Choreography by Christopher Williams

Costume Design by Andrew Jordan

Il Giardino d’Amore is a contemporary dance staging of Italian baroque composer Alessandro Scarlatti’s eponymous early 18th century serenata based on the myth of Venus and Adonis. Meticulously set to the serenata’s lush musical score, choreography for the dancers portraying Venus and Adonis corresponds directly to its vocal lines written for soprano and castrato. Choreography for the dancers portraying Amore and other avian characters referred to in the work’s anonymously-written libretto corresponds to its various instrumental lines. Clad in fantastical prosthetic costumes by Andrew Jordan, the mythic lovers and their entourage are portrayed as prehistoric beings existing outside the framework of a traditional gender binary.