Jacopo Godani
Internationally acclaimed choreographer Jacopo Godani was born in La Spezia, Italy, where he began studying classical ballet and modern dance techniques in 1984 at the Centro studi Danza, under the direction of Loredana Rovagna. He also pursued studies in the visual arts for three years at the Fine Arts School of Carrara. In 1986, Godani was accepted to further his studies at Maurice Béjart’s international dance centre, Mudra in Brussels.
Godani made his professional debut in 1988 performing with several Paris based contemporary dance companies. In 1990, Godani formed his own Brussels based company and began his choreographic career. His work in Brussels was produced by the theatre Atelier Saint Anne and was supported by the Plateau theatre. From 1991 to 2000, Godani has been a leading soloist with William Forsythe’s Ballet Frankfurt and has collaborated with Forsythe on the choreographic creation of many of Ballet Frankfurt’s most representative pieces. Godani developed his career as a choreographer creating original works for a vast range of international companies such as: Royal Ballet Covent Garden, Bayerisches Staatsballett, Compañía Nacional de Danza, Nederlands Dans Theater, Royal Danish Ballet, Ballet British Columbia, Le Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse, Corpo di ballo del Teatro alla Scala, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Ballet de l’Opera national du Rhin, Finnish National Ballet, Semperoper Ballett, Sydney Dance Company, Israeli Opera Ballet & Suzanne Dellal Centre, Het Nationale Ballet, Aterballetto, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and many others.
Jacopo Godani has been appointed as Artistic Director and Choreographer of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company beginning with the 2015/2016 season.
Jacopo first worked with Sydney Dance Company in 2011, when he choreographed Raw Models which was part of a double bill with Rafael Bonachela’s LANDforms called Shared Frequencies. Raw Models was brought to the stage again in 2014 as part of the Company’s critically acclaimed season Interplay.