Dialogo Silenzioso is a collaborative project by Ayzoh! and Movimento Centrale, where dance — the mother of all arts — encounters Ethiopia, land of rhythms and cradle of humanity. Here, it reveals the ancestral beat of a universal language.
Sponsored by the Ethiopian State through its Embassy in Rome, the Municipality of Rimini, the Emilia-Romagna Region, and the University of Bologna, the project also welcomed the participation of philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy, one of the most influential thinkers of our time.
The Journey
The caravan of Dialogo Silenzioso departs from Rimini, home of Ayzoh!, and travels toward Ethiopia. Through a book, an exhibition, and a series of performances and conversations, the project brings together Mother Africa and the mother of all arts—dance.
Daisaku Ikeda once wrote that “the key to launching a meaningful spiritual battle in the name of humanist ideals is dialogue.” From this idea, a new kind of dialogue was born—silent, yet profound.
It begins between Claudio Gasparotto, artistic director of Movimento Centrale, and Claudio Maria Lerario, photographer and founder of Ayzoh!, who chose to fully embrace the spirit of this project.
Their dialogue unfolds in light and movement, words and images. It invites us to reflect on the role of dance and its connection to today’s deepest ethical and social questions.
The Pulse of Ethiopia
Lerario’s photography becomes a gesture of gratitude—a tribute to a country that shaped his lens and his spirit over years spent documenting some of Africa’s most urgent realities.
In the face of hardship, Ethiopia pulses with strength. Its beauty is raw, its culture distant from the Western gaze but rooted in something more essential: purity.
From this pulse emerge the key themes of Dialogo Silenzioso: resilience, transformation, diversity, beauty, and the art of living.
The silent dialogue is structured around four movements:
Purity – of children, of movement
Rhythm – of life, of dance
Mystery – of existence, of the body
Necessity – of living, of moving
These movements appear in everyday Ethiopian life, captured through the camera and embodied through dance.
Encounters That Speak
Words by choreographers, dancers, artists, and thinkers—curated by Gasparotto—interact with Ethiopian bodies captured by Lerario’s lens. In this conversation, encounters themselves become language.
The “Angels” of Movimento Centrale welcome visitors into this experience, while the videos and soundscapes of Fabio Mina enrich the atmosphere. Conversations with special guests expand the project’s reach, touching on existential and social issues alike.
Dance reveals its elusive, complex nature—blurring the boundaries between image and text, artist and audience, gesture and thought.
The Exhibition
More than a visual journey, the exhibition is a narrative in motion. Every work is a dialogue. Every dialogue is a challenge. Every challenge, a desire to reach for beauty and transform it into something tangible.
Dialogo Silenzioso is an intimate encounter. Ethiopian bodies, portrayed by Claudio Maria Lerario and Elisa Amati, emerge in resonance with Gasparotto’s poetic texts and Concetta Ferrario’s drawings. The dancers of Movimento Centrale become living works of art.
Visitors, immersed in the Augeo Art Space, are both observers and participants—suspended in a space shaped by Mina’s sonic landscape.
The exhibition invites not just observation, but participation. Alongside the images, brief yet powerful reflections by dancers, musicians, directors, writers, educators, and philosophers initiate a collective dialogue.
Here, words inhabit the images. They transform memories into emotion, and understanding into sensation.
This is a path—almost a labyrinth—where languages, movements, and visions intertwine in a fragile tension. Like dance itself: fluid, open, untamed.
In Dialogo Silenzioso, the bond between image and language becomes a space of love—open and infinite. In this space, dance — like love — is for everyone.
After Rimini
Following its debut in Rimini, under the patronage of the Ethiopian Embassy, Dialogo Silenzioso will become a traveling exhibition, reaching cities across Italy, Europe, and Africa.
Who Are the Angels of Dialogo Silenzioso?
In Dancing Life, philosopher Roger Garaudy traced the word dance back to the Sanskrit root tan, meaning “tension.” He saw dance as an intense way to live the relationship between humans and nature, society, the future, and the divine.
Isadora Duncan, pioneer of modern dance, saw dance not as entertainment but as life itself—a movement of unity and expression beyond words.
This is where the Angels were born.
They are not performers in the traditional sense. They are living artworks, silent messengers who use the body to connect. Through gestures, glances, and presence, they create a dialogue without words.
In Augeo Art Space, these Angels open a space between images, words, and people—a space of silent dialogue.
Event Calendar
Saturday, April 30
Opening night with Movimento Centrale Angels guiding visitors through the experience.
Program Highlights
May 10, 10:00 AM — Silent Dialogue for Children
May 13, 4:30 PM — Official Presentation at Rimini Palacongressi
May 14, 6:30 PM — Book Presentation & Action Art | Angels #2
May 28, 6:30 PM — Performance + Conversation with Alessandro Bortolotti (UniBo)
May 29, 11:30 AM — Children’s Performance | Angels #3
June 1, 9:00 PM — Performance: “The Sea is a Long, Blue Line” | Gasparotto & Mina (Ticketed)
June 17, 7:00 PM — Angels #4 Performance
June 18, 6:30 PM — Conversation with Franca Zagatti | Community Dance
June 25, 6:30 PM — Conversation with Alessandro Pontremoli | Relationship Dance
July 1, 6:00 PM — Conversation with Massimo Pulini | Dance of Drawing
July 10 — Closing Event
Guest Speakers
Alessandro Bortolotti – University Lecturer
Pippo Delbono – Theater Director
Claudio Maria Lerario – Photographer
Alessandro Pontremoli – Historian and Dance Theorist
Massimo Pulini – Visual Artist
Franca Zagatti – Scholar, Teacher, Dance Artist
Venue
Augeo Art Space
Corso d’Augusto 217, 47921 Rimini, Italy
Phone: +39 0541 53720 (Augeo Art Space)
Phone: +39 348 6030901 (Matteo)
info@augeo.it
www.augeo.it
