Michele Rizzo is an Italian choreographer operating at the crossover between performing arts and visual art. His research leads to productions with high visual impact merging sculpture, dance and performance elements. Graduating from the School for New Dance Development (SNDO) and Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam in 2011 and 2015 respectively, Rizzo’s works are united by a distinctive interest into the poetics of transformation, becoming and transcending, while the outcomes of such multidisciplinary approach often crystallizes in very different performances.

“HIGHER” is a project inspired by the experience of ecstatic dancing of club culture. Featuring music by Lorenzo Senni, its latest iteration, “HIGHER xtn.”, is an extended version with 14 dancers created for Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam’s “Freedom of Movement” exhibition, and now part of the institutions collection. The project is part of a trilogy which includes 2017’s “SPACEWALK”—also dealing with notions of clubbing and trance—and 2019’s “DEPOSITION”, which includes music by Billy Bultheel and it brings the focus back to the body of the performer. Rizzo is a regular guest teacher in choreography and movement research at SNDO, and has taught workshops at Impulstanz Vienna, ISAC Bruxelles and Studio 303 Montreal, among others.

As of October 2019