Geology, Romance, and Broadway Glamour
With his characteristic humor, Marco D’Agostin steps onto the stage as a mysterious paleontologist who has come to talk about the sudden extinction of the dinosaurs. Quite unexpectedly, his academic lecture begins to give way to more sentimental reflections, his words and voice increasingly resemble song, and in a full-scale battle with Broadway, D’Agostin brings to life an unprecedented duet that blends science and love, entertainment and information, life and death, dance and theater.
Geology and romanticism have one thing in common: they both seek to tell the story of how things last a long time. When the absurd hypothesis that an asteroid could have wiped out all the dinosaurs in an instant emerged, the scientific community was shocked in the 1980s. No one could accept a story that was so terribly fascinating yet at the same time far too improbable. It’s much like someone who suddenly finds themselves without a lover. It’s simply hard to accept that life can change course so suddenly and so cruelly.
Amid betrayal, dinosaur bones, and mysterious caves full of iridium,*Asteroid* depicts life’s—and thus art’s—extraordinary ability to always reemerge in new forms without ever giving up. D’Agostin invites us to a dizzying shift in perspective where we come to see these apocalypses as something that has already passed. We remain—we living beings who, time and again, rebuild ourselves anew. Layer upon layer, our lives emerge like the fabric of the Earth’s crust, where every biography becomes a small geological epoch, destined to leave its mark.
About Marco D’Agostin
Marco D’Agostin is an award-winning Italian choreographer and dancer whose work has been presented at leading venues and festivals in Europe and South America.
In his works, D’Agostin explores the mechanisms of memory and the unique relationship between audience and performer. His dance language is a complex landscape where sound, words, and movement constantly meet and collide, creating an emotional bond between dancers and audience. He often draws on personal or collective archives, creating choreographic situations that encourage participation, recognition, and emotional resonance.
D’Agostin was awarded the UBU Award for Best Performer Under 35 (2018) and Best Dance Performance in both 2023 and 2025 – with *The Years* (2023) and Asteroid (2025). He has also received the Riccione Special Prize for Dramaturgical Innovation (2023) and the Hystro Award Corpo a Corpo (2024), and is an associate artist at Piccolo Teatro in Milan.
D’Agostin is a co-founder of the Italian production platform VAN.
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“It’s an authentic, original, and surprising one-man show. Entertaining, cultured, ironic, and refined—for ninety minutes, he showcases all his artistic qualities with skillful precision and keeps surprising us the whole time.”
G. Di Stefano, Danza & Danza
Time and date
Friday 29/01
19:00
Dance
Black Box, onum
Cast
By and with
Marco D’Agostin
Sound
Luca Scapellato
Songs written by
Marco D’Agostin & Luca Scapellato
Text excerpt from
Pier Lorenzo Pisano
Set Design
Paola Villani
Suit
Gianluca Sbicca
Assistant Choreographer
Lucia Sauro
Animatronics
Bots Conspiracy
Repertoire Dance
Giulio Santolini, Stefano Bontempi
Shared Research Practices
Chiara Bersani, Sara Bonaventura, Nicola Borghesi, Damien Modolo, Lisa Ferlazzo Natoli
Movement Training / Movement Coach
Marta Ciappina
Vocal Coach
Francesca Della Monica
Scientific Advice
Enrico Sortino
Set Construction
Piccolo Teatro di Milano | Teatro d’Europa
Care and Advocacy
Damien Modolo
Digital Communication
Alessandro Ieva
Produced by VAN
Co-production
Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa
Théâtre de la Ville, Paris ATP
Fondazione Teatri di Pistoia
Pôle-Sud CDCN Strasbourg
Festival Aperto / Fondazione I Teatri – Reggio Emilia
Baerum Kulturhus – Dance Southeast-Norway
Snaporazverein
Pursuant to
Centrale Fies
CSC / Center for Contemporary Performance (Bassano del Grappa)
CCN Ballet de l’Opéra national du Rhin
Centro Nazionale di Produzione della Danza Virgilio Sieni
AMAT & Civitanova Danza for RAM_Residenze Artistiche Marchigiane
La Contrada / Teatro Stabile di Trieste
Grand Studio, Brussels
Scenario Pubblico, Catania
Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Oslo / Ål kulturhus (NID residency program)
ATCL / Spazio Rossellini
Teatro Stabile dell’Umbria
Fondazione Teatro Comunale Città di Vicenza
Centro di Residenza dell’Emilia‑Romagna L’arboreto – Teatro Dimora | La Corte Ospitale
In collaboration with the Umeå Theater Association
Food & Drink
Food and Beverage Service During the Performance of *
* You can purchase coffee and pastries and other treats at the bistro starting one hour before the show begins. The menu features delicious drinks, snacks, homemade pastries, and light meals.
Nova’s Hook
Book a table at Nova’s restaurant for a good dinner in a pleasant atmosphere. Book a table & menu
A warm welcome!

