What is the best thing that I love about my work?
I love my jobs as choreographer/performer and Yoga teacher because they allows me to recreate myself every day. They give me the feeling of being reborn. Every time I practice and train, I create and teach. It is all new and different even if to someone looking from outside, the routine looks the same. As a teacher and artist, I love to associate my work with the verb unveil and the word epiphany.
What is my idea of happiness?
Happiness is to feel a sweet smile in the heart even in the midst of turmoil… it is be grateful and to have faith…Happiness is not something to reach but it is something that is there deep in us even in times of chaos… happiness is letting go of the idea of how life is supposed to be and enjoy life as it is in the moment…
What is my greatest fear?
I became a mother six months ago at age 46 when I did not think it could happen anymore… my greatest fear it is to wake up and realize that it is just a dream… sometimes I ask myself: how could I live without my Angelo? He has been in me for nine months and now I live for him completely!
What is the trait that I most deplore in myself?
I am not able to respond when someone mistreats me… I become like paralyzed…
Which living persons in my profession do I most admire?
In my work, I love to be close and collaborate to people that live honestly and coherently by their words and actions. Two of them: Teri Jeanette Weikel in dance and Diane Long in Yoga.
What is my greatest extravagance?
I am pretty simple and I live in a very simple way…. but (smiling) I have an obsession for perfectly sharpened pencils!
On what occasion would I lie?
To save someone or to prevent their suffering.
What is the thing that I dislike the most in my work?
Gossip, careerism and servility
When and where was I the happiest, in my work?
I felt very happy when I was living in New York… but now as a more mature woman, I love that I am back in my country. I feel nourished from my roots, as I felt nourished to visit Latvia, the country where my paternal grandmother was from. I love to create connection behind space and time.
To dance Saknes, the choreography that I have done in my grandmothers’ memory, in Riga, her own city, was one of the most touching and emotional moments of my career. But of course I would love to travel more. I love trains, stations, airports…
If I could, what would I change about myself?
The only thing I would like to have is to be more confident, less timid.
What is my greatest achievement in work?
Each step is an achievement… maybe the next one is the greatest!
Where would I most like to live?
Currently I like it here in Italy between Rome and Friuli Venezia Giulia, where my partner is.
What is my most treasured possession?
I really do not have a treasured possession in that sense. But my child! He is the most important and beautiful gift I have been given from God and Life.
What is my most marked characteristic?
Passion and desperate happiness!
What is my most inspirational location, in my city?
In Rome, I love the Fori Imperiali and Rione Monti. I also feel very inspired going around town on my scooter and being touched by its beauty. In Friuli, I live close to Pordenone. My inspiration there comes from walking near the small lake close to the house as well as from my “angelic yoga kutir,” a nice space that my partner built for me to cultivate my art: dance and yoga.
What is my favorite place to eat and drink, in my city?
My mum’s kitchen of course! But I recommend a very good gelateria in San Paolo’s area. The name is Mister Ice and the ice cream there is really the TOP!
In Friuli which is well known for its wine, in the summertime, I love to go and eat at the Sagre (which are festivals in the small villages). With Gianluca, my partner, we love going to the Casera Mela, a shelter in the mountain close to Erto Casso, where you can eat and drink in a very delicious way and enjoy a wonderful landscape!
What books influenced my life and how?
I love to read and a lot of books have influenced my life. The Gospel has been part of my life since childhood. I associated my adolescence with the Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Pirandello’s Il fu Mattia Pascal. My young adult life is linked to The Alchemist as well as the Tao and Peace is in every step. In the past few years, a book that I have read often is “I am that” by Nisargadatta Maharaj and Awakening of the spine by Vanda Scaravelli. I also find Scritti sull’arte from Mark Rothko very inspirational and lately Il silenzio è cosa viva by Chandra Livia Candiani.
You Only Die Once. What music would I listen on my last day?
All music is possible… all the music that I listen to usually are classical, jazz, pop, ethno, contemporary… and I would love to sing all my favorite love songs!
Who is my hero or heroine in fiction?
I don’t have a fictional hero or heroine.
Who are my heroes and heroines in real life?
All people that live cultivating love, respect, coherence. I especially admire those who are active in helping the poor, immigrants, orphans and the elderly without family. There is so much suffering in the world… Often when I hug my child tight, I think about all that kids that are growing up without any affection… it breaks my heart.
Which movie would i recommend to see once in a lifetime?
Schindler’s List…. to never forget
What role play stories in my life and work?
As an artist, I am not narrative. I am more of an abstract expressionist … I am more interested in touching the essence of something that say something… but in everyday life I love to listen to people tell stories, episodes, anecdotes…
What do the words ‘You are the storyteller of your own life’ to me?
To be the protagonist and at the same time, the astonished audience of my own every moments!
Who is my greatest fan, sponsor, partner in crime?
Family, collaborators, students
Which people or companies would I like to work with in 2021?
Right now I am redefining all my projects as a result of Covid Pandemic. With my child, I am beginning to coordinate motherhood and my artistic life.
I have some choreographic ideas I would love to develop. Certainly organize something with the wonderful singer Chiara Lo Priesti, as well as with the sculpturist Oriana Impei and the cellist Daria Rossi Poisa.
But I would also love just to choreograph for other dancers.
Which people in my profession who can make a real difference in my creative career would i love to meet in 2021?
I do not have names right now, but of course someone that can economically support and sustain my projects.
What project, in 2021, am I looking forward to work on?
I would love to start working on the idea of motherhood… it is not easy… there is a lot of love and joy, but also darkness, suffering, fear and transformation. I already have some ideas that I will start to develop when I am ready.
I have a duet that I choreographed years ago for me and another dancer Possibilità (In)evitabili which I would like to pass to others dancers. I feel the need to start transmitting my dance and to create a generational chain
Where can you see me or my work in 2021?
I still do not know exact dates… but there will be updates on my website, my Facebook page or Instagram
What do the words “Passion Never Retires” mean to me?
There is never an end to the creativity and love for art… Art is not something we do but something we live… in and with… deeply
Which creative heroines should Peter invite to tell their story?
Chiara Lo Priesti, Maika Mizuma, Oriana Impei, Arianna Di Stefano, Maria Elena Curzi, Daria Rossi Poisa, Elain Gardner.
How can you contact me?
You can contact me through my webpage www.benedettacapanna.it my facebook page: Benedetta Capanna Danza & Yoga and on istangram BinaKutir Benedetta Capanna