Amedeo Amodio

Infobox Artist
name = Amedeo Amodio


caption = Amedeo Amodio at 21
bgcolour = #B0E0E6
birthdate = 1940
location = Milan, Lombardia, Italy
nationality = Italian
field = Choreography

Amedeo Amodio (born 1940) is an Italian choreographer.

Born in Milan in 1940, he trained at the ballet school of the Teatro alla Scala, whose ranks he joined immediately. While there, he performed in productions by Léonide Massine ("Il cappello a tre punte", "Capriccio spagnolo", "Fantasmi al Grand Hotel"), George Balanchine ("Sinfonia in Do", "I quattro temperamenti"), and Petit ("Le quattro stagioni", "Le jeune homme et la mort", "La chambre", "Le loup").

At the age of 22, he left the company of the Teatro alla Scala to begin his career as a choreographer and free-lancing dancer, which led him to pivotal collaborations with Hermes Pan, who chose him as lead in the Italian TV production "Studio Uno", and with Aurel Milloss at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma.
He frequently returned to the Teatro alla Scala, where he performed with Carla Fracci in productions of "Il gabbiano" and "Pelléas et Mélisande".

In 1975, he signs his version of the "Après-midi d'un phaune" for the Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi, which is then offered in "reprise" at the Teatro alla Scala with Luciana Savignano and scenes by Giacomo Manzù. In the same year and for this latter company, he also creates "Ricercare a nove movimenti".

After two short cameos in movies by Liliana Cavani ("Il portiere di notte" and "Al di là del bene e del male"), he founds Aterballetto in 1979, company he will direct until 1996. Having consciously decided to select 20 dancers who would be able to tackle any style of music and ballet techniques, Amodio creates for them a vast repertoire that pairs his own creations with those of the Pantheon of choreographers. Under his guidance, Aterballetto produces Amodio's own "Nutcracker", "Naturale", "Mazzapegul", "Un petit train de plaisir", "Coppélia", and "Cabiria", while ambitiously taking on the work of masters such as Glen Tetley, Alvin Ailey, Lucinda Childs, George Balanchine, Anthony Tudor, Kenneth MacMillan, José Limón, Hans van Manen, Léonide Massine, David Parsons, and Maurice Bejart.

During his tenure as Artistic Director for Aterballetto, Amodio strengthens his liaisons with noted composers and musicians, many of whom contribute original music for his creations; among them, Luciano Berio, Sylvano Bussotti, Aldo Bennici, Azio Corghi, Giuseppe Calì, Jan Garbarek, Naná Vasconcelos, and Edoardo Bennato.
Anxious to incorporate other media in his work, he elicits the artistic input of high-caliber costume and set designers the likes of Emanuele Luzzati, M. Antonietta Gambaro, Luisa Spinatelli, and Maurizio Millenotti, while painters and sculptors produce unique artwork; among them, Mario Ceroli, Piero Dorazio, Lucio Del Pezzo, and Claudio Parmiggiani.

"The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" is his last work created for Aterballetto, where Mauro Bigonzetti succeed him as Artistic Director.

After working between 1997 and 2000 at the helm of the ballet troupe of Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, he freelanced for the Teatro Regio di Torino in Turin and the Tulsa Ballet, among others, before accepting in 2003 the artistic direction of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Sicily.