Dance Performance on Burri's Grande Cretto in Gibellina

In August 2016, the Grande Cretto by Alberto Burri in Gibellina, Sicily, became the stage for a dance performance. The work, built on the ruins of the town destroyed by the 1968 Belice earthquake, was the site of a cathartic ritual by dancers from the Paolo Grassi School of Dramatic Art in Milan, who performed to music by the Sicilian indie-rock band Mashrooms, their bodies covered in cracked clay. The performance was documented in the video 'The Dance of the Living Stones' by art historian Angelo De Grande. Hundreds of photos from the shoot, featuring dancers and choreography duo Moss, will be previewed in Milan from May 15 to 25 at Mediateca Santa Teresa as part of MilanoPhotofestival, then shown in Ragusa at Galleria Sudestasi Contemporanea in July. The project originated from the centenary of Burri's birth (1915-2015) and aimed to document the work's state before a long-awaited restoration. De Grande noted that the restoration was scheduled for late July 2016, and the Burri Foundation advised against filming then, but he proceeded with 25 people in early August. The video captures a dialogue between the newer, white sections and older, gray, vegetation-covered parts of the Cretto, with fragmented movements culminating in harmony. De Grande expressed satisfaction in documenting this transitional phase, as after restoration the work will appear new, losing the effects of time for another 30 years.