“I, the son of Zeus, have come to this land of the Thebans; I, Dyonisus, […] having taken a mortal form instead of a god’s, I am here at the fountains of Dirke and the water of Ismenus. […] I have come to this Hellene city first, having already set those others land to dance and established my mysteries there, so that I might be a deity manifest among men. In this land of Hellas, I have first excited Thebes to my cry, fitting a fawn-skin to my body and taking a thyrsus in my hand, a weapon of ivy”
— Euripides, Bacchae
The (piece) generates from a specific analysis of Euripides’ Bacchae, by isolating the choral sectionsof the tragedy. The work narrates the return of Dyonisus, god of ecstasy, to a Greece disrespectfultowards his divine essence. Revenge is close and is spread over the length of the play: playing the part of the scapegoats are the Theban women, first victims, then executioners, shaken trough the acts of a vengeful god. In Citerone the bacchaes are interpreted by two performers, synthesis of the Greek chorus.
The project aims to represent the origins of the ancient Greek tragedy: the dithyramb, a hymn full of poetry and dance. This is the beginning, this is the prologue of western theatre; the choreography is meant to be a body chant in honor of Dionysus.
Michele Ifigenia/Tyche since 2015 has been following side by side university studies in modern literature and theatrical studies. He collaborated with the Kerkis Ancient Theater Association studying the representability of classical texts. He studied with some historical theatrical institutions: Teatro Valdoca, Societas Raffaello Sanzio. In 2020 he graduated as a dancer-choreographer at the Paolo Grassi Civic School of Theater with the performance Fisica dell’aspra comunione by Claudia Castellucci. In these years of artistic training he worked and studied with various choreographers and masters: Maria Consagra, Alessio Maria Romano, Olivier Dubois, Paola Lattanzi, Emanuela Tagliavia, Ariella Vidach, Silvia Rampelli, Cesc Gelabert. He currently works as a coreograpoher in a dance group he co-founded: the Michele Ifigenia/Tyche. The group is co-produced by AIEP - Ariella Vidach and has performed in many festivals, such as Nao Performing, Ipercorpo, HangartFest, FOG Triennale Milano, Festa Danzante Ticino, Festival Catalysi. In May 2022, together with other emerging artists, he founded B-Ped, a cultural association that aims to promote new choreographic creations that spans through actions on the public and the territory with public training and cultural events such as TeatroLab 2.0 Festival and Milan Freedom Zone, a project made in collaboration with the European Parliament. With the Michele Ifigenia/Tyche group he recently won the Anghiari Dance Hub call with his latest choreographic work: “Cuma”. The Michele Ifigenia / Tyche choreographic research group was born within two important Italian training centers: Paolo Grassi Civic School of Theatre in Milan and the Scuola Conia, an institute supported by the Societas Raffaello Sanzio. Tyche is made up of five members: a choreographer, two dramaturg and three performers / dancers.
