Choreography that reveals how intense life force emerges from difference.
From a shared desire for encounter and confrontation, ICK Dans Amsterdam and the Italian Compagnia Zappalà Danza joined forces for this international production. 'L.A.V.A.' brings together two powerful choreographic worlds: the impulsive, physical language of Greco & Scholten and the rhythmic, collective energy of Zappalà. Together they create an intense performance full of tension and sound.
On a shared performance space, new movement emerges from different styles—raw, layered, and unpredictable as lava: bubbling beneath the surface, ready to erupt while simultaneously slow and powerful. The dancers' bodies approach each other, collide, and break open anew. The soundscape by Salvador Breed forms its own force within the performance: a pulsing composition of electronic textures and rhythms that propels the dance, disrupts it, and keeps it under constant tension. 'L.A.V.A.' shows how intense life force emerges from difference. Not through harmony, but through friction. Not through distance, but through proximity. The audience finds itself in the midst of this physical and sonic eruption.
Website: ICK Amsterdam
Credits
Choreography, concept, lighting, sound and scenography: Emio Greco, Pieter C. Scholten and Roberto Zappalà Dance: dancers of ICK Dans Amsterdam and Compagnia Zappalà Danza Music and sound design: Salvador Breed Costume design: Clifford Portier In collaboration with Meervaart, Julidans, Teatro di Napoli – Teatro Nazionale Under the patronage of INGV – National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology Supported by MiC – Italian Ministry of Culture, Regione Siciliana, Fonds Podiumkunsten, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts
About ICK Dans Amsterdam
Emio Greco (Italy) and Pieter C. Scholten (Netherlands) have been collaborating since 1995 and have built a versatile and internationally recognized body of work over more than three decades, ranging from contemporary dance to opera, theater, music and film. Since 1996, the choreographic duo creates intensely physical dance productions in which the intuitive, curious body takes center stage — a body in rebellion too, one that refuses to conform to imposed dance forms, but elevates itself as the measure in its movement through time, space and form. With this uncompromising point of departure, the company developed a distinctive movement vocabulary, which was documented early on in their artistic manifesto Les Sept Nécessités (1996). For their exceptional contribution to Dutch dance, Greco and Scholten received the VSCD Golden Swan Prize in 2021.
About Roberto Zappalà
Roberto Zappalà is artistic director and choreographer of the eponymous Zappalà Danza Company, which he founded in 1990 in Sicily. For this company, he has created more than 85 works, including the award-winning productions A.semu tutti devoti tutti? and La Nona. He developed his own choreographic language, called MoDem, and wrote the book Omnia Corporas about his method. Zappalà also founded Scenario Pubblico, Italy's first international choreographic center. For his body of work, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024.
ICK Dans Amsterdam
In 2009, Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten combined their artistic, production and research activities in ICK Dans Amsterdam, the international platform for contemporary dance. They create international productions, support young makers and stimulate education and research into dance.
