Ballon's, Fabiani's and Favier's conquest of pre-republican Rome (1790-1797)
(Nika Tomasevic)

In the years immediately preceding the Roman Republic and Napoleon's arrival in the Papal States, Rome was experiencing years of great turmoil and cultural vitality. Beyond the peculiar limits of the urban theatrical life (very present censorship, closure of theaters between 1793 and 1795, ban on female performances on stage) Argentina, Apollo and Alibert theatres proposed an interesting and heterogeneous artistic offer.
In this context, three choreographers worked at Teatro Argentina during the period 1790-1797: Michele Fabiani, Domenico Ballon e Charles-August Favier (Jean Favier's son).
The study is based on a comparative analysis of late eighteenth century dance booklets, related to the data obtained from chronologies and repertoires, and reconstructs and examines the activity of Fabiani, Ballon, and Favier, contextualizing it in transalpine dance trend.
In Rome, the three dancing-masters consolidated performance practices and contributed, as part of Italian pantomime dance, to the "standardization" of artistic and literary lines formed in the eighteenth century. An example is the "colonial current" that left a mark in French and Italian opera and ballet (see Jean-Georges Noverre's Belton et Éliza, 1774, and Gasparo Angiolini's Alzira o gli Americani, 1781).
The second part of the study focuses on the transformation of the "American colonial current" in a general exoticism (American, Middle Eastern, Australian). This introduced new dances and an almost invented local color in pantomime ballets, in very similar plots (stories about jealousy and thwarted love), La conquista del Perù o sia Telasco ed Amazili, La morte di Pizarro, Il capitano Cook nell'isola degli Ottaiti can be cited as examples. These pantomime ballets weren't very demanding in terms of content, because the main interest was focused on the spectacular nature of the scenes (religious ceremonies, military marches and battles) and a dynamic use of the scenography in the wake of traditional Italian dance in Rome.

Nika Tomasevic, Rom, Italien:

Nika Tomasevic, a scholar of theatre and dance, is currently studying for a PhD in The History of Contemporary and Modern Theatre at "L'Orientale" University in Naples. She worked with Fabrizio Crisafulli within the framework of his theatre workshops at DAMS (College of Arts, Music, Stage & Cinema) at Roma Tre University. She edited the book Place Body Light. The Theater of Fabrizio Crisafulli: Twenty Years of Reserch 1991-2011 (Art digiland Books, Dublin, 2013) and with Manuela Canali the volume Luce per la danza. La nuova stagione, 1999-2012 (L'Epos, Palermo, 2012).