Seven Ages

Seven Ages is born from the encounter between composer Kirill Richter and choreographer Marco Goecke at the Festival dei Due Mondi, conceived as a site-specific project inspired by William Shakespeare’s vision of the seven ages of man. Time and transience - central themes in both artists’ work - form the guiding thread of a reflection that naturally leads to a fundamental question: the meaning of life and the human condition.

Richter composes a suite in seven movements for piano, violin, and cello - a score rich in symbolism, shaped in a cyclical form and imbued with a subtle irony that echoes Shakespeare’s perspective. At its core lies the fragility of the human being, suspended between free will and destiny. In this work, the composer continues his exploration of time and memory, meditating on the brevity of life. The music evokes emblematic images - the gentle rocking of a cradle, the ticking of a clock, the call of a cuckoo - while the very structure of the composition reflects the constant interplay between beginning and end, childhood and old age.

Upon this musical architecture unfolds Marco Goecke’s choreography. His instantly recognizable choreographic language - rapid and restless, composed of tremors, vibrations, flutters, jolts, scratches, and spasms, particularly in the upper body - engages with Richter’s score without ever translating it literally. Music and dance do not simply run in parallel; rather, they merge into a synthesis of remarkable precision and emotional intensity.

The choreographic solo, performed in alternation by Matteo Miccini and Anne Jung, offers two distinct interpretations of a work that, with elegance and depth, explores what it means to be human.