«Une grande danseuse»: corpo e movimento nella ‘Medea’ di Adelaide Ristori

Commenting on Adelaide Ristori’s interpretation of Medea in 1858, Théophile Gautier drew a comparison with the Austrian dancer Fanny Elssler. According to Gautier, Ristori as Medea revealed her talent as a dancer, which could flourish to the fullest extent if measured in roles – he wrote – such as those of Fenella, Nina or Sonnambula. This essay follows Gautier’s track, by questioning, on the one hand, the dancing dimension of Ristori’s acting and, on the other, by opening to the reflections of the Danish choreographer and maître de ballet August Bournonville, also a precious witness of the art of Ristori. It proceeds through several stages: at first, the elements that characterize the physical score of Medea are brought to light; in a second moment, Ristori’s gestures and movements on stage are read through the words of Gautier and Bournonville. Finally, the interpretation of Medea is reconsidered in relation to that sort of doubling in the recitation of Adelaide Ristori, for which the characters are built by skilfully measuring the adherence to a certain line of interpretation and the detachment from it.