Sofia Nappi, Artistic Director/Choreographer
International choreographer and dancer from Italy, graduated from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York to then deepen her studies internationally. In her training the close contact with the Hofesh Shecter Dance Company and her studies of Gaga, language of the famous choreographer Ohad Naharin, play a fundamental role.
Sofia is artistic director and co-founder of her project KOMOCO thanks to the generous support of the historic Ass. Sosta Palmizi, Ecotopia Dance Production and her unique collaboration with her first muses Adriano Popolo Rubbio and Paolo Piancastelli.
Right away Sofia’s first creations with KOMOCO won the Partner Introdans Award at the Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition 2021, the 1st Prize, the Critics' Award and the Production Award from the Tanja Liedtke Foundation & the Artistic Director Marco Goecke of the Staatstheater Hannover at the prestigious 35th International Choreography Competition Hannover 2021. KOMOCO was been in Germany, USA, Italy, Holland, Israel, France, Albania, Spain, Canary Islands, Kosovo, Belgium and Hungary, making stops to many prestigious Italian and international festivals and platforms, including: La Biennale Di Venezia, The Albania Meeting Dance Festival, RomaEuropa Festival, MASDANZA, the Colours International Dance Festival, Teatro del Canal to name a few.
Sofia also continues her path in the role of independent choreographer creating new works for internationally reknown dance companies, such as the re-stage of Holelah, created at the Venice Biennale 2019 and presented again by the National Theater Mannheim in December 2021; Tagadà at the Staatsoper Hannover (2023); Moving Cloud for the Scottish Dance Theatre to be premiered as part of Celtic Connections 2023 and a new special project with the Dutch national company Introdans (2023). For 2024, the Nederlands Dans Theater 2 and the Göteborg Opera have commissioned a new work from her.
At the same time, Sofia Nappi's work also unfolds in the field of research and professional training at an international level (such as at Tisch - New York University, in the context of Micadanses at Le Carreau du Temple in Paris, Henny Jurriëns Studio in Amsterdam, Elephant and the Black Box and Danza180 in Madrid, Tanzpunkt Hannover, at Daf in Rome, Balletto di Toscana, Opus Ballet, etc.) in close collaboration with the dancers of the KOMOCO company.
Adriano Popolo Rubbio
Starting in the summer of 2020, he joined Komoco, under the direction of choreographer Sofia Nappi, as a dancer, collaborator, and rehearsal director for the company. He performed in the duet "Dodi," which won first prize, critics' prize, and the Marco Goecke prize at the "35th International Choreography Competition Hannover." The duet also won the Introdans partner award at the "Rotterdam International Duet Competition 2021." Additionally, he danced in the "Wabi-Sabi" trio, winners of Kommtanz 2021 and finalists at the "DirezioniAltre Prize," presented at various national and international festivals. He served as the assistant choreographer for the production "Holelah" by Sofia Nappi at the National Theater of Mannheim and for creations in 2022 and 2023 by choreographers IMA and PUPO.
From 2015 to 2021, he was a dancer at Compagnia Zappalà Danza, directed by Roberto Zappalà. He performed in all of the company's most significant productions, including new creations and repertoire pieces. Between 2016 and 2017, he collaborated as a freelance dancer with the INTERNO5 company in Naples, featuring choreography by Antonello Tudisco.
In the summer of 2017, he joined the London-based company, Jason Mabana, for the project "Requiem for Aleppo," composed by David Cazalet. Since 2018, he has also served as an assistant to Roberto Zappalà during workshops throughout Europe. In the same year, he presented the site-specific work "This is Not My Place" for Scenario Farm, in collaboration with Farm Cultural Park, Favara (AG). In the spring of 2021, he created the solo "NACA" for the Panopticon installation, a work by Roberto Zappalà, presented in collaboration with the Museo Civico Castello Ursino in Catania. In the summer of the same year, he choreographed "Manas" for the ARTFEST festival in Potenza, as a production of Scenario Publicco/CZD.
In autumn 2021, he collaborated with the Italian-French company Ez3, directed by Ezio Schiavulli, dancing in the show "Silent Poets." Since 2018, he has regularly conducted workshops and classes as a teacher, choreographer, and assistant for various national structures and festivals. He has collaborated with the NYU Tisch School of the Arts (New York, United States), Scenario Public (CT), Kale Compania de Danca (Portugal), Danspunt Festival (Belgium), Balletto di Calabria (CS), MilanoOltre Festival (MI), Elephant in the Black Box (Spain), Henny Jurriens Studios (Holland), Ramificazioni Festival (CS), Liceo Coreutico Busto Arsizio (VA), ICH International Creative Hub (RM), ARTfest Festival (PZ), Bali Batique Dance Program (RM), Advance Dance Training (VR), Rome International Dance Academy (RM), Vivo Center (RM), and others.
After initially training in urban dance and hip-hop from 2012 to 2015, he attended the professional dance training program "Modem" at Scenario Pubblico, the national center for dance production in Catania. Here, he received training in ballet, contemporary dance, choreography, and improvisation workshops. He also had the opportunity to dance for various choreographers, such as Giovanna Velardi, Wei Meng Poon, and Enrico Musmeci.
Leonardo De Santis
Born in Rome, Leonardo De Santis begun his studies at the school of Balletto di Roma. In 2018 Leonardo moved to Florence where he joined the school of Balletto di Toscana, under the artistic direction of Mrs. Cristina Bozzolini and where he worked with the choreographer Valerio Longo.
At the age of 19 Leonardo was accepted to Rambert School in London. Here he had the honour of working with choreographers such as Isham Rustem and Julie Cunningham, thanks to whom Leonardo was involved in ‘Drew Lines’, a production for the Sadler’s Welles in London.
After his graduation, Leonardo went back to Rome to join NEXT project under the direction of Mr. Mauro Astolfi. Here, he had the chance to work with choreographers such as: Sofia Nappi, Ricardo Campos Freire, Alex Clair, Mauro Astolfi himself.
In 2022 Leonardo became part of the Balet Rijeka ensemble, under the artistic direction of Mrs. Maša Kolar, here he worked with choreographers such as Cayetano Soto, Nadav Zelner, Giuseppe Spota, and Mauro Bigonzetti.
