Pupo is an impressive plea for the productive embarrassment of growing up and a choreographic feat full of clever comedy and high-gloss dance precision. Pupo is not only a dancing metaphor against manipulation and model indifference, but also a crazy puzzle of childish clumsiness and adult hullabaloo. Schopenhauer, the notorious night watchman of the negation of life, would probably frown at so much wooden, pliable lust for life. And to paraphrase Descartes: I dance, therefore I am. Powerful applause, bravos and loud whistles of enthusiasm for the congenial transformation of the historical wooden puppet into a prime example of the diversity of human possibilities.
Kristin Wachenfeld, Rheinische Post 19.5.2025

THE PUPPET DEVELOPS A BACKBONE
The seven-member ensemble of the Italian dance company KOMOCO does not need any props or stage design for the humanization of a wooden puppet that acquires the self-confidence of a personality. In PUPO, the young choreographer Sofia Nappi tells the story of Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio using only light and movement.
With great attention to detail, the ensemble creates the virtuoso movement repertoire of a marionette and shows us the never-before-seen gestures and positions of a puppet.
A choreographic masterpiece that Sofia Nappi develops from the grinding elegance of breakdance and the hyperdynamics of Ohad Naharin's Gaga language. The result merges into a dance language that is absolutely original in its expressiveness.
Lots of applause from the audience!
Thomas Linden, Kölnische Rundschau, 15.1.2025

THE MARIONETTE LOSES ITS INNOCENCE
No stage set, no props. Just light and movement - that's all choreographer Sofia Nappi needs to impressively transform a piece of world literature from her home city of Florence, Carlo Collodi's "Pinocchio", into a danced metamorphosis. Nappi and her seven-member Komoco company wowed the audience with an original dance language full of expressiveness.
The audience experiences an initiation in several phases: First the innocent child, then the easily seduced teenager who wants to try himself out, the coming of age full of sacrifices and finally the gaining of true humanity. A strong lighting design supports all the influences on Pinocchio and him as a central hero - overwhelmingly interpreted by Arthur Bouilliol.
An all-round successful evening of dance.
Kristina Schmidl, Südwest Presse 19.1.2

"PUPO" BY SOFIA NAPPI, A CHARMING UNIVERSAL FAIRY TALE
From the very first seconds, PUPO transports us into a nostalgic and poetic atmosphere. A light haze envelops the stage and the audience, smoke revealed by a soft but precise lighting design that supports the dancers' movements and spatial configurations.

The costumes - shirts, soft pants, jackets and vests - tell in elegant neutrality of an unspecified era that could be either in our past or present, and glide over the bodies, gestures and directions of the performers, emphasizing the dynamics of their movements.
The sound design combines contaminated traditional Portuguese melodies, Eastern European rhythms, explorations of world music and classical pieces, all of which have a great evocative - almost cinematographic - power, capable of creating a sense of constant movement that brings us back to earth. An earth that is never heavy, but that nourishes and sustains, that serves as a secure base for a perpetual new beginning.

Collective moments alternate with duets, quartets and melancholy solos to tell the story of Pinocchio, Collodi's famous work about the metamorphosis of the puppet who dreams of becoming a child.

Collective moments alternate with duets, quartets and melancholy solos to narrate Pinocchio, Collodi's famous work about the metamorphosis of the puppet who dreams of becoming a child.
PUPO is not a didactic narrative, so there are no clear references to the various characters, but rather hints of clues in the form of revealing gestures. The play aims to explore the theme of growth and awareness, to explore the world, to constantly put oneself at risk in relation to others and one's own limits. The story of the doll thus becomes a symbol of the constant attempt to become oneself without forgetting the child we once were and which remains within us, often in a cage.
The applause for Sofia Nappi, her team and her dancers concludes the performance with the wish to continue dancing as we slowly return to our lives.
Eleonora Tempesta, campadidanza Febr 27,2024

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