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posted on March 25, 2020 by

Tappeto Volante’s Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso

The theater troupe Tappeto Volante has staged multiple immersive, ambulatory performances of Dante’s canticles in different locations in the province of Salerno. The first, Inferno, was staged in the Grotte di Pertosa-Auletta (also the backdrop for the 2020 musical Inferno, by the Grieco Brothers) and has been running continuously in the Cave of Castelcivita since 2012. They continued with a performance of Purgatorio at the Certosa di Pedula. They return to Salerno for their Paradiso, staged in the Castello di Arechi (promotional poster, right).

The troupe has also performed their Inferno in the Museo del Sottosuolo, and their Purgatorio in the Real Casa Santa dell’Annunziata, both in Naples.

See the Tappeto Volante website for details and reservations.

Filed Under: Performing Arts, Places Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
posted on February 24, 2020 by

“Bang’s Purgatorio“

“Heading over waters getting better all the time
My mind’s little skiff now lifts its sails,
Letting go the oh-so-bitter sea behind it.

The next realm, the second I’ll sing,
Is here where the human spirit get purified
And made fir for the stairway to heaven.

Here’s where the kiss of life restores the reign
Of poetry—O true-blue Muses, I’m yours—
And where Calliope jumps up just long enough

To sing backup with the same bold notes
That knocked the poor magpie girls into knowing
Their audacity would never be pardoned.”    –Excerpt from Mary Jo Bang’s translation of Purgatorio, The New Yorker, December 23, 2019

Illustration by Berke Yazicioglu.
See more about Mary Jo Bang’s translation of Purgatorio here.
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posted on January 30, 2020 by

“Mary Jo Bang Discusses Purgatorio“

“Well. And I think that the other aspect of the note is my trying to rationalize my own translation decisions. So, for instance, in in one of the cantos, in one of the early cantos in Purgatorio, Dante and Virgil encounter Belacqua, who is lounging in a shadow and being very sarcastic about Dante’s hurry to get up to the top of Mount Purgatory. He says, Fine, Mr. Lightning Bolt, you go right on up to the top. And at that point, Dante realizes who he is. And commentators link this to a bookseller that Dante used to know who would sit around all day. And Dante was always teasing him about his laziness. And so he’s using him as an example. But this. You go right on up, Mr. Lightning Bolt.”    –Mary Jo Bang, in an interview with Kevin Young for The New Yorker, December 23, 2019

See excerpts from Mary Jo Bang’s translation of Purgatorio here.

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posted on January 28, 2020 by

Trinity of Realities – Bayonetta

“The Trinity Of Realities is a term to describe the nature of the universe of the Bayonetta series. As its name suggests, the Trinity is composed of 3 realms that house the traits of light, darkness, and chaos respectively. Bayonetta travels through each of these realms numerous times throughout the games.

[. . .]

Paradiso

The highest layer of the Trinity, Paradiso is home to the Laguna, or angels, and is closest to the human interpretation of heaven.

The Human World

The plane of reality in which humans live, also known as a realm of chaos before Aesir brought order to it with his rule.

Inferno

The realm of darkness ruled over by the demonic Queen Sheba, Inferno is closest to the human interpretation of hell.

Purgatorio

Acting as a parallel reality to the Human World and not necessarily a member of the Trinity. Purgatorio is a realm that is most similar to the human interpretation of purgatory, as the name suggests.”    –“Trinity of Realities,” Bayonetta Wiki, December 19, 2019

Learn more about Bayonetta, Platinum Games‘ 2009 hack ‘n’ slash video game, here.

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posted on January 26, 2020 by

The Periodic Table of Purgatorio

“Check out a recent project by one of my students: Dante’s #Purgatorio done in symbolic, periodic table form. Paul Laffoley, eat your heart out.”    –@parttimemonk, Twitter, January 18, 2019

Check out the Mountain of Purgatory in Minecraft entry, referenced in the Twitter comments, on Dante Today here.

Filed Under: Odds & Ends Tagged With: , ,
posted on January 7, 2020 by

“Michael Hersch’s ‘a breath upwards’ Receives Baltimore Premiere”

“Scored for soprano, horn, clarinet, and viola, ‘a breath upwards’ has a sung text drawn from Dante — mostly Purgatorio, with some Inferno at the end — and another, un-sung text drawn from Ezra Pound’s Cantos. The fragmentary Pound lines are meant to be contemplated during four instrumental interludes in the 12-movement cycle.

[. . .]

This score, Hersch wrote in a program note printed in Thursday’s program, was his effort ‘to get away from illness, fear and loss,’ that he turned to parts of Dante’s epic poem about purgatory and hell might not seem the most logical way of going about this attitude shift, but it’s a perfectly natural choice for the deep-thinking Hersch.

[. . .]

The most extraordinary and moving passage was the final song, when the dark mood lifted just enough, leading to a long, beautiful melodic arc for the singer in the final line: ‘And then we emerged to see the stars again.’ The sudden cut-off at the end of that line — like the way a falling star evaporates in an instant — was a master stroke.”    –Tim Smith, The Baltimore Sun, April 24, 2015

Filed Under: Music, Performing Arts Tagged With: , , , , , ,
posted on January 2, 2020 by

The Swoon, Neverland/ben son ben son Beatrice (1990 album)

Christian rock band The Swoon released an EP in 1990 titled Neverland/ben son ben son Beatrice. Click the image of the album cover to listen to one of the tracks, “Via Dolorosa,” on YouTube. An image of the track list, as printed on the CD, is below (image from Amazon.com).

Read a 1991 review of the album in Hope College’s student newspaper The anchor, here.

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posted on September 6, 2019 by

Florencia Gutman’s Artwork for Purgatorio 33

Florencia Gutman is an illustrator and graphic designer based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her work has been published in a number of outlets, such as La Nación newspaper, Adn Cultura, and Anfibia digital magazine, among numerous others. As part of the #Dante2018 social media movement, Gutman created the above illustration for Purgatorio 33.

To check out more of Gutman’s stunning work, you can follow her on Facebook, Behance, and you can visit her website.

See other posts related to #Dante2018 here.

Contributed by Pablo Maurette (Florida State University)

Filed Under: Image Mosaic, Visual Art & Architecture Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
posted on September 6, 2019 by

Esteban Serrano’s #Dante2018 Illustrations

Esteban Serrano is a designer and cartoonist, and also goes by Cien Perros online. During the #Dante2018 collective reading on social media, Serrano created a cartoon for each canto of the Divine Comedy. The artwork above are a few of Serrano’s illustrations. Clockwise from the top right is an illustration for Paradiso 26,  an illustration for Purgatorio 29, an illustration for Inferno 34, and an illustration for Inferno 24.

You can see all of Serrano’s illustrations for the Divine Comedy on Medium.

To check out more of Serrano’s artwork, you can follow him on Instagram and Twitter.

See other posts related to #Dante2018 here.

Contributed by Pablo Maurette (Florida State University)

Filed Under: Visual Art & Architecture Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
posted on September 2, 2019 by

Maru Ceballos’ #Dante2018 Illustrations

Maru Ceballos is a visual artist known for her striking, inky, horror style. During the #Dante2018 social media initiative, Ceballos created a variety of pieces based on the Divine Comedy, and her work was used as promotional art by Museo Mitre for the exhibition “Los círculos del Dante.” Pictured above are a few of her pieces from this series. Clockwise from the top right is an illustration for Paradiso, an illustration for Purgatorio, a portrait of Dante, and an illustration for Inferno.

“Maru Ceballos, autora/ilustradora de los libros Los Idiotas y Muertos de Amor y de Miedo es diseñadora gráfica y desde hace un par de años ha trabajado sobre la Divina Comedia ilustrándola. ‘Si bien lo había intentado hace mucho, no lo había leído antes,’ confiesa Maru que arrancó con una edición en verso que después perdió, pero no fue hasta hace un par de años que retomó su lectura, esta vez con una edición en prosa. ‘Fue así que agarré el libro y empecé a leer. Pero no lo hice en función de ilustrarlo. En realidad me dieron ganas de ilustrarlo cuando lo empecé a leer. Me rompió tanto la cabeza el manejo de imágenes visuales que tiene el Dante que empecé a hacer esquemas, porque la obra es larga, compleja y muy simbólica. Cuando avancé en la lectura me di cuenta que ameritaba una ilustración más conciente y empecé de cero, prestando atención a los simbolismos.'” — Interview with Barbi Couto, “La Divina Comedia, un libro para descubrir y descubrirse,” La nueva Mañana (July 3, 2018)

To view more of Maru Ceballos’ artwork, you can follow her on VSCO, Instagram, and Twitter.

Relatedly, you can read an interview with Maru Ceballos here.

See other posts related to #Dante2018 here.

Contributed by Pablo Maurette (Florida State University)

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