Aterballetto's Don Juan: A Psychoanalytic Take on the Legendary Seducer

Aterballetto presents Don Juan, a new full-length narrative ballet choreographed by Johan Inger, premiering at the Ravenna Festival on June 22 and 23. The work draws from Tirso de Molina's El burlador de Sevilla, Molière, and feminist revisions by Suzanne Lilar, but adopts a psychoanalytic lens focusing on Don Juan's troubled relationship with his mother. Inger and dramaturg Gregor Acuña-Pohl eliminate the Stone Guest, making the mother the sole judge. The score, commissioned from Marc Álvarez, incorporates Gluck's notes but omits Mozart. Sets by Curt Allen Wilmer feature black modular parallelepipeds. Lighting is by Fabiana Piccioli. Saul Daniele Ardillo leads the cast. The production marks a new narrative direction for the company under director Sveva Berti, co-produced by multiple Italian theaters including Metastasio di Prato, Regio di Parma, Comunale di Vicenza, and Delle Muse di Ancona.