Caracalla Danza

CARACALLA DANZA
FIRST EDITION · SEPTEMBER 26–28

A new initiative by the Special Superintendency of Rome and CCN/Aterballetto
Guest company: Gauthier Dance // Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart

In collaboration with Romaeuropa Festival 2025

An extraordinary site, with its archaeological heritage unique in the world, has since 2024 hosted a stage suspended above a pool of water—an installation designed to bring water, its essential element, back to the Baths of Caracalla, where the monument is reflected.

With Caracalla Danza, the Special Superintendency of Rome, in co-design with CCN/Aterballetto—returning to the space it inaugurated on April 13, 2024, to the notes of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue—places dance at the heart of a new model for enhancing a unique heritage site.

CCN/Aterballetto will perform the lunar duet Reconciliatio by Angelin Preljocaj and present the world premiere of a new creation by Diego Tortelli, conceived to be danced in the water itself. The stage will also be shared with one of Europe’s leading companies, Gauthier Dance // Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart, directed by Eric Gauthier, performing works by Marco Goecke, Hofesh Shechter, and Sharon Eyal.

On September 26, 27, and 28, three evenings will mark the launch of Caracalla Danza, which in the coming years will establish itself as a recurring September event, following the major restoration works at the Baths of Caracalla.

INFO & TICKETS

The performances will begin shortly before sunset, approximately between 5:45 pm and 6:00 pm. Admission to the stage area will be possible starting at 5:00 pm. Entry to the seating area will not be allowed after the performance has started.

Notice to the Audience

To meet the numerous requests, an additional 50 standard seats (€20) have been made available for each evening of Caracalla Danza (September 26-27-28).

Tickets will be available exclusively at the Caracalla Baths box office.

Box office opening hours:
• from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm
• from 5:00 pm until the start of the performance

Online purchase is not available.
Phone or email reservations will not be accepted.

Tickets:
From €20

Tickets not available on
Musei Italiani:
www.museiitaliani.it
Musei Italiani app available on Google Play and the App Store

EVENING PROGRAM

Sharon Eyal: ALONE

With the dancers of Gauthier Dance // Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart. Rome premiere.

Choreography and Costumes: Sharon Eyal
Sound Design: Josef Laimon
Music: Eliza
Lighting Design: Alon Cohen
Assistant to the Choreographer: Clyde Emmanuel Archer

With ALONE, Sharon Eyal returns to the large ensemble that made her famous. The choreographer reveals the hypnotic power of synchrony and the astonishing dynamics of a body-as-machine collective. Subtle variations or serial transformations disrupt the order of her groups of dancers; individuals break free from the repetitive patterns of an apparently post-human society.

Marco Goecke: Monstruo Grande

With two dancers of Gauthier Dance // Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart. Rome premiere.

Choreography: Marco Goecke
Music: Mercedes Sosa
Lighting Design: Mario Daszenies
Costumes: Michaela Springer

Marco Goecke’s creation stands out for its precision and energy. Set to the powerful music of Mercedes Sosa, this duet unfolds in a performance full of dynamic movement and emotional tension, captivating the audience from the very first moment.

Angelin Preljocaj: RECONCILIATIO

With Estelle Bovay and Arianna Kob, dancers of CCN/Aterballetto. Rome premiere

Choreography: Angelin Preljocaj
Music: Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 14 “Moonlight”
Costumes: Igor Chapurin
Lighting: Cécile Giovansili
Assistant to the Choreographer: Claudia De Smet
Restaging from the 2010 creation Suivront mille ans de calme
Production: Fondazione Nazionale della Danza / Aterballetto
Co-production: Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Bologna

Dance, the art of the unspeakable par excellence, has the delicate power to reveal our fears, anxieties, and hopes by evoking them. The chosen duet to embody the theme of reconciliation is taken from Suivront mille ans de calme (A Thousand Years of Calm Will Follow), a work imbued with poetic and impressionistic tones, inspired by a persistent though non-literal reading of the Apocalypse.

For the choreographer, neither in the original work nor in this female duet—adapted for Memorare 2024 at the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna—should one seek explicit references to St. John’s text. As the etymology of “apocalypse” suggests—to lift the veil—it is instead about revealing, uncovering, and bringing to light elements present in our world but hidden from our gaze. In the delicate relationship between the protagonists of the duet, these elements emerge—both visible and invisible.

Marco Goecke: INFANT SPIRIT

With the dancers of Gauthier Dance // Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart. Rome premiere

Choreography: Marco Goecke
Lighting Design: Udo Haberland
Costumes: Michaela Springer
Music: Antony and the Johnsons

The initial spark that led Marco Goecke toward dance came from the legendary company of his hometown, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. Although he only met the pioneer of dance-theatre a few times, she nevertheless played a significant role in his career—even long after he had left Wuppertal. In 2004, she invited the young choreographer to present his works Blushing and Mopey at the festival 30 Years of Tanztheater Wuppertal. Even today, Goecke’s gratitude is evident when he speaks of the trust she placed in him. His solo Infant Spirit is a tribute to Pina Bausch, to whom the choreographer feels deeply indebted.

Hofesh Shechter: BONUS TRACK

With the dancers of Gauthier Dance // Theaterhaus Stuttgart. Italian premiere

Choreography and Composition: Hofesh Shechter
Lighting Design: Mario Daszenies
Costumes: Gudrun Schretzmeier & Hofesh Shechter
Rehearsal Director: Kim Kohlmann

Eric Gauthier asked Hofesh Shechter, resident artist of his company, to create a choreography that could stand as an independent work—adaptable for touring and ideally suited for outdoor performances. The goal was to produce a truly accessible piece that could bring contemporary dance especially to younger audiences.

For those who know Shechter, it comes as no surprise that he rose to this challenge with ease—particularly since the origins of Bonus Track lie precisely in an outreach project. Some time ago, Shechter had adapted elements of his choreography Clowns for a series of open-air performances in London with a reduced cast of eight dancers. From this foundation, he created a new version tailor-made for and with Gauthier Dance, reworking his own soundtrack—once again, as always, original.

Diego Tortelli: LIMEN

With Estelle Bovay and Arianna Kob, dancers of CCN/Aterballetto

Choreography: Diego Tortelli
Costumes: Sportmax
Music: Weyes Blood
New production created especially for the Baths of Caracalla, world premiere

Limen (from the Latin: threshold — between real and reflected, between presence and dissolution) is a choreographic dialogue between two female presences emerging from the veil of water as if from an invisible threshold. They mirror each other, brush against one another, seek and dissolve, like unstable reflections trembling on the liquid skin of the surface.

Their dance moves along the border — between body and echo, gesture and memory, what appears and what fades away. The piece reactivates the memory of the site — once a temple of the body, of care, of collective ritual — transforming it into an intimate, circular, almost whispered gesture. The two dancers do not embody characters but rather mirrored forces, twin archetypes that seek one another without ever fully coinciding, like two halves of a reflected image quivering in the water.

Gauthier Dance//Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart

Gauthier Dance // Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart is a young and dynamic company of 16 highly individual and versatile artists, led by dancer, choreographer, musician, and charismatic dance ambassador Eric Gauthier. Founded in October 2007, the company quickly established itself on the German dance scene and has long since become an internationally recognized name.

Its repertoire includes works by Gauthier himself as well as by renowned contemporary choreographers such as Mauro Bigonzetti, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Marie Chouinard, Sharon Eyal, Andonis Foniadakis, William Forsythe, Itzik Galili, Jiří Kylián, Lightfoot/León, Hans van Manen, Marcos Morau, Ohad Naharin, and Sasha Waltz.

In addition to performances at its home base Theaterhaus Stuttgart, the company regularly tours major international dance capitals, including Toronto, New York, Tel Aviv, Venice, Amsterdam, St. Petersburg, Munich, Québec City, Montréal, Berlin, and Chicago. Gauthier Dance // Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart was highlighted as a “German highlight” in the 2022 yearbook of the specialist magazine tanz.

Alongside its growing acclaim, Gauthier Dance has intensified collaborations with world-renowned choreographers—especially with resident artists Marco Goecke (January 2019 to summer 2023), Hofesh Shechter (since 2021), and Barak Marshall (from the 2024/25 season). Even during the pandemic, the company never stood still, launching an inspiring initiative that drew wide attention beyond the dance world: between winter and spring 2021, 16 choreographers, 16 filmmakers, and 16 composers each created a solo for one of the company’s members. The Dying Swans Project remains available free of charge in the media library of the German broadcaster 3sat. The project received enthusiastic acclaim, even attracting the interest of German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who arranged a video call with Eric Gauthier to learn more.

Recent highlights include the themed evening Swan Lakes (2021), with world premieres by Marie Chouinard, Marco Goecke, Hofesh Shechter, and Cayetano Soto; The Seven Sins (2022), in which Aszure Barton, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Sharon Eyal, Marco Goecke, Marcos Morau, Hofesh Shechter, and Sasha Waltz each transformed one of the deadly sins into a choreographic creation; the 2022/23 season’s 15th-anniversary celebration 15 YEARS ALIVE; and in 2024, ELEMENTS, featuring world premieres by Mauro Bigonzetti, Sharon Eyal, Andonis Foniadakis, and Louise Lecavalier.

The 2024/25 season has featured two spectacular new productions: FireWorks, in which Mauro Bigonzetti, Virginie Brunelle, Stijn Celis, Dominique Dumais, Andonis Foniadakis, Marco Goecke, Johan Inger, Barak Marshall, Benjamin Millepied, and Sofia Nappi each contributed short new works celebrating the 40th anniversary of Theaterhaus as a cultural beacon for Stuttgart; and in summer 2025, the company opened the COLOURS International Dance Festival with the world premiere of The Turning of Bones, created by international choreography star Akram Khan.

Beyond its “traditional” performance activities, Gauthier Dance has stood out from the beginning for its pioneering socio-cultural initiatives. With Gauthier Dance Mobile, the company brings dance to those unable to attend the theatre, performing in nursing homes, hospitals, and facilities for people with disabilities. In 2022, Theaterhaus and Eric Gauthier launched a new chapter of this program with the MOVES FOR FUTURE initiative, involving the new youth company. The Gauthier Dance JUNIORS // Theaterhaus Stuttgart spark enthusiasm for dance among younger generations through numerous school performances in the region, showing remarkable maturity in their own independent productions, which easily match the quality of their more experienced colleagues.

www.theaterhaus.com/de/gauthier