Marco Valerio Amico's Manifesto for Contemporary Dance

Marco Valerio Amico, artistic director of gruppo nanou, published a manifesto on Artribune challenging contemporary dance conventions. The text argues that dance companies are disappearing, replaced by solitary authors who shift project rosters, leading to a loss of personal language in favor of well-crafted but ephemeral spectacles. Amico critiques the theater as a space losing its regenerative, popular appeal, noting that audiences for contemporary languages are increasingly non-theatrical. The manifesto consists of numbered points covering body, space, and time. Key assertions include: the body must be removed from center stage yet remains necessary; objects on stage are bodies that must be integral, not abandoned; tattoos should be removed or replaced with temporary ones; space is architecture generated by the body; the map (drawing) constructs the body; space is between bodies and always beside them; time is circular, avoiding rhythm to escape finality. Amico rejects manifestos as fixing what should move forward, yet felt compelled to state obvious truths. The piece includes references to Fred Astaire and the band Megaloman. Gruppo nanou was founded in 2004 by Amico, Rhuena Bracci, and Roberto Rettura.