Donatella Damato-Savino Ficco, Italy
Donatella Damato
is an actress, a director and an acting trainer.
In 1997 she earned a diploma in Acting at Permis de Conduire International Academy of Rome. In 2003 she obtained a degree in Metodologia e Critica dello Spettacolo at La Sapienza University of Rome. She attended, in Italy and abroad, many workshops (zoomorphism with Shona Morris of the Royal Academy in London, Acting training with Augusto Omolù from the Odin Theatret, Butoh Dance with Masaki Iwana e.g.) and attended the European School of Ananda Yoga® in Assisi where she obtained the diploma of Instructor of Energization Exercises of Paramhansa Yogananda® and she is actually studying to become Ananda Yoga teacher.
For the last twenty years she has joined different plays as actress and director and she has leaded different acting and drama classes in Italy and abroad both privately with the association Peter Panphili before and with the association Il Kantiere – Arte in Corso d’Opera now, and in public schools through the European funds PON. She oversaw the editing of a book entitled Dal racconto all’azione scenica for 2011/12 Drama students. Actually she lives in Foggia where she leads Kantiere – Arte in Corso d’Opera, an organization born with the aim of promote the merging of various cultural expressions (drama, cinematography, music, performing and visual arts).
As a performer she tries to investigate the concept of coexistence of opposites and to work on the refusal of clichés, in favor of a regain of pure reality, free from judgments and social conventions as in the happening Scripta Manent, at the opening of the Tracarte exhibition – Foggia, Fondazione Siniscalco Ceci in 2006; the performance De Raptu Proserpinae in the first edition of Foggia Sotterranea in 2008 or the performances Dico Tomie and I Luoghi dell’Essere, always in Foggia, in 2012 and 2014.
Savino Ficco
I have always been interested in film and arts; as a result both my dissertations were based on relevant topics such as German Expressionism and Italian Fotodinamismo.
In 2001 I started my career in the media industry. I worked as set and interior designer for theatrical plays, fiction films and advertising. Among my most important works:
- Rosso Fango (David di Donatello 2003 award for the bes short film)
- Revelations (American TV comedy – 2 episodes in 2005)
- Inkheart (2006)
I also worked for prestigious Italian brands, for example Bertolli, Barilla, Amadori and leading set designers including Raffaele Montesano, Andrea Faini, Stuart Rose, Renato Lori, Aldo De Lorenzo.
My photographic works are being shown in various exhibitions, both national and international. In 2010 my work MATER DOLORIS was among the 10 most web-voted creations for the TERNA AWARD 2010.
In 2013 I won in the category of visual arts, the fourth edition of the independent Horror Festival INTERIORA , held in Rome at the csoa Forte Prenestino.
In 2014 I have been selected, with the work "Madre Terra", to exhibit in New York at the See.Me Exhibition Space.
Moreover I own and run STUDIO 79, a graphic company that works mostly with photography and advertising on a national and international level. My usual clients are budding fashion models, actors and music groups
Performing MARTHAS HALLE
The aim of this short workshop is to give the students few hints to extemporize little parts of the main show Marthas Halle.
Marthas Halle is a kind of macro-project, a container of multiple artistic media. The physical structure is based on 13 photos processed by Savino Ficco, a sort of purposely set solo exhibition of Digital Artworks accompanied by a performance. During the performance the author, Savino, is sitting at a desk. From his fingers, excitedly hitting to a typewriter, through the words recited by the actress Donatella Damato, the characters ideally come to life.
The workshop will be divided into three parts. At the beginning the students will be acquainted with the main project and the stories of each character; in the second part they will chose the character to perform and they will have the time to set up their show and to warm up; in the last part there will be the Marthas Halle “mosaic” made by the single performances of the students.
The whole lesson will be filmed by Savino Ficco; than the fragments will be edited in order to make it a part of the project Marthas Halle, to be shown in the future exhibitions.