Elena Francalanci: Lento Violento – Sophiensæle | Independent Theater in Berlin

Elena Francalanci:
Lento Violento

Two people stand closely embraced at the center of a stage space. Upper bodies touch, with arms interwoven. The space is symmetrically arranged, featuring an architectural light structure in the background that emphasizes the intimacy of the moment.
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Lento Violento uses liscio, the traditional Italian couple’s dance, with its swaying rhythms and sliding repetitions for exploring delay and tension. Through cinematic episodes and fragments of intimate dances unfolding around a wooden installation, it looks at desire as a ritualized, public process, continuously worked out between people.

Inspired by the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, the performance moves between darkness and light, impulse and restraint, revealing the emotional charge of what remains hidden – what can be sensed but not fully seen. Two performers navigate spirals, turns, unison, and solitude, building a physical dialogue of closeness and separation.

Evening information

Ticket
Premiere Ticket

The information on accessibility is still in progress and will be updated as soon as possible. If any questions remain unanswered until then, please feel free to contact the communication department at barrierefreiheit@sophiensaele.com or 030 27 89 00 35. Please note that details may change by the day of the event. Therefore, if you find out after you have purchased your ticket that the performance is no longer accessible to you, you can contact us for a ticket return at ticketing@sophiensaele.com or 030 27 89 00 45 until 5 business days after the event (Monday through Friday between 10am and 6pm).

Duration

  • Approx. 45 minutes, no intermission

Language

  • There will be no spoken language

Light

  • There are moments of absolute darkness
  • The lighting changes between very bright and dark moments
  • The lighting changes abruptly

Sound

  • It will be very quiet in the first part of the performance
  • The performance will be loud. Earplugs will be provided

Audience

  • Seated audience with standard theatre seating (with backrests)
  • 2 beanbag seats available, subject to availability.
  • 2 wheelchair-accessible spaces available, subject to availability.

Early Boarding

  • There will be early boarding. The meeting point is in the foyer next to the bar.

Tickets

  • Reservations can be made via the ticket telephone at 030 283 52 66, Monday to Friday from 4pm-6pm
  • Via the online ticket shop
  • At the box office

You can also find more information about accessibility at the house here.

Choreography, dance: Elena Francalanci
Dance: Ewa Dziarnowska
Music: Andrea Bambini
Set design: Andrea Belosi
Dramaturgical support: Polina Fenko
Outside eye: Virginia Valeri, Chiara Bartl-Salvi

A production by Elena Francalanci in co-production with Sophiensæle. The 35th Tanztage Berlin is a production of Sophiensæle. Funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. With the kind support of Tanzfabrik Berlin e.V., Theaterhaus Berlin and HZT Berlin. Media partners: Berlin Art Link, Missy Magazine, Rausgegangen, Siegessäule, taz.

Elena Francalanci is an Italian artist and choreographer based in Berlin. She studied classical ballet and modern dance in Balletto di Toscana in Florence and started her professional career in dance companies and theatre productions such as Balletto Teatro di Torino and others. Francalanci’s work is rooted in her background in classical ballet and postmodern dance, which she intertwines with the visual arts. She is interested in the emotional state of the body and in gestures tied to specific spaces and memories. Her approach starts from personal stories, which mirrors her performances combining classical and theatrical elements with present-day references, including nods to pop culture. Her work was shown in CRIPTA 747 (2025), Berlin Art Week (2025), Silent Green (2025), ACUD Galerie (2025), CTM-Vorspiel (2024), Atelier Gardens (2024), Art Biesenthal/Wehrmuehle (2024), Traklhaus Salzburg (2024), Schaubühne Leipzig (2023), Kleinehumboldtgalerie (2023), Garage Gallery Prague (2023) and other venues. From 2023 Elena is the co-founder and curator of the curatorial project MOLT, Berlin.

  • A single person stands far away in front of a tall wall in warm light. The body is slightly turned, one arm lifted in a precise gesture.
    © Mayra Wallraff
  • Two people occupy different levels of a stage with a wooden walkway. One person stands in the foreground with arms crossed behind the back, while another person moves further back in dim light.
    © Mayra Wallraff
  • A person in the foreground extends one arm forcefully forward, engaging the torso. In the background, a second person appears out of focus, with a shadow cast on the wall.
    © Mayra Wallraff
  • Two people face each other on a wide stage, separated by a dark central strip. Both bodies are oriented in different directions, the movements appearing controlled and distant.
    © Mayra Wallraff
  • Two people move together within a circular pool of light on a wooden surface. The bodies are slightly offset from one another, arms lifted in a tense, rhythmic posture.
    © Mayra Wallraff
  • A single person stands with their back to the camera on a raised wooden platform within a circular pool of light. The arms are bent and lifted, the body tense and slightly twisted, while the surrounding stage space remains dark.
    © Mayra Wallraff
  • Two people stand on a dark stage in separate pools of light. One person moves with outstretched arms on a raised wooden platform, while another person stands to the side, shaping the torso in a tense rotation.
    © Mayra Wallraff
  • Two people stand close together in darkness, seen from behind; one wears a bright yellow dress, the other a black top and striped trousers, both partially enveloped by light and shadow.
    © Evelyn Bencicova