Honora Foà presents and explains to Mattia Iovane on Business+ the premiere of her new work, “Blood and Breath,” a multisensory experience that represents her vision of what is needed to establish a proper relationship with nature at a time when the world is being destroyed, and humanity is doing nothing to prevent it. The world premiere of Blood and Breath took place in the Vatican, an evocative setting for a show where profound traditional stories about love, such as that of Mary Magdalene and Jesus, can become a tool to awaken attachment to creation and spark interest in topics related to the preservation of our planet during this critical moment.
Welcome, Honora Foà, and thank you for accepting our invitation. Why was the world premiere of your work performed in the Vatican?
“The story takes place in a cave, and we were looking for caves in Italy to perform in. One day, we were in a meeting with Davide Ippolito, and his friend Thomas joined us for some reason I can’t remember. When he arrived, he asked what we were doing. And when he heard it, he said, ‘Why don’t we do it in the Vatican?’ That’s the truth.”
What is the connection between the United States and Italy in terms of the representation of the work?
“The work represents my idea of what we need to establish a proper relationship with nature. The world is being destroyed, and we are doing nothing. I find that in Italy there is a deeper sense of importance and a deeper sense of culture. Culture in America is full of life and is very interesting and creative, but not very deep. So in Italy, there is a much greater understanding of the deeper currents of life.”
Blood and Breath has been described as a multisensory experience, a work that is not traditional or classical, but rather very unique. What are the strengths of this representation?
“The things I create involve experiences with all the senses. We spend all day looking at screens, and that creates a narrowing of sensations. So I always want people to awaken in their whole body and all their senses because that’s how we get new ideas, and it’s how we can experience something more deeply. So the strengths are really the use of the senses, the fact that we’re in an environment—this is not a film; it’s not something small; it’s the world. And there’s a lot of language that you need to listen to more than once; it’s really poetry. And then music carries the emotion, so it’s designed to create a complete environment that awakens the whole body, not just a small part.”
What inspired you to write such a unique work?
“My idea, which I hope emerges in the work, is that the reason we do nothing about climate change, about our relationship with animals, and with all the different parts of nature, is that we don’t care; we don’t care enough. So for many people, these profound traditional stories, like the story of Mary Magdalene with Jesus, those stories are about love. And if we don’t love the world, we won’t take care of it. So I hope this is a small offering to awaken love for creation through stories we resonate with because they are old and we know them and we care about them, to see how this expands into love for the world. So I was inspired to do this by my experiences, both spiritual and with nature.”
In what other places would you like to take the multisensory experience of your work?
“Many places, many spots, because it’s an international story; everyone in the world knows it, or at least knows the characters. We will do it in the United States; I think maybe in London, and then we’ll see. Right now, there is interest in bringing it back to Italy for a wider audience. And I don’t know specifically; I think these are the main areas, yes.”
How much of Italy is in your work?
“It’s a complicated thing, or rather, it’s a complex thing because the story of Jesus, it’s true, takes place in the Middle East; it’s in Palestine-Israel. But the Church comes to Rome, and what happened in Rome was a combination of a kind of innocent, very simple story and the Roman Empire, which was a crazy combination. And Italy is present throughout the history of what has developed, and not just in that religion; it’s not just the Christian religion. Jesus is an important figure for Muslims. It’s a story in Asia, a story that everyone knows. So Italy is a second home.”
What is your next goal?
“There are seven works in this series. The series is called Recombinant DNA, and all seven are love stories, but not normal love stories. So the first is The Marriage of Darkness and Light, the Birth of Color. Sometimes marriages are very abstract things. And there are six that explore something deep and interesting. But there’s one story that is Frankenstein and a combination of a Celtic mythology story called The Woman Made of Flowers. And she is also a woman who is created, not born, like Frankenstein’s monster. So I think the next will be this story, much more difficult and ugly. Let me say why. Because I like things to be positive. I like things to contain a lot of love. But a lot of the things we’re doing are simply insane, wrong, and crazy. And if you never really show what the problem is in its ugly face, then there’s not enough strength.”
After this trip to Italy, you will return to Atlanta, right? And from Atlanta, what will your journey be like?
“Well, I think perhaps the next one, Frankenstein, we will do in Japan. Because I want to work with Butoh dancers. Butoh is a form of Japanese dance. It’s not that old; it developed only after World War II. But it’s very brutal. It’s very intense and ugly… and also beautiful.
But it has such a strong quality. So I think Japan is the first place. And then, yes, for Blood and Breath, we’re thinking about London.”
Last question: what do you want to say to Italians who are listening to us right now in America?
“When I was a young woman working in New York and had a dance company in a theater in New York City, people always told me, ‘Take your work to Europe, take your work to Italy’… At the time, I was too young and didn’t understand how to do it. But now that I’ve brought it here, I’ve received much more understanding from the Italian people. And I hope that Italians in America can truly appreciate what they are bringing to enrich America.”
Italians in London are also following us on London One Radio. What will the next date be in London?
“No, we don’t have a date yet. We are still talking about money.” (laughs)
Do you want to add anything else?
“Yes, I would like to say again that we are in a difficult moment, a very difficult moment. And we have our little lives and we are all busy. But there’s a train, a huge train heading straight towards us. It will kill us. And we need to turn not just our minds but also our hearts to the problem. That is the problem of this time. My parents lived through World War II. They had their problem. They had to face it. This is our problem. And it’s not just a problem. We can work through it with love as well as through fear. And that’s why I do my work. And I hope people can connect to this and that it leads to action.”
