Italian artist of international renown, Jacopo Godani was appointed as the new Artistic Director, Choreographer and Managing Director of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company (DFDC) in 2015. His appointment was unanimously approved by the cultural and political councils of the German federal states of Hesse and Saxony and the cities of Frankfurt and Dresden.
Within just three seasons, Godani established the company as a leading force on the international dance scene (Periodista Digital, 21 April 2018), bringing it to the stages of major and prestigious theatres. Under his leadership, the DFDC achieved great success with German audiences and was widely recognised by the international dance press as one of the leading companies in the world of contemporary art. (Europa Press, 20 April 2018). When the company opened the renowned Grec Festival in Barcelona in 2017, El Mundo described Godani’s work as a thoroughly contemporary and revolutionary form of art while still retaining its essential attributes: technical virtuosity and pathos. (El Mundo, 2 July 2017).
During his tenure as Artistic Director, Godani developed extensive production and programming activities, presenting internationally renowned artists at the company’s permanent home theatres in Frankfurt and Dresden.
At the same time, Jacopo focused his resources on a profound restructuring of the DFDC. He created a fully developed education department from the ground up and established collaborations with artistic institutions, festivals, museums, orchestras, local and international art centres. Jacopo also initiated numerous exchanges with cultural and humanitarian organisations, developing projects with a social and civic dimension tjat reflected the values of the local governments.
In 2021, Godani announced that he would leave the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company and pursue new artistic perspectives more closely connected to his roots and to the contemporary world.
In his final season, 2022/2023, Jacopo Godani bid farewell to the DFDC with a series of performances at Schauspiel Frankfurt, presented in the Frankfurt Opera. The performances were received with exceptional enthusiasm and followed by standing ovations.
Looking back at his career, Jacopo Godani was born in La Spezia, Italy, where he began studying classical and modern dance at the age of sixteen at Centro Studi Danza under Loredana Rovagna. Two years later, he was accepted at Mudra, Maurice Béjart’s international dance school in Brussels, where he completed his training and created his first ballet.
After completing his studies, Jacopo made his professional debut as a dancer with several contemporary dance companies based in Paris and Belgium. At the age of twenty-one, he directed his first company in Brussels, produced by Atelier Saint-Anne and Théâtre Plateau. This marked the beginning of his career as a choreographer and Artistic Director.
About a year later, Jacopo Godani joined William Forsythe’s Ballet Frankfurt, one of the most influential and groundbreaking dance companies of its time. There, he established himself as a prominent soloist while also creating a number of original ballets for the company.
During his years in Frankfurt, Jacopo also collaborated with William Forsythe on the development of many of Forsythe’s major works. In the years that followed, he was invited to create new work for leading ballet and contemporary dance companies around the world. Jacopo established himself as one of the most sought-after choreographers of his generation, creating original works for a wide range of internationally renowned companies.
Jacopo Godani first presented his work in the Czech Republic in 2019. At the invitation of Petr Zuska, then Artistic Director of the National Theatre Ballet in Prague, he created Reflections on the Fate of Human Forms for the company. The work received its world premiere in Prague in November 2019 as part of the Velvet Ballet Gala, marking the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.
Photo Rahi Rezvani
