Bio
The beginning
My name is Antonietta Fusco, Anto to my loved ones and non-Italian friends who find the double “t” difficult to pronounce!
I was born on 22 May 1982 in Nola, near the amazing city of Naples, whose language I still speak as my mother tongue.
After studying science, as a child I loved mathematics and biology, I graduated in Modern Literature, specialising in Performing Arts, at the University of Naples Federico II.
During my university years, among other things, I had two important experiences that would shape my future career.
– My first opportunity for proper theatre training by attending the three-year course at the Icra Project – International Centre for Research on the Actor, run by Michele Monetta and Lina Salvatore. Here I had the opportunity to study the principles of Étienne Decroux’s Abstract Corporeal Mime, mask and Commedia dell’Arte.
– The discovery of the existence of a field of research known as Theatre Anthropology, a form of theatre defined as Poor Theatre, and the existence of certain theatre groups known as Third Theatre.
Worlds I was discovering at that time through my avid and curious study of books, but which I would later have the opportunity to meet in person.
In 2005, I graduated with honours with a thesis dedicated to Jacques Copeau and his revolutionary theatrical experience.
Bio
The beginning
My name is Antonietta Fusco, Anto to my loved ones and non-Italian friends who find the double “t” difficult to pronounce!
I was born on 22 May 1982 in Nola, near the amazing city of Naples, whose language I still speak as my mother tongue.
After studying science, as a child I loved mathematics and biology, I graduated in Modern Literature, specialising in Performing Arts, at the University of Naples Federico II.
During my university years, among other things, I had two important experiences that would shape my future career.
– My first opportunity for proper theatre training by attending the three-year course at the Icra Project – International Centre for Research on the Actor, run by Michele Monetta and Lina Salvatore. Here I had the opportunity to study the principles of Étienne Decroux’s Abstract Corporeal Mime, mask and Commedia dell’Arte.
– The discovery of the existence of a field of research known as Theatre Anthropology, a form of theatre defined as Poor Theatre, and the existence of certain theatre groups known as Third Theatre.
Worlds I was discovering at that time through my avid and curious study of books, but which I would later have the opportunity to meet in person.
In 2005, I graduated with honours with a thesis dedicated to Jacques Copeau and his revolutionary theatrical experience.
My life at TTB
In October 2007, I attended the Teatro Tascabile of Bergamo‘s school, after which I began a tenacious apprenticeship within the group, first as a student and then as a co-worker.
After several years of intense study and theatre practice, I became a permanent member of the group, taking part in numerous shows, both repertoire and new creations, which introduced me to the real practice of the stage, specialising in all areas of Tascabile’s research: from street theatre, for which I refined my stilts technique, to indoor theatre and Indian dance theatre.
It was here, in fact, that I began practising Odissi, which would mark a red dot of no return.
Several tours in Italy and abroad followed (including Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, China, Brazil, South Korea, Singapore, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Denmark, United Kingdom, Russia, and Lithuania), as well as projects and collaborations with national and international theatres and festivals.
In 2009, I also began my study trips to India to practise Odissi dance theatre with teacher Aloka Panikar and her daughter Ambika Paniker, following the style of Guru Mayadhar Raut.
In 2010, I took the opportunity to try something outside the group, which would lead me to another form of stage craft, this time artisanal and manual: I attended a workshop on the creation and construction of masks, in leather and papier-mâché, according to the techniques of the Sartori school at the Amleto e Donato Sartori Centre for Masks and Gestural Structures in Abano Terme.
From that moment on, I became responsible for the design and creation of masks for TTB shows for the entire duration of my time at the theatre. I later described part of this experience in a text entitled Maschere di scena. Carta colla e silenzio (Theatre Masks. Paper, Glue and Silence).
In 2016, I attended ISTA, the International School of Theatre Anthropology run by Eugenio Barba, whom I had already met in person years earlier, and where I had the opportunity to explore and practise the principles of stage behaviour according to the criteria of Theatre Anthropology.
The years spent working at TTB have been years of practice and all-round stage work.
Not only of what makes a performance possible, from its conception to its birth and growth, but also of everything that surrounds, underlies, overshadows, accompanies, precedes and follows the performance. Years of craft, sharing, solitude and rebellion, dialogue but also misunderstandings, concerns… in short, of torment and ecstasy.
Words cannot say more than this. I therefore prefer to leave space for some images and a short video as an attempt to better portray the feeling of what I experienced.
My life at TTB
In October 2007, I attended the Teatro Tascabile of Bergamo‘s school, after which I began a tenacious apprenticeship within the group, first as a student and then as a co-worker.
After several years of intense study and theatre practice, I became a permanent member of the group, taking part in numerous shows, both repertoire and new creations, which introduced me to the real practice of the stage, specialising in all areas of Tascabile’s research: from street theatre, for which I refined my stilts technique, to indoor theatre and Indian dance theatre.
It was here, in fact, that I began practising Odissi, which would mark a red dot of no return.
Several tours in Italy and abroad followed (including Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, China, Brazil, South Korea, Singapore, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Denmark, United Kingdom, Russia, and Lithuania), as well as projects and collaborations with national and international theatres and festivals.
In 2009, I also began my study trips to India to practise Odissi dance theatre with teacher Aloka Panikar and her daughter Ambika Paniker, following the style of Guru Mayadhar Raut.
In 2010, I took the opportunity to try something outside the group, which would lead me to another form of stage craft, this time artisanal and manual: I attended a workshop on the creation and construction of masks, in leather and papier-mâché, according to the techniques of the Sartori school at the Amleto e Donato Sartori Centre for Masks and Gestural Structures in Abano Terme.
From that moment on, I became responsible for the design and creation of masks for TTB shows for the entire duration of my time at the theatre. I later described part of this experience in a text entitled Maschere di scena. Carta colla e silenzio (Theatre Masks. Paper, Glue and Silence).
In 2016, I attended ISTA, the International School of Theatre Anthropology run by Eugenio Barba, whom I had already met in person years earlier, and where I had the opportunity to explore and practise the principles of stage behaviour according to the criteria of Theatre Anthropology.
The years spent working at TTB have been years of practice and all-round stage work.
Not only of what makes a performance possible, from its conception to its birth and growth, but also of everything that surrounds, underlies, overshadows, accompanies, precedes and follows the performance. Years of craft, sharing, solitude and rebellion, dialogue but also misunderstandings, concerns… in short, of torment and ecstasy.
Words cannot say more than this. I therefore prefer to leave space for some images and a short video as an attempt to better portray the feeling of what I experienced.
A new beginning
A need for research and study, similar to but independent of theatre, led me to meet Maciej Bielawski, theologian, philosopher, writer and painter, with whom I will found the Meditatio Association in 2021.
Meditatio: this is the term used in the past, in certain traditions, to indicate the careful and thoughtful study of the Word (Logos, Vāc) accompanied by the practice of silence.
In 2023, I began my journey as an independent artist.
The need for a conscious approach to work starting from the body, aimed at investigating the founding principles of movement according to an attitude completely different from the one I was already familiar with, drew me to the three-year training programme offered by the dancer, choreographer and teacher Cinzia Delorenzi.
Rhizoma/le pratiche dell’ascolto (Rhizome/the practices of listening). Training school in somatic movement education with an eco-somatic and artistic orientation.
In 2024, a new show comes to life: Kalpa Vriksha. Tales of dance and travelling, directed by Alberto Grilli and produced by Teatro Due Mondi, with whom I begin a relationship of dialogue and collaboration.
In the same year, I join Dance IN-IT, a community project for the promotion and dissemination of classical Indian dance theatre in Italy.
My endless fascination with Odissi dance regularly takes me to India, where, in early 2025, I meet (again) with the dancer and scholar Rahul Acharya.
I then become one of his students and get to deepen my knowledge of this dance from both a practical and theoretical point of view.
A new, crucial, chapter in my research and my journey.
A new beginning
A need for research and study, similar to but independent of theatre, led me to meet Maciej Bielawski, theologian, philosopher, writer and painter, with whom I will found the Meditatio Association in 2021.
Meditatio: this is the term used in the past, in certain traditions, to indicate the careful and thoughtful study of the Word (Logos, Vāc) accompanied by the practice of silence.
In 2023, I began my journey as an independent artist.
The need for a conscious approach to work starting from the body, aimed at investigating the founding principles of movement according to an attitude completely different from the one I was already familiar with, drew me to the three-year training programme offered by the dancer, choreographer and teacher Cinzia Delorenzi.
Rhizoma/le pratiche dell’ascolto (Rhizome/the practices of listening). Training school in somatic movement education with an eco-somatic and artistic orientation.
In 2024, a new show comes to life: Kalpa Vriksha. Tales of dance and travelling, directed by Alberto Grilli and produced by Teatro Due Mondi, with whom I begin a relationship of dialogue and collaboration.
In the same year, I join Dance IN-IT, a community project for the promotion and dissemination of classical Indian dance theatre in Italy.
My endless fascination with Odissi dance regularly takes me to India, where, in early 2025, I meet (again) with the dancer and scholar Rahul Acharya.
I then become one of his students and get to deepen my knowledge of this dance from both a practical and theoretical point of view.
A new, crucial, chapter in my research and my journey.
