Marta Ciappina's 'Gli anni' reconstructs memory through dance and audience engagement

Marta Ciappina's performance 'Gli anni,' inspired by Annie Ernaux's novel of the same name, uses choreography, acting, and direct audience interaction to reconstruct autobiographical fragments. The show, created with Marco D'Agostin, presents a series of clues—a yellow phone, a dog statue, numbered cards—that map the dancer's childhood, adolescence, and artistic career. Ciappina, dressed in dark trousers and a white blouse with an Invicta backpack, begins with a nursery rhyme whose meaning unfolds later. The performance includes black-and-white home movies depicting a bourgeois life shattered by a gun and the line 'my dad...'. Rather than a theatrical Cluedo, 'Gli anni' demands emotional involvement from the audience, with Ciappina often close and making eye contact. The accelerated sequence of pop songs, controlled by the performer, underscores visceral yet cerebral emotion. The work addresses the violent loss of her father, teenage loves, and artistic growth, culminating in a partial reconstruction of the parent's murder. D'Agostin, described as a kindred spirit, enhances Ciappina's powerful and magnetic presence. The performance premiered in 2022.