CAN CAN is born from the meeting between director Giovanni Ortoleva and Irene Mantova, a performer whose epilepsy was diagnosed in 2023, at the age of twenty-five, after a lifetime of unexplainable “seizures.” The project intertwines Irene’s story with that of Jane Avril, the can-can dancer immortalized by Toulouse-Lautrec, who became famous precisely for the epilepsy she parodied in her dance.
A strange career, which began at the Salpêtrière hospital and ended on stages all over the world, mirrors that of a young contemporary performer. Drawing inspiration from their biographies and recalling the massive impact that epilepsy had at the end of the 19th century on actresses like Sarah Bernhardt, who replicated its poses in her acting, this work plays with the performative aspect of epileptic seizures, transforming them into choreographies that can be treated with varying degrees of realism and identification. The project brings movement and document together, drawing on heterogeneous materials such as Charcot’s photographs of the Salpêtrière patients and YouTube channels of people sharing their own seizures, questioning the very nature of these representations of the “sacred disease.” Irene interprets epilepsies: her own and those of others, moving between dance and parody, pathos and irony. CAN CAN is a playful meditation on suffering and interpretation.
Giovanni Ortoleva is a director and writer. After graduating in Cognitive Psychology and Techniques from the University of Trento, he earned his degree in Theater Directing from the Paolo Grassi School in Milan. In 2018, he was awarded a Special Mention as “Under 30 Director” by the Venice Biennale and was invited to present his first two shows, Saul (adapted from A. Gide, by R. Favaro and G. Ortoleva) and Garbage, the City and Death (by R. W. Fassbinder), at the 2019 and 2020 editions of the Venetian festival.
Since then, he has directed numerous productions, personally handling the text or collaborating with contemporary writers, including R. Favaro and F. Bellini. His work focuses on reinterpreting our cultural heritage, approached as a critical revisiting of history, stories, and biographies. Among his most recent productions are The Lady of the Camellias (adapted from A. Dumas, by G. Ortoleva), Industrial Drama (by R. Favaro), and Myrrha (by V. Alfieri).
In 2025, he received the National Association of Theater Critics Award for his career as a director. From 2022 to 2024, he was director-in-residence at the Teatro della Tosse in Genoa, becoming an associate artist there from 2025 to 2027. Since 2024, he has taught acting at the Silvio D’Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rome. Reviewing his work, The New York Times wrote that it “shows remarkable promise and imagination.”
Irene Mantova was born in Città della Pieve (Perugia) in 1996. In 2021, she graduated from the “Silvio d’Amico” National Academy of Dramatic Arts (ANAD) with Hotel Goldoni, directed by Antonio Latella. Following her graduation, she worked in productions such as Love’s Labour’s Lost, directed by Massimiliano Farau, and Late Hour scratching poetry at the Venice Biennale. She served as co-director for Joanna Karol Paul by Giulia Massimini (Teatro Basilica, Rome), and in 2023, she organized “Lune Nuove,” a festival dedicated to new playwriting at Zalib (Rome). She then joined the advanced two-year program at ANAD “Silvio d’Amico” directed by Antonio Latella, training under Italian directors like Giovanni Ortoleva and Leonardo Manzan, as well as international directors such as Thom Luz and Nathalie Béasse. The graduation performances from this training were presented at the Spoleto Festival and the Venice Biennale Teatro.
In 2025, she won the “Powered by REF” grant and participated in the Romaeuropa Festival on two occasions: with her own work 612-ter, which she wrote and performed in, and as an actress in Real Estate Drama, directed by Antonella Lo Bianco.
In December 2025, she made her debut in Measure for Measure, directed by Giacomo Bisordi and produced by Teatro di Roma.
by Giovanni Ortoleva
with Irene Mantova
music Pietro Guarracino
movement direction Anna Manella
scientific advisors Greta Plaitano e Flavio Villani
Production Fondazione Luzzati – Teatro della Tosse
