The Venice Carnival moves to the Arsenale, in an inimitable open-air theatre, to celebrate “Take Your Time For The Original Signs”.
“Original Signs” is the title of the show – signed by artistic director Massimo Checchetto and directed by Enrica Crivellaro – that will be performed twice a day for a total of nine evenings: Friday 10, Saturday 11 and Sunday, February 12 and from Thursday, February 16 to Tuesday, February 21, with two daily replicas at 6.30 PM and 9 PM.
This magical parade will transform the basin of the Venice Arsenale into an emotional and surreal storm, with live performances of music, dance and special effects. Eight “tableaux vivants” performed by a spectacular international cast will tell the story of human evolution: from the ancestral symbols of nature, to celestial symbols through an explosion of colour.
On boats and floating barges, among the flames and near the dock of the Arsenale, the artists will perform a repertoire of games, scenic equipment, acrobatics, and Flyboard evolutions.
In the evocative space that was once the seat of the Serenissima’s navy, “Original Signs” will bring to the stage thirty multidisciplinary performers who will take the audience on a journey of exploration of signs.
Different creative languages will narrate the timeless human need to express oneself and find a place in the earthly world, the heavenly world, and the imaginary world. There are six boats made to be floating stages accompanied by scenic elements on the water for an elegant and powerful show that will hit the mark.
This show sees the energetic bodies of the dancers of RANDB. Collective, the ethereal grace of the acrobat Viola Cappelli, and the expressive dance of Isabella Moro who narrates the celestial world with the Italian Sign Language. On stage we find the athletic gesture of the flyboard that, with Cristiano Perseu, is transformed into an artistic gesture that emerges from the water to rise towards the sky.
And with water, its complementary element could not be missing: fire, which in “Original Signs” is skilfully manipulated by Compagnia Opera Fiammae and the French Compagnie Ilotopie, already protagonists of the last edition and who this year bring new creative warmth, reinforced by the powerful live rhythm of Psycodrummers, unconventional percussionists.
The exciting night-time setting of the Arsenale is made unique by a dense backdrop of dancing fountains, lights and videos created by the technological art combination of Viorica, Antica Proietteria and Moonlight.
Tickets are available online with free admission and reductions for residents of the City of Venice while seats last.
How to reach Arsenale
On foot
Pedestrian entrance from Tesa 105 through the Celestia walkway – Arsenale Nord.
Special ACTV shuttle-boat service
● from S. Marco-S. Zaccaria “A” to Torre di Porta Nuova/Arsenale: services from 5:30pm (for the first performance at 6:30pm) and from 8:00pm (for the second performance at 9:00pm);
● from Torre di Porta Nuova/Arsenale to S. Marco-S. Zaccaria “A”: services from 7:05pm (after the first performance at 6:30pm) and from 9:35pm (after the second performance at 9:00pm).
Permission to board is granted only to those in possession of a ticket for the performance “Original Sings. A journey on the edge between the original and the authentic” and with the following Actv tickets: € 5.00 return journey tickets valid exclusively for route CA, time-limited travelcards (1, 2, 3, 7 days); Rete Unica season passes, Rete Unica tickets or ticket booklets – for waterborne service – enabled Venezia Unica cards.
The show is a Vela Spa production, with the concept of artistic director Massimo Checchetto. Directed by Enrica Crivellaro with Opera Fiammae, Compagnie Ilotopie, RandB. Collective, Psycodrummers, Viola Cappelli, Isabella Moro, Cristiano Perseu. Water Show curated by Viorica. Video and Sound Design by Antica Proietteria. Lighting Design by Tommaso Zappon.
