Description
COLOURS International Dance Festival is awarding this year's three-week residency to the young Italian choreographer Sofia Nappi and her company KOMOCO.
They are no strangers to Stuttgart, as COLOURS co-produced and presented their production IMA for five dancers back in 2022. Since then, the company has toured worldwide and Sofia Nappi has created works for numerous companies, including the Nederlands Dans Theater. In 2024, PUPO for seven KOMOCO dancers celebrated its premiere in Cologne. The company will now rehearse the first sequences of their latest creation SORA , which will premiere in February 2026, in the studio of the host company Gauthier Dance//Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart.
The word “sora” means “sky” or “emptiness” in Japanese: It describes the immeasurable expanse that surrounds us, conveying a sense of freedom and possibility. “Ma”, on the other hand, refers to the space between things, the deliberate gaps and pauses that give form and meaning. In her new piece, Sofia Nappi explores the empty space, placing “Ma” and “Sora” in relation to each other. The emptiness becomes a living, breathing being and moves itself, it confronts the bodies, enabling them to connect with each other in a strong, dynamic exchange. Absence becomes its own narrative - in her bouncy style, which draws on many sources, Sofia Nappi and her young but already successful ensemble explore the relationship between bodies and emptiness, between real manifestation and possibilities.
Sofia Nappi says: “A residency gives us the invaluable gift of time and space to immerse ourselves deeply in the movement language of KOMOCO in extended research sessions. This allows us to breathe life into SORA and create a production that we can share with audiences worldwide and that can also function as a springboard for the future growth of the company. As a young but already internationally recognized ensemble, KOMOCO is constantly pushing boundaries and discovering new ways to explore and redefine the art form of dance.”
