Antonio Fini's International Italian Dance Festival Culminates with NYC Gala

By: Aug. 21, 2017
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Antonio Fini's International Italian Dance Festival - classes and workshops held in his native Calabria and in New York City - will culminate in a Gala Performance and Awards Ceremony, Thursday August 31st, 8 PM, at the Ailey Citigroup Theater.

The evening will get off to a joyous start with an authentic tarantella staged by Fini, and follow with performances by ** award winner Marie Lorene Fichaux (dancing the duet Sin Palabras with Christian L. Koenig, choreography by Nacho Duato)
** Alessio Crognale and Antonio Cangiano in a duet from Michael Mao's Verdi Requiem
** Antonio Fini in his solo Gym- Me
** tapper Davide Accossato from Turin
** JH Company from Bologna
** dancers from RIDA (Rome International Dance Academy) from Rome

During the evening, awards will be presented to:

Terese Capucilli, Lifetime Achievement Award - acclaimed interpreter of the roles originally performed by Martha Graham, is one of the last generation of dancers to be coached and directed by the great master choreographer. A principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company for 26 years (1979-2005), she became associate artistic director in 1997, and from 2002-05 served as co-artistic director (with Christine Dakin). A torchbearer and driving force of Graham's technique and theater for nearly four decades, she is now artistic director laureate. Capucilli is also a founding member of Buglisi Dance Theatre, and continues her association with that company, soon to celebrate its 25th anniversary. The Syracuse native has appeared around the world with the Graham Company, Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project, and Buglisi Dance Theatre. Since 1999 she has served on the faculty of The Juilliard School and has guest taught and stagEd Graham works for the Juilliard dancers and the Colorado Ballet.

Capucilli's awards include a 1985-86 Dance Fellowship (for her work with Graham) from the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, and was awarded a Princess Grace Statuette the following year. In 2001 she received the Dance Magazine Award; in 2010 the Presidential Distinguished Alumni Award (Purchase). Recently she received a Special Projects Grant from the Princess Grace Foundation-USA for her documentary/educational film about Graham accompanist Lawrence "Reed" Hansen.

Marie Lorene Fichaux, Extraordinary Dancer Award - is a graduate of the Paris Opera Ballet School and the Teatro all Scala Ballet School in Milan, where she performed with the La Scala Ballet Company. She later joined the Royal Ballet of London and in 2003 was invited by Nacho Duato to join La Compania Nacional de Danza in Spain as a First Soloist. As a principal artist, she toured internationally with Le Ballet Classique de Paris, The English National Ballet, the European Ballet, and Victor Ullate Ballet. In the U.S. she was guest soloist with the Boston Ballet, and her choreography has been performed at the Ailey and Fordham BFA program and other ensembles.

Ms. Fichaux was a gold medalist at the Carpeaux Int'l Competition, the Acqui in Palcoscenico Competition, and the Premio Internazionale Danza in Italy. Also a scholar, Ms. Fichaux earned a Masters Degree in Languages and Foreign Literature at Geneva U, and a Masters Degree in Dance Education at the Centre National de la Danse in Paris. Earlier this year she received a Ph.D in Dance Pedagogy from the National Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance in Lyon, France.

Alessio Crognale, Rising Star Award - began his training in his hometown of Lanciano (Abruzzo) in Central Italy, eventually winning a scholarship to Milan's Centro Studi Coreografici Teatro Carcano. After his 2014 graduation from that Academy, he moved to New York and studied on scholarship at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. He has toured nationally and internationally with the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, and is now a member of the Martha Graham Ensemble, directed by Virginie Mecene.

Antonio Cangiano, Rising Star Award - studied under scholarships to dance academies, graduating in his native Naples under the tutelage of Dino Carano, director of Acsi Ballet Company. He was a prizewinner in numerous competitions, including the AJD Alto Ionio Dance Festival, which resulted in a scholarship to the Graham Professional Training in NYC, offered by director Virginie Mecene, as well as a contract to the Martha Graham 2 Company.



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