern Caracas, Festival / D Werf in Utrecht, New York Improvisation Festival, L’Anaimal al’Esquegna Girona, The Naked Stage Lujbjana, Tanz Tage Freiburg, Sic Festival Warsaw, ID Fest. Los Angeles, Radial System Berlin, Milano Oltre, Fabbrica Europa Florence.

Over the last 25 years Charlotte’s dance work has transformed into a multidisciplinary expression of dance and textual movement that uses song, poetry, oldies, rant… She often works in concert with musicians and originally composed scores and with meaning as it is communicated through gesture and text. Her performance language is influenced by an interest in the emancipation of the body through studies in vocal work, Contact Improvisation, Authentic Movement, and Traditional Chinese Massage. Interest in also presenting gender related work began in 1998 with the work ‘Silenzi’, inspired by Emily Dickenson’s poetry.

Other collaborations have included improvisational projects along side dancers: K. Duck, A. Certini, S. Paxton, P. DeGroot, J. Hamilton, K. Simson, N. S. Smith, A. Alessi, L. Nelson. In 2011 taught for Sasha Waltz and Guests and is an annual guest with workshops and performance projects at (Radialsystem V, Berlin).

ELENA GIANNOTTI

Dancer, choreographer
Elena Giannotti is an independent dancer and choreographer and she is part of Company Blu since 2008.
Her artistic development has been going through studying and researching different fields of body-work and movement disciplines focusing on integration and comparative overview.

For more than 10 years she has been Rosemary Butcher's main performer in films and stage creations.

She also worked with L’Ensemble Dance-Theatre, Virgilio Sieni, Yoshiko Chuma, Daghdha Dance and has been collaborating with artists like Nicole Peisl at the Forsythe Co., Fearghus O'Conchuir, Max Barachini.
Parallelly Elena created her own solo works. Since 2002 she has created numerous pieces, been invited to Festivals and to events to perform as an improviser.
Her work Facsimile has been supported by the Arts Councils Ireland and has been touring in Italy, USA, Mexico and east Europe.
The piece Lo sguardo de Cane has also been selected to be shown at NID Platform 2014, Vetrina GDA in Ravenna and has been touring in Ireland and Italy.

Since 2014 she is collaborating with Ioannis Mandafounis performing the duo ApersonA and on their new creation together with Roberta Mosca and Bruce Myers called Ossip Mandelstam. A Performance that will premiere in March 2016.
Elena is interested in somatic studies and improvisation as integrating tools for composition.​ She has been teaching in Academic and professional centres worldwide.
Beside her dancing career she is a Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tuina Massage, Qi Gong Practitioner and Teacher. Through time she has developed interest in dreams and dream practices. As a result of this practice she became a Social Dreaming Facilitator.

ISABELLA GIUSTINA

Contemporary dancer
studied in Florence where she attended the professional dance academy Opus Ballet and the Nikolais technique program led by Simona Bucci.
In 2013 she studied in Bruxelles and she participated in the Biennale Danza in Venice directed by Virgilio Sieni.
Since 2011 she has danced for Accademia del Gesto of Virgilio Sieni; Compagnia Gabriella Secchi; Compagnia Giardino Chiuso; Compagnia Simona Bucci; Company Blu; Compagnia Teatro Popolare d’Arte of Gianfranco Pedullà; Compagnia ADARTE; Sang Jijia; Versiliadanza; Compagnia TPO; Compagnia Opus Ballet.
In 2017 she created Destinata Guerriera, a dance solo which was selected for Network Antcorpi XL 2017 platform, for Essenziale Festival 2017 (Essen/Germany) and for the Solo Dance Contest 2018/Gdanski Festiwal Tanca (Gdansk/Poland).
In 2018 she created Mutamenti, receiving first prize of TenDance 2018 award in Latina (LT, Italy).
She is selected for Crossing the Sea 2019: in Singapore Isabella creates the show Hanging in the Balance for the T.H.E Second Company, which debuts at the M1 Contact Contemporary Dance Festival 2019.

LUCA ZANNI

Dancer and performer
he trained at Opus Ballet Choreographic Center in Florence. Later he took part in several freelance projects collaborating over the years with Compagnia Opus Ballet, Compagnia Virgilio Sieni, Biennale Danza Venezia with David Zambrano, Festival Oriente Occidente with Sharon Fridman, Joe Lott Dance Company (UK), Shelly Owen (UK), La Democrazia del Corpo Festival with Daniele Ninnarello, Serena Malacco, Compagnia Francesca Selva, Compagnia Petrillo Danza, Cie Twain, Company Blu, Kinkaleri and Tanz Company Gervasi.
In addition he began a journey as an author together with his colleagues, staging “Isole Sensibili ", co-produced by Con.Cord.D.A.,"DOYOUWANNAJUDGEME" selected for the showcase of the young dance author Anticorpi XL 2019, “Sui Legami”, and "Detrital wash", the last three supported by Company Blu.
He is also a guest teacher at Opus Ballet, Specific Training for the contemporary dancer, Y.CALL intensive training program and Sharing Training, Florence.

AGNESE LANZA

Contemporary dancer
she trained at Trinity Laban Conservatoire (UK) and worked with different choreographers as Rosemary Lee, Tino Sehgal, Antonietta Mirto, Janin Harrington, Maciej Kuzminsky and others.
Between 2012-14 she was involved in Aomori Project, working with the choreographer Sioned Huws between UK and Japan.
In 2013 she created “Inter Pares Project” with Julie Havelund, a work developed between UK, Denmark and Italy that represented the begin  of her choreographic research. After that she created the following projects: “In/ti/mo”, selected for Fabbrica Europa Festival and other festivals in Tuscany; “Tactum”, developed with Giuseppe Comuniello and created for museums with an interest in tactile projects; “Tu-Torial” a work made with Margherita Landi based on the relationship with body and VR technology.
Since 2017 she works as a dance teacher of Contemporary and Creative dance for children and professionals and she  funded “DanceFloor Kids” with Martina Francone, a dance project for parents and child.
She is working as choreographer assistant for Virgilio Sieni and as a dancer for Company Blu, Elena Giannotti and Compagnia Virgilio Sieni.

SARA CAPANNA

Dancer, performer
trained in 2016-17 at Art Factory International, professional contemporary dance training in Bologna. There she studied with masters such as David Zambrano and Eduardo Torroja and in classical technique, floor work, contact-improvisation, release technique, Feldenkrais, BMC, dance and technology, dance and disability. From 2017 to 2019 shje trained with L’Attore Dissennato - on the teachings of madness at Animali Celesti theater company in Pisa. In 2019 she graduated in Performing Arts and communication at Pisa University with the thesis Contagi - the meeting between theater and madness. From 2018 to today she has attended seminars with Elena Giannotti, Max Barachini, Virgilio Sieni, Ray Chung, and others. Since 2019 she has been working with Animali Celesti as actress and trainer, and as a dancer for Paola Bianchi's Ekphrasis. In 2019 she created her first work as author together with Michele Scappa “Crepe | studies on the fragility of matter.” The duo supported by Company Blu is presented in festivals and choreographic awards including Racconti di Altre Danze, ResiDanza, Fuori Formato, Dominio Pubblico, Twain_Direzioni Altre. From 2020 she collaborates as a dancer with Company Blu, performing in Art on the Grass and Erba Volant Gesta Manent.