Bolzano Danza 2026 - Cult of Magic

Fear of the Dark

An underground bunker. No light. Three dancers. Darkness frightens because it strips us of our primary sense — sight: what happens when the eye sees only black? Fear of the Dark is the preview of the latest work by Milan-based collective Cult of Magic, set inside a real Second World War bunker beneath the streets of Bolzano. The darkness is not a metaphor — it is the medium.

The piece draws from two sources: the Clavicula Salomonis, one of the most mysterious manuscripts in Western occultism, and the theories of psychoanalyst James Hillman, who read mythology as a manifestation of our ancestors' unconscious. From their combination emerges a dreamlike landscape in which the three dancers shed their human characteristics, the dance generates sensory rather than visual images, and the music accompanies a descent into an elsewhere of fears and primal desires. No linear narrative, no reassuring arc — only presence, sound and the particular attention that darkness demands.

The piece previews at Bolzano Danza ahead of its world premiere at Festival Danza Estate. Two performances per evening — places are limited.

Cult of Magic was founded in Milan in 2017, working across performance, music and contemporary dance. It has collaborated with Triennale Milano, Museion and Mart Rovereto. Fear of the Dark is a winner of the SIAE Nuove Opere grant.

Tickets:
Full price € 12
Under 30 € 10
Under 12 € 5

Tickets are available online or at the box office of the Teatro Comunale di Bolzano.