The Neutral Mask

The Neutral Mask, born from the genius of Lecoq and created by Amleto Sartori, is the principle mask, the one that allows all the others to be worn. The neutral mask leaves us bare, does not allow us to count on our face, on our words, or on the psychological game of the look: only in this way can every gesture of the body be felt in a truly aware manner. Biological, almost ancestral calls toward the truly authentic, the original, and altogether, the dawn and heritage of culture.

The neutral mask is a valid instrument to deepen bodily expression. In everyday life, we are used to having the privilege of facial expressions to show emotions and feelings.

In reality however it is the whole body that expresses itself, from head to toe. By wearing an inexpressive mask, we deprive ourselves of that privileged and fundamentally easier to use medium of communication - the expression of the face. We are therefore forced to pay greater attention to the rest of the body as a vehicle of communication. Usually when the neutral mask is used, the use of the voice is excluded.

Moreover, the mask has a protective function that helps us overcome any inhibitions toward fellow dancers and thus favors spontaneity.

The mask used by the students of the Association, studied and created purposely by the MASKS AND GESTURAL STRUCTURES CENTER of Donato Sartori, is a modified neutral mask and is used by the dancers in every performance. Gestural dance is the search of bodily expression, an introspective dance in which the dancer expresses herself as part of the present society.
It is perspective dance in which the dancer expresses the future. Every ballet is an expressive search of each dancer that becomes an expression of the whole group.

All the dancers are the main interpreters.