FABIANA PICCIOLI
LIGHTING DESIGNER
FABIANA PICCIOLI
Fabiana Piccioli ©Anna Faragona
After graduating in Philosophy from University La Sapienza in Rome, followed by a short European career as a dancer, Fabiana Piccioli learnt production management while working at the Romaueropa Festival. In 2005, she joined Akram Khan Company as Technical Director and started developing as a Lighting Designer.
A freelance lighting and set designer since 2014, she has created work for Royal Opera House, Royal Danish Opera, Opera de Paris, Teatro La Scala, Scottish Opera, Opera National du Rhin, Opera de Lille, National Irish Opera, Ballet de Lyon, Goteborg Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Royal Ballet of Flanders, ENB, Schaubühne Berlin, Stuttgart Ballet, Royal Court, Theatre de la Ville, New York City Ballet, Sadlers Wells and Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, amongst others.
Fabiana has collaborated with choreographers like Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Damien Jalet, Johan Inger, Imre and Marne van Opstal, Aakash Odedra, Kim Brandstrup, and Jeroen Verbruggen, theatre directors including Romeo Castellucci, Guy Cassiers, Lisaboa Houbrechts, and Katie Mitchell, and opera directors such as Oliver Mears, John Fulljames, and Philipp Himmelmann.
Fabiana has won three Knight of Illumination Awards:
Winner of the 2018 Knight of Illumination Award for Opera: Eugene Onegin by Oliver Mears
Winner of the 2017 Knight of Illumination Award for Dance: Echoes by Aakash Odedra & Aditi Mangaldas
Winner of the 2013 Knight of Illumination Award for Dance: iTMOI by Akram Khan
KNIGHT OF ILLUMINATION AWARD-WINNING PRODUCTIONS
INTERVIEWS
Aakash Odedra in “Mehek” ©Angela Grabowska
An interview with Fabiana Piccioli, who shared her inspiration behind the lights and how they contribute to the storyline of “Mehek”:
"The lighting as well as the whole visual world created for Mehek is generated around the question of vision, what it is to see the loved one as a reflection of one's self, as one's own mirrored image, whether the otherness portraits the whole or just fragments of a loving soul.
As a major part of Mehek is about what it is to see - recognizing true love beyond social boundaries - and what it is to be seen - criticized as a taboo - light played a crucial role in transmitting these ideas.
This is why the lighting changes between exposing and violent, more "internal" to portray a private search of questioning darkness, and muscular and pulsating along with the rhythm of the choreography.
When the two lovers recognize each other and find togetherness without fear, a soft ring of light protects them but also echoes their strength and opens a place for their energy.
Lighting Mehek was an absolute joy as every second of it was created in constant mutual listening and in the presence of true friends."