Puglia Enraptured: Ballets de Monte-Carlo Mesmerizes with Core Meu
In the heat of a Puglian summer, the Ballets de Monte-Carlo wrapped up their 2023-2024 season with a spellbinding performance of **Core Meu**. From July 18th to 20th, Lecce’s historic Piazza Del Duomo was the stage for this captivating ballet, attended by the Princess of Hanover.
Originally previewed on July 1, 2017, during F(ê)aites de la Danse at Place du Casino, **Core Meu** is a masterwork by Jean-Christophe Maillot. The ballet is a heady mix of trance and sacrifice, celebrating the rapture of dance. It takes audiences on a journey from classical pointe to the earthy rhythms of the tarantella, deeply rooted in Apulia’s cultural heritage.
One of the heartbeats of **Core Meu** is Antonio Castrignanò, a torchbearer of Salento’s musical revival. With his band, Taranta Sounds, Castrignanò infused the ballet with the passionate strains of Pizzica and Tarantella, enriching the performance with authentic regional flair. His music, steeped in the traditions of the La Notte della Taranta festival, resonated through the choreography, providing a robust foundation for Maillot’s artistic vision.
Love, Desire and Mortality
Jean-Christophe Maillot’s choreography for **Core Meu** is a dance of contrasts, merging serene sensuality with wild physicality. Inspired by Salento villagers who once used the tarantella to defy church bans on dancing, Maillot explores themes of love, desire, and mortality. His work culminates in a Dionysian finale, where fifty dancers unite in an ecstatic collapse, symbolizing the ultimate surrender to dance.
Farewell of Giovanna Lorenzoni
The Lecce performances were particularly poignant as they marked the farewell of Giovanna Lorenzoni, who has served as ballet mistress for Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo for over three decades. In a heartfelt tribute, the company dedicated their final show to Lorenzoni, celebrating her invaluable contributions and her role as a cultural ambassador for Monaco. Known for her vibrant spirit, Lorenzoni now looks forward to new ventures that blend personal growth with artistic wellness.
Audiences in Lecce were not only captivated by the performance but also by the picturesque setting of Piazza Del Duomo. The ochre-hued stones of the square amplified the visual and emotional impact of Maillot’s choreography, leaving the crowd in awe and earning standing ovations.
The Puglia tour of **Core Meu** highlighted the universal appeal and emotional depth of the Ballets de Monte-Carlo’s artistry and their place at the pinnacle of the dance world.
