Massimiliano Troiani and Gianfranco Rota. India in Dance

The body of Indian dance is an imposing body.
The omnipresence of dance in Indian society, the religious and philosophical thought that substantiate, as well as the sophistication of the various stylistic traditions, have created over the centuries in a wealth of shapes and density of thought unique.
With the photographic exhibition in India Dance photographers Massimiliano Troiani and Gianfranco Rota give us a glimpse through their eyes significant of this universe. The pictures of Massimiliano Troiani focus on dance Bharatanatyam and Kathakali, while those of Gianfranco Rota investigate the world dell'Odissi and Gotipua. The color and black and white meet the subjects highlighting the infinite possibilities of gradation of observing.
The dance, impermanent form par excellence, is seduced and secure in these shots are able to capture the essence of a gesture, a look at the intention of the concentration that precedes the encounter with the sacred.

The body of Tradition
Through the eyes of the photographer Gianfranco Rota reflection we see the world that surrounds the universe of performing Odissi dance: the signs, the faces, the places that perpetually renew the tradition. Starting from the popular matrices, through the temples up to today's dance schools and theaters of urban contexts, we trace the path that has led to the evolution of this style. The protagonists of this tradition - the teachers, students, dancers and musicians - we reveal the secrets and traditions of their art. The photos of the exhibition on the tradition gotipuasono were taken to Dimiri Sena (Orissa, India north-east), the only village in which it is still practiced ritual affiliation between the Gotipua and the temple in which young people are seen as representations of 'icon of Shiva in his aspect of Ardhanarishvara: "Lord, half woman."

The inhabited silence of the dance
Massimiliano Troiani has returned to photography and documentary, where he started in the early seventies, after a long experience in the theater. The encounter with dance was random, no project is at the base of the photos shown, but several trips to Africa, Asia and Latin America and the experience of the director allowed him to come into contact with the flame that leads to silent always humanity to change the body, face and voice entrusting them to dance, makeup, singing. The dance Bharatanatyam, with its geometry and its mudra, for the Trojans arrive directly to the essentiality of the speech, a grammar that perhaps the black and white, aided by the sighs of gray, gives more faithfully. It was once a dance naked, only bodies without added colors ... a dance in black and white.

Enrich the exhibition, two interesting documentaries Trojans

The ashes of Gandhi Documentary filmed in India, through interviews with people close to Mahatma Gandhi at the time of the struggle against British domination, bears witness to the experiences of men and women in those years, extraordinary and terrible. Original Documents of the time show the most important phases of the life and work of Mahatma until the funeral which involved the whole of India.
With contributions by Gino Strada, Mario Luzi, Mrinalini Sarabhai, Reba Som, and prof. Of the House.
Director: Massimiliano Troiani; voice: Gianni Musy; Music: Fabio Rossini and Stefano Santoni; duration: 44 min.

And Shiva Yatra 'a ??journey in the footsteps of Shiva. The documentary approaches the various aspects of the devotion to the deity, especially in the southern regions of India, entering the most sacred temples, particularly that of Chidambaram. Observing the devotees of the god "covered with ashes", the movie focuses on one of the most emblematic figures and elusive of the Hindu religion, focusing more attention on its appearance of the god of dance: Nataraja.
Director: Massimiliano Troiani; entry: Toni Bertorelli; Music: Giuseppe Gandolfo; duration: 36 min.

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