THE FINI INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL RETURNS TO THE AILEY CITIGROUP THEATER WITH ARTISTS FROM ITALY AND THE U.S., AND AWARDS TO OUTSTANDING DANCE FIGURES
ANTONIO FINI, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
HOSTS FOR THE EVENING: TABATA CALDIRONI & ORNELIA FADO
Sunday, August 31st at 8 PM
Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55 Street
Tickets: $75; $55 for students & seniors
(for performance & VIP party: $200)
Reservations: https://wwwdanceaward.org/get-tickets/
Antonio Fini is proud to present the 15th annual Fini International Dance Festival, featuring performances of artists from Italy and the U.S., and awards to outstanding dance figures, presented in the spirit of exchange and collaboration, on August 31st, 8 PM, at the Ailey Citigroup Theater. The Festival comes directly from highly successful performances in Villapiana, Italy.
The evening’s highlights include a performance of Martha Graham’s 1933 solo “Ekstasis,” performed by PeiJu Chien-Pott, who will also be awarded the Extraordinary Dancer Award; Antonio Leone, member of the Martha Graham Dance Company and recipient of a Rising Star Award, performing Jason’s solo from Graham’s “Cave of the Heart,” Fini Dance Company in “Looking for You” by Fini; and charming hosts for the evening, Tabata Caldironi of Milan and TV personality Ornelia Fado.
AWARDS
Fini Dance Lifetime Achievement Award
JOE LANTERI, Executive Director of Steps on Broadway
(fun fact: Lanteri’s family is originally from Calabria, birthplace of Antonio Fini)
Fini Dance Extraordinary Dancer Award
PeiJu CHIEN-POTT, renowned principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company
The artist will perform Graham’s 1933 solo “Ekstasis”
Reimagined by Virginie Mecene in collaboration with PeiJu, the solo was rediscovered through
historical photographs and earned PeiJu a Bessie Award for Outstanding Performer.
Fini Dance Rising Star Awards
JILLIAN PIZZI, principal dancer with Staten Island Ballet
She will perform the solo “New York, New York”
ANTONIO LEONE, member of the Martha Graham Dance Company
He will perform Jason’s solo from Graham’s “Cave of the Heart”
PERFORMANCES
PeiJu CHIEN-POTT in Martha Graham’s 1933 solo “Ekstasis”
ANTONIO LEONE in Jason’s solo from Martha Graham’s “Cave of the Heart”
JILLIAN PIZZI in the solo “New York, New York”
SISMO Company from Lamezia Terme (Calabria) in choreography by Valentina & Benedetta Morello, inspired by Fabrizio De Andre’s iconic anti-war song “La Guerra di Piero” (Piero’s War). The work tells the story of a soldier who is killed because of his compassion and unwillingness to shoot the enemy.
GIANNI SANTUCCI, international choreographer for opera, ballet, and cinema, will present a waltz for the Fini Dance Festival dancers, inspired by his choreography for the Netflix series “The Leopard.”
BALLET ELOELLE GRANDIVA in an excerpt from “Paquita”. A new work created for the Festival by DANIELLE MARIE FUSCO, NYC-based choreographer
A new work for the Festival by L.A. choreographer CAMMI NEVAREZ, The duet “Looking for You,” music by Bach, choreography by Fini.
ANTONIO FINI is a native of Castrovillari, a village in the south of Italy. At 19, he was discovered by Margherita Smimova and offered a scholarship to Milan’s Centro Studi Coreografici Teatro Carcano. At the suggestion of master teacher Elena Albano, Fini relocated to New York to study at the Martha Graham Center and subsequently danced with Graham II and the Martha Graham Dance Company. He also graduated from the School as a certified teacher of the Graham Technique.
Fini is a longtime principal dancer with Michael Mao Dance of NY, and was a special guest for a recent Martha Graham Dance Company season. Since 2018 the Calabria native has been ambassador of Dance as a means of diplomacy for the ACD Agency for Cultural Diplomacy in Vienna. He has choreographed by New York City Opera and the National Ballet of Kosovo, among others, and has been producer and artistic director of the Italian International Dance Award in New York, the Tirana Dance Festival, Bulgarian International Dance Festival, and the documentary film on Amazon Primetime DANCE the audition.
Fini is the newly appointed Director of Resources for the Martha Graham Dance Company.
