The magical virtuosity of Toti Scialoja (1914–1998)—a master not only of images but also of words—lies at the heart of this new creation by the Fondazione Nazionale della Danza / Aterballetto for children and young audiences, where a dancer and an actor play with his language.

The almost magical vibrations that spring from Scialoja’s poems are like the endless ripples that form on the surface of water when a stone is thrown: evokers of unreal or hyper-real images, bearers of a musicality that blends poetry and nursery rhyme, allowing the extraordinary and the frightening to meet.

Beneath a bush of scarlet roses
The toad serves hot tea with milk.
Beneath a bush of peacock-hued roses
It’s the toad’s turn to rinse the cups.
(Toti Scialoja, La mela di Amleto, 1984)