https://elsasimonetti.com Elsa Giovanna Simonetti Fri, 06 Sep 2024 07:52:49 +0000 https://elsasimonetti.com en https://elsasimonetti.com/Top-page Fri, 06 Sep 2024 07:52:38 +0000 Elsa Giovanna Simonetti https://elsasimonetti.com/Top-page Elsa Giovanna Simonetti Paris-based writer and critic working across dance, performance, and cultural thought. https://elsasimonetti.com/Bottom-page Fri, 06 Sep 2024 07:52:39 +0000 Elsa Giovanna Simonetti https://elsasimonetti.com/Bottom-page Website map 00. Homepage 01. News 02. About me 03. Output 04. Projects and Collaborations 05. Salvation and Performance Elsa Giovanna Simonetti Connect Instagram Contact BlueSky https://elsasimonetti.com/00-News Fri, 06 Sep 2024 07:52:44 +0000 Elsa Giovanna Simonetti https://elsasimonetti.com/00-News Website map:00. Homepage01. &nbsp;News02. About me03. Output04. Projects and Collaborations 05. Salvation and Performance NewsNew research ideas, événements and more. 🍉 - Summer 2025 Kicks Off with Hot Research Topics (June) 🌪️ Plato, Aristotle &amp; Natural Phenomena in PlutarchHow did Plutarch explain natural phenomena? 🌋 Through the lenses of Plato and Aristotle?I'll be speaking on this topic in Leuven this July, as an invited guest of the ERC project “PlatoViaAristotle”. 🔥🌍 🌊 Plutarch, Disasters &amp; Divine DilemmasWhat did Plutarch think about surviving natural disasters? Were the gods behind it all? 🌩️ And how can humanity respond to the overwhelming force of nature?I'll be diving into these timeless questions this July at the International Plutarch Society Conference in Groningen. ⚡📚 ☁️ Clement &amp; the AfterlifeAnd then there’s Clement: one of the first Christian thinkers to imagine an eschatological salvation, yet still profoundly shaped by the weight of classical thought.I’ll be exploring this rich tension at the International Society for Neoplatonic Studies&nbsp;in Athens.&nbsp; 🏛️✨ 🌷 - &nbsp;"Salut: perspectives philosophiques, perspectives religieuses"🌞🌸✨ PROGRAMME ︎ 📍 Sorbonne, Paris📅 March 21-22, 2025 What does salvation mean? How has it been understood in philosophy and religion? These questions have shaped centuries of thought—and remain as relevant as ever today. In a time of uncertainty and transformation, this colloquium invites reflection on how different traditions have approached salvation, from antiquity to the present. <img width="1600" height="1200" width_o="1600" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6db3bd44b6a1afc9a145c5320e23608951f8456f432b1318eb8d6776c958808a/C.-Cremonesi.jpeg" data-mid="228817050" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6db3bd44b6a1afc9a145c5320e23608951f8456f432b1318eb8d6776c958808a/C.-Cremonesi.jpeg" /> <img width="1600" height="1200" width_o="1600" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a54fe5aa85639c792501dad26700f197224e637bd0170302622274269c30b854/A.-van-den-Kerchove.jpeg" data-mid="228817049" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a54fe5aa85639c792501dad26700f197224e637bd0170302622274269c30b854/A.-van-den-Kerchove.jpeg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" 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width="1600" height="1200" width_o="1600" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6907134e208b2b2a57ea77abe3bd9a0fe705f599ebd3054712c79aa95f321822/E.-Simonetti.jpeg" data-mid="228817194" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6907134e208b2b2a57ea77abe3bd9a0fe705f599ebd3054712c79aa95f321822/E.-Simonetti.jpeg" /> <img width="1200" height="1600" width_o="1200" height_o="1600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7b3a4c19450decb53237a0059d5af645ca62e7883c5331eb45eec625870dd8f4/Buffet-7.jpeg" data-mid="228817193" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7b3a4c19450decb53237a0059d5af645ca62e7883c5331eb45eec625870dd8f4/Buffet-7.jpeg" /> <img width="1200" height="1600" width_o="1200" height_o="1600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9ed13b53d5f852b76615eac88301d65dc39e3adcdec5d1080b82734da168d193/Buffet-5.jpeg" data-mid="228817192" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9ed13b53d5f852b76615eac88301d65dc39e3adcdec5d1080b82734da168d193/Buffet-5.jpeg" /> <img width="1200" height="1600" width_o="1200" height_o="1600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/faa5944613236b7f068565125210aa6a0c1d38dfc5ffe0d5446d6c8c6b37e097/Buffet-4.jpeg" data-mid="228817191" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/faa5944613236b7f068565125210aa6a0c1d38dfc5ffe0d5446d6c8c6b37e097/Buffet-4.jpeg" /> <img width="1200" height="1600" width_o="1200" height_o="1600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/25a3855d77e9e2139eb8d129cc6c4af63f3aeeaf144aac14a518be8c90ad0b60/Buffet-2.jpeg" data-mid="228817190" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/25a3855d77e9e2139eb8d129cc6c4af63f3aeeaf144aac14a518be8c90ad0b60/Buffet-2.jpeg" /> <img width="1200" height="1600" width_o="1200" height_o="1600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a46c8b82937046e1505ecbdbcb22674a00017c5e1317c5e5cd02b736c964653f/A.-Timotin.jpeg" data-mid="228817189" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a46c8b82937046e1505ecbdbcb22674a00017c5e1317c5e5cd02b736c964653f/A.-Timotin.jpeg" /> <img width="1200" height="1600" width_o="1200" height_o="1600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8af0b1857dab681c1dadfcbec715faa34841110e753e8cd0f5db6352ee867ba6/A.-Timotin-3.jpeg" data-mid="228817188" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8af0b1857dab681c1dadfcbec715faa34841110e753e8cd0f5db6352ee867ba6/A.-Timotin-3.jpeg" /> <img width="1600" height="1200" width_o="1600" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/24d3e4e4f6325b8d392fa46545af06887c5fdc7c85452196b8d16a286b21e109/A.-Timotin-2.jpeg" data-mid="228817187" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/24d3e4e4f6325b8d392fa46545af06887c5fdc7c85452196b8d16a286b21e109/A.-Timotin-2.jpeg" /> <img width="1600" height="1200" width_o="1600" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b0c8dc7ed09846df562664a45de3d37cf4b7f29933985d74fae0c8be61228a1e/A.-Man.jpeg" data-mid="228817186" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b0c8dc7ed09846df562664a45de3d37cf4b7f29933985d74fae0c8be61228a1e/A.-Man.jpeg" /> <img width="1600" height="1200" width_o="1600" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2c1620a3a48d99be940fe8db295659ae20432aef7608a544666b7e22859e69fa/A.-Man-2.jpeg" data-mid="228817185" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2c1620a3a48d99be940fe8db295659ae20432aef7608a544666b7e22859e69fa/A.-Man-2.jpeg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9d6de68e24fc45e1dff04e7b296dc289b46663b3192e8d7d3a3bad9b396fe173/IMG_4394.jpeg" data-mid="228817053" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9d6de68e24fc45e1dff04e7b296dc289b46663b3192e8d7d3a3bad9b396fe173/IMG_4394.jpeg" /> <img width="3024" height="4032" width_o="3024" height_o="4032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/051b306fa946f50b4641d271be6bb21b80e2a4d5d074bc592bff0a92b13bb04c/IMG_4392.jpeg" data-mid="228817052" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/051b306fa946f50b4641d271be6bb21b80e2a4d5d074bc592bff0a92b13bb04c/IMG_4392.jpeg" /> <img width="1600" height="1200" width_o="1600" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/19fcf2c489346f05d0c7662de1d65f48f7eb517057c8c102ccd69b51c2017c96/IMG_3424.jpeg" data-mid="228817051" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/19fcf2c489346f05d0c7662de1d65f48f7eb517057c8c102ccd69b51c2017c96/IMG_3424.jpeg" /> What struck me most about the SALUT conference is how salus, salvation, and soteria ✨ opened up access to new insights in completely unexpected places 🔍 and sparked surprising interactions in familiar ones 🏛️ — and we had a wonderful time together, too! 💫📚🍷🍰🌸 Merci les collègues! ⚔️️ - The workshop Divination et Salut à Travers les Siècles, which I am co-organizing with Nathan Fraikin (EPHE), will be taking place soon (October 2024). This event will explore the fascinating themes of divination and salvation across various historical periods, offering new insights into these timeless practices and beliefs. ☄️ -&nbsp;Excited to host in Paris (EPHE) this captivating talk by George van Kooten on salvation through Philosophy ! 🎙️ <img width="936" height="1318" width_o="936" height_o="1318" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d357970927a13318167275c8d50e8b4d02747c5890ff37c48c2950d0565453f7/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-11.56.09.png" data-mid="217588188" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/936/i/d357970927a13318167275c8d50e8b4d02747c5890ff37c48c2950d0565453f7/Screenshot-2024-02-26-at-11.56.09.png" /> 🔥️ - With Michael Griffin, Cagla Umsu-Seifert and Irini-Fotini Viltanioti, we are organising the panel “Platonic Egypt and Egyptian Platonism” at the next ISNS Conference! If you're interested in this topic, please submit a one-page abstract by 16th January 2024.🎩️ - Divination and Revelation in Later Antiquity is OUT! Get in touch for special discounts.🌏 - I will be spending the month of October in Cambridge as a Visiting Researcher at the Faculty of Classics! Many thanks to the generous support of the British Academy, which has awarded my project a Newton Alumni Scheme grant.🍾 - I have been awarded a MSCA - Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. I will be there starting from the Fall. Hope to see many of you! Just drop me a line.🦆️ - With Kasra Abdavi Azar, Marco Pelucchi and Pietro Zaccaria, we have organised a Workshop at KU Leuven, on “Networking through Proems”. This event will take place on September 12th. If you are interested in attending, please send me an email! https://elsasimonetti.com/01-About-me Fri, 06 Sep 2024 07:52:44 +0000 Elsa Giovanna Simonetti https://elsasimonetti.com/01-About-me Website map:00. Homepage01. &nbsp;News02. About me03. Output04. Projects and Collaborations 05. Salvation and Performance About me I am a researcher in ancient philosophy. My main focus is the Early Roman Empire (I-III cent.), a world animated by lively and open debates between different philosophical schools, cultural groups, religious associations. The core themes and issues I investigate are centered around divinatory theories and doctrines of salvation. I studied Philosophy in Bologna (BA, with honours) and Padova (MA, with honours). &nbsp;In 2016, I was awarded my Joint Doctorate from Padova and KU Leuven under the co-supervisions of Prof. Maria Grazia Crepaldi (Padova) and Prof. Jan Opsomer (KU Leuven). After my PhD, I was granted a Newton International Fellowship (competitive grant supporting oversees researchers in the UK, sponsored by The British Academy and The Royal Society; success rate: 8%). This allowed me to work at the Department of Classics and Ancient History of Durham University (UK), as a member of the Durham Centre for Ancient and Medieval Philosophy (DCAMP). My mentors were Prof. Johannes Haubold and Prof. George Boys-Stones. Then, I received an FWO Post-Doctoral Fellowship (prestigious grant sponsored by The Research Foundation – Flanders), at the KU Leuven Institute of Philosophy (Belgium), where I worked under the mentorship of Prof. Jan Opsomer. In 2022-2023, I worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the ERC project Not another history of Platonism (grant agreement No. 885273; Principal Investigator: Prof. Jan Opsomer). I am currently an MSCA Marie-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. I am PI of a European funded project entitled MappingSalvation. https://elsasimonetti.com/02-Output Fri, 06 Sep 2024 07:52:44 +0000 Elsa Giovanna Simonetti https://elsasimonetti.com/02-Output Website map:00. Homepage01. &nbsp;News02. About me03. Output04. Projects and Collaborations 05. Salvation and Performance Output (selected) My first monograph A Perfect Medium fathoms Plutarch’s theories of divination in their philosophical contexts, and reconstructs them within the broader framework of Plutarch’s reading of the Timaeus.I have since then written articles, chapters, and co-edited a volume, on several topics on the philosophy and religion of the first centuries AD. Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2017), A Perfect Medium? Oracular Divination in the Thought of Plutarch, Leuven, Leuven University Press. Reviewed by: - John M. Dillon (Trinity College), International Journal of the Platonic Tradition 14 (2020): 90–2; - Crystal Addey, BMCR 2019.02.13; - Carmen Sánchez-Mañas, Cuadernos de filología clásica 29 (2019): 213–16; - Paolo Scarpi, Civiltà e Religioni 4 (2018): 197–8). Peer-reviewed edited book:Kasra Abdavi-Azar, Marco Pelucchi, Elsa Giovanna Simonetti, Pietro Zaccaria, (Eds.). (2025). Networking through proems: Proemial strategies for intellectual networking in antiquity [Special issue]. Trends in Classics, 17(2).Elsa Giovanna Simonetti and Claire Hall (eds.), Divination and Revelation in Later Antiquity. Cambridge University Press (2023). Peer-reviewed articles in journals: Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2021), ‘Post-Hellenistic Perspectives on Divination, the Individual and the Cosmos’, Social Analysis 65.2: 82–102. - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3167/sa.2021.650205 Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2021), ‘Iamblichus and Plutarch on Inspiration’, Mediterranea. International Journal on the Transfer of Knowledge 6: 31–55. - DOI: https://doi.org/10.21071/mijtk.v6i.13039 Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2017), ‘L’immagine del saggio nelle opere di Apuleio’, Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 160: 371–392. - https://www.jstor.org/stable/45174333 Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2016), ‘L’ideale politico di Plutarco di Cheronea. Tra umano e (semi)divino’, Bollettino della Società Filosofica Italiana 218: 23–41. Peer-reviewed chapters in volumes: Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2025). Plutarch on Salvation. In Udo Schnelle (ed.), Gegen die Stoische Lehre: Die Kritik an der Stoa in der Antike. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck &amp; Ruprecht, 143–162.Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2025), The Enigma of Apollonius of Tyana and Ritual Innovations in the First Centuries AD. In Constantinos Macris, Tiziano Dorandi and Luc Brisson (eds), From the Pseudopythagorica to the Neopythagoreans: Further Studies on the Texts Attributed to Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans. Baden-Baden: Karl Alber (Nomos), 699–728.Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2021), The Pythia as Matter: Plutarch’s Scientific Account of Divination. In Crystal Addey (ed.), Divination and Systems of Knowledge in Graeco-Roman Antiquity. London: Routledge, 174–193. Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2020), Divination in Plutarch’s Life of Cicero, in Lautaro R. Lanzillotta and Rainer Hirsch-Luipold (eds.), Plutarch and the Ancient Religious Landscape: Paganism, Christianity, Gnosis, and Mystery Cults, Leiden-Boston: Brill, 332–347. Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2020), Who is the Best Prophet? The ‘Manifold’ Character of a Quotation in Plutarch, in Maria Vamvouri, Rainer Hirsch-Luipold, T. Schmidt (eds.), The Dynamics of Intertextuality in Plutarch, Leiden-Boston: Brill, 349–361. Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2019), Prophetic (?) Dreams in Plutarch, in Andrei Timotin and Paul Magdalino (eds.), Theories of Divination in Late Antiquity and Byzantium, La pomme d’or: Genève, 369–399. Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2019), Plutarch and the Neoplatonists: Porphyry, Proklos, Simplikios, in Katerina Oikonomopoulou and Sophia Xenophontos (eds.), Brill’s Companion to the Reception of Plutarch, Leiden–Boston: Brill, 136–153. Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2017), La lampada di Ammone come eikôn dell’universo, in S. Amendola, G. Pace and P. Volpe Cacciatore (eds.), Immagini letterarie e iconografia nelle opere di Plutarco, Madrid, 223–230. Book reviews (selection): Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2021), ‘Lucia Maddalena Tissi, Helmut Seng, Chiara Ombretta Tommasi (éd.), Stimmen der Götter. Orakel und ihre Rezeption von der Spätantike bis in die Frühe Neuzeit, Heidelberg, Universitätsverlag Winter (Bibliotheca Chaldaica, 8), 2019’, L’Antiquité Tardive. Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2018), ‘Michael Erler, Martin Andreas Stadler (eds.), Platonismus und spätägyptische Religion: Plutarch und die Ägyptenrezeption in der römischen Kaiserzeit. Beiträge zur Altertumskunde, 364. Berlin:&nbsp; De Gruyter, 2017’, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2018.12.26. Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2018), ‘Ryan C. Fowler, Imperial Plato. Albinus, Maximus, Apuleius. Text and Translation, with an Introduction and Commentary. Las Vegas-Zurich-Athens: Parmenides Publishing, 2016’, The International Journal of the Platonic Tradition 12.1. Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2018), ‘Santana Henríquez, G. ed. (2013), Plutarco y las artes. XI Simposio Internacional de la Sociedad Española de Plutarquistas. Madrid: Ediciones Clásicas’, L’Antiquité Classique 87. Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2015), ‘C. Addey, Divination and Theurgy in Neoplatonism. Oracles of the Gods, Ashgate, 2014’, Universa. Recensioni di filosofia 2 (4). Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2014), ‘V. Rosenberger (ed.), Divination in the Ancient World. Religious Options and the Individual, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2013’, Universa. Recensioni di filosofia 2 (3). Elsa Giovanna Simonetti (2013), ‘A. Timotin, La démonologie platonicienne. Histoire de la notion de Daimôn de Platon aux derniers néoplatoniciens, Brill, 2012’, Universa. Recensioni di filosofia 2 (2). Other publications: Interview to Prof. James Wetzel, in ‘The Leuven Philosophy Newsletter’, vol. 27: 2019–20, pp. 40–44. https://hiw.kuleuven.be/en/study/alumni/newsletter/newsletter2020/ Invited talks (selection): 2025 - ‘Plutarque de Chéronée et la tripartition de l'humain’. Le multiple dans l’âme. Sorbonne, Paris, 12 December.2024 - ‘Salvation of the Body and Salvation of the Soul in the Philosophical Discourse of the Early Roman Empire’. Foro di Studi Avanzati ‘Gaetano Massa’, Frascati, Italy, 26–29 May.2023 - ‘The older the better? Plutarch’s religious thought and his polemics against the Stoics’. 14th Celtic Conference in Classics. Panel: Religious Knowledge and Authoritative Texts. Coimbra, Portugal, 12–15 July.2022 - ‘Salut individuel et salut cosmique dans la pensée de Plutarque de Chéronée’. Invited by Prof. Andrei Timotin. École Pratique des Hautes Études, Sorbonne Panthéon, Salle d’Égyptologie (15 June).2021 - Laboratoire d’excellence sure les Pseudopythagorica - CNRS: ‘The Pythagorean Enigma of Apollonius of Tyana’. Org.: Dr Constantinos Macris, Prof. Luc Brisson, Prof. Tiziano Dorandi (30 Sept.). 2021 - International Society for Neoplatonic Studies, Annual Conference: ‘Delphi and the Pythia in Origen’s Contra Celsum’. Invited by Dr Michael Griffin (UBC) in his panel on ‘Delphic Philosophy’ (9 June). 2020 - University of Padova. Late-Ancient Philosophy Seminar: ‘Folgori e retorica: Luciano, Zeus e il dialogo filosofico’. Org.: Prof. Maria Grazia Crepaldi (24 Sept.). 2019 - University of Tübingen (Germany): Xenocrates: ‘Xenocrates in Plutarch’. Conference: ‘Project Academy’.Org.: Prof. Irmgard Männlein-Robert, Prof. Phillip Horky (1-2 Nov.). 2019 - London School of Economics, London (UK): ‘Epictetus, Maximus of Tyre and Dio Chrysostom on Consulting Diviners’. Conference: ‘Ontology and Prediction in Divination: Ethnographic and Historical Perspectives’. Org.: Dr William Matthews (20–21 June). 2019 - Guest lecture: ‘Divination as a Science’. In: Dr Phillip Horky’s MA module ‘Technologies of Knowledge in Antiquity’. Durham University, UK (14 March). 2019 - Invited respondent to: Irini-Fotini Viltanioti. In: ‘Logic and Exegesis’. Org.: Profs. Irini Viltanioti, Jan Opsomer, Pieter d’Hoine. KU Leuven, Belgium (10-11 Jan.). 2018 - The University of Newcastle, Newcastle (UK): ‘Memory and Prediction in the Life of Apollonius of Tyana’. Ancient History Seminar. Org.: Prof. Federico Santangelo (25 Oct.). 2018 - Durham University (UK): ‘Theological Oracles’. Conference: ‘Tübingen-Durham Workshop on Neoplatonist Theology’. Org.: Prof. George Boys-Stones (16–18 May). 2017 - University of Groningen, Groningen (The Netherlands): ‘Divination in Plutarch’s Life of Cicero’. Conference: ‘Plutarch and the Ancient Religious Landscape: Paganism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Mystery Cults’ (Red/Réseau ‘Ploutarchos’). Org.: Prof. Lautaro R. Lanzillotta and Prof. Reiner Hirsch-Luipold (27–29 Sept.).2015 - Università di Salerno (Italy): ‘La lampada di Ammone come eikôn dell’universo’. Conference: ‘Literary Images and Iconography in Plutarch’s Works’ (Red/Réseau ‘Ploutarchos’). Org.: Prof. Paola Volpe Cacciatore and Prof. Stefano Amendola (3–4 Dec.). https://elsasimonetti.com/03-Projects-and-collaborations Fri, 06 Sep 2024 07:52:45 +0000 Elsa Giovanna Simonetti https://elsasimonetti.com/03-Projects-and-collaborations Website map:00. Homepage01. &nbsp;News02. About me03. Output04. Projects and Collaborations 05. Salvation and Performance Projects and collaborations 🌏 - I have conducted my research at various international institutions, including the École Pratique des Hautes Études (Laboratoire d'études sur les monothéismes LEM - UMR 8584) and The American School of Classical Studies in Athens, where I was received the generous support of the British Academy and the FWO, respectively. Additionally, I was a visiting researcher at the Institute of Philosophy at KU Leuven and at the Department of Classics at the Ohio State University (OH). 🌊 - During my time as a graduate student in Bologna, I had the opportunity to spend a semester at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Erasmus, 2008-9). Additionally, I engaged in collaboration with the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts, where I undertook an internship supported by the Erasmus+ European Grant (2011). I was also involved in an internship program sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Italian Embassy in Budapest (2012). 🔮 - Since my PhD, devoted to Plutarch and oracular mantic, I have always been interested in how ancient philosophers conceptualised divination. Can we know the future in advance? How far do human knowledge capabilities extend? How does the communication between us and the gods work? To answer these questions, as a British Academy - Newton International Fellow at Durham University, I joined the DCAMP with a project on divinatory perspectives in the Platonic tradition.🐚️ - With Dr. Cagla Umsu-Seifert (Munich), I am a member of the Research Group Olympiodorus Online, a project directed by Prof. Michael Griffin (UBC), for a new, collaborative English translation of Olympiodorus’ Commentary on Plato’s Alcibiades. Presently, we are in the process of creating a series of videos and podcasts to delve into a range of topics within Alexandrian Platonism and Olympiodorus’ philosophy. Additionally, I am managing the Project’s Facebook and Twitter-X page. 💡️ - What determined the success that oracles, prophecy and revelation enjoyed in the first centuries of our era? How did revelative knowledge shape the relations between different cultural groups and religious beliefs? Why epiphanic experiences seem to have prevailed over stochastic techniques of prediction? In order to answer these and many other questions, I organised a big international event at Durham University on “Ancient Revelation: Divination, Prophecy and Epiphany.” My conference featured experts from all over the world, and was generously supported by prestigious institutions, such as The British Society for the History of Philosophy, The Classical Association, The Mind Association, The Past and Present Society. More information can be found on the Conference Website. The resulting book is in print with Cambridge University Press. https://elsasimonetti.com/05-Salvation-and-Performance Fri, 06 Sep 2024 07:52:49 +0000 Elsa Giovanna Simonetti https://elsasimonetti.com/05-Salvation-and-Performance :root{ --bg:#f6f1ea; --paper:#fbf8f4; --paper-2:#f8f3ee; --ink:#151210; --ink-soft:#302824; --muted:#6f655e; --line:rgba(21,18,16,.12); --line-strong:rgba(21,18,16,.22); --accent:#5c1026; --accent-dark:#42101c; --gold:#a88443; --shadow:0 1.5rem 4rem rgba(28,18,18,.06); --radius:1.5rem; --wrap:92rem; /* zoom-friendly type scale */ --step--1: clamp(1.15rem, 1.08rem + 0.25vw, 1.28rem); --step-0: clamp(1.32rem, 1.16rem + 0.55vw, 1.7rem); --step-1: clamp(1.65rem, 1.4rem + 0.9vw, 2.25rem); --step-2: clamp(2.2rem, 1.8rem + 1.6vw, 3.4rem); --step-3: clamp(3.2rem, 2.3rem + 3vw, 5.8rem); --step-4: clamp(4.4rem, 3rem + 4.8vw, 8.2rem); --space-1: 1rem; --space-2: 1.5rem; --space-3: 2rem; --space-4: 3rem; --space-5: 4rem; --space-6: 6rem; } html{ font-size:100%; -webkit-text-size-adjust:100%; 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Dance productions and performances have consistently explored salvation as transformation: the restoration of balance, the generation of meaning, and the reconfiguration of embodied existence. In many canonical ballets, salvation functions as a decisive narrative mechanism through which dramatic conflict is resolved. The figure who brings about this resolution, whether a lover, a supernatural force, or a sacrificial body, becomes an agent of transfiguration, restoring order or offering the promise of harmony. Over time, such redemptive structures have evolved. In response to shifting historical sensibilities, choreographers have reimagined dramatic outcomes, producing optimistic, ambivalent, or radically disenchanted final scenes. A striking example lies in the many endings of Swan Lake. Depending on who is permitted to save whom, and under what conditions, distinct ethical and theatrical worlds emerge. Salvation thus appears as a historically contingent device through which dance articulates collective expectations, anxieties, and moral tensions. This critical project approaches ballet and performance through that lens. It asks how choreographic works negotiate agency, fragility, endurance, disappearance, and the desire for permanence within an art form defined by transience. Even in its most abstract forms, dance remains grounded in the vulnerability of the human body and in the unstable relation between presence and loss. This perspective is informed by my MSCA postdoctoral project MappingSalvation, which develops an epistemic model of salvation understood not as a fixed end-state but as a non-linear process shaped by conditions, agents, and itineraries. My writing on dance and performance extends that research into the public sphere, testing and translating its conceptual tools through criticism addressed to a broader cultural readership. These texts combine analytical precision with accessibility: they read performance closely while opening scholarly questions outward, beyond the university, into the wider life of contemporary culture. Selected feature Essay Inventing the diva: ballet stars of the 19th century Bachtrack · December 2025 Today’s dancers dazzle onstage, yet offstage they reveal a world of physio sessions, heartbreaks, swollen ankles, and difficult days. They leave grand opera houses in hoodies and trainers, returning to lives that can feel unexpectedly close to our own. The contrast with ballet’s so-called golden age, when the mythology of the star dancer first took recognisable modern form, could hardly be greater. Recent dance criticism New Frontiers (Ballet BC: Crystal Pite's “Frontier” / Medhi Walerski’s “Silent Tides” / Johan Inger’s “Passing”) Opera Paris Ballet · Fjord Review · April 2026 Romeo Revealed (Roméo et Juliette) Opera Paris Ballet · Fjord Review · April 2026 Sculptural Lines (Le Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris au Louvre. Des Étoiles sous la Pyramide) Opera Paris Ballet · Fjord Review · April 2026 Happy Days (Spectacle de l’École de Danse) Opera Paris Ballet School · Fjord Review · April 2026 Theatre-going (“Arena” by Morgann Runacre-Temple and Jessica Wright&nbsp;/ “Étude”&nbsp;by Marcos Morau) Opera Paris Ballet · Fjord Review · March 2026 Objects of Desire (Béjart et nous, L'Oiseau de Feu, Boléro) Béjart Ballet Lausanne, La Seine Musicale, Paris · Fjord Review · March 2026 Avant-Garde: Cutting Edge: an eclectic triple bill in Prague Czech National Ballet · Bachtrack · March 2026 Americans in Paris (Dance Theatre of Harlem: Programmes A &amp; B) Palais des Congrès, Paris · Fjord Review · February 2026 New wave (Danseurs Chorégraphes) Paris Opéra Ballet · Fjord Review · February 2026 New kids on the block (Paris Opéra Junior Ballet) Théâtre des Sablons, Neuilly-sur-Seine · Fjord Review · February 2026 Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo in Cannes: Cendrillon through a psychological lens Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, Cannes · Bachtrack · February 2026 The Beauty of Ballet (Les Beautés de la danse gala) La Seine Musicale, Paris · Fjord Review · January 2026 Tend the Garden (Le Parc) Paris Opéra Ballet · Fjord Review · January 2026 Dancers by Nature (The Tree – Fragments of Poetics on Fire) Théâtre des Champs-Elysées · Fjord Review · January 2026 Rites in Antwerp: a towering triple bill for Opera Ballet Vlaanderen Opera Ballet Vlaanderen · Bachtrack · January 2026 Fjord critic’s pick for 2025: Paris Opera Ballet in Alexander Ekman’s “Play” Fjord Review · December 2025 Archive Jean-Christophe Maillot's Ma Bayadère is a stunning reinvention Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo · Bachtrack · December 2025 Nureyev's Sleeping Beauty at La Scala is pure magic Teatro alla Scala · Bachtrack · December 2025 Strong Foundations (Démonstrations de l’École de Danse de l’Opéra de Paris) Paris Opéra Ballet · Fjord Review · December 2025 Notre-Dame de Paris Paris Opéra Ballet · Fjord Review · December 2025 In Contrasting Light (Contrastes: Trisha Brown / David Dawson / Imre and Marne van Opstal) Paris Opéra Ballet · Fjord Review · December 2025 Massimo Moricone’s Romeo and Juliet in Bordeaux: fast paced action Opéra National de Bordeaux · Bachtrack · December 2025 Martha Graham in Paris (Graham 100) Théâtre du Châtelet · Fjord Review · November 2025 Modern Figures (Racines: George Balanchine / Mthuthuzeli November / Christopher Wheeldon) Paris Opéra Ballet · Fjord Review · October 2025 Giselle Status (Giselle) Paris Opéra Ballet · Fjord Review · October 2025 On Love and Mortality (Romeo and Juliet) Dutch National Ballet · Fjord Review · October 2025 Song of Resistance (Joséphine / Le sacre du printemps) Théâtre des Champs-Elysées · Fjord Review · September 2025 A Starry Night in Verona (Roberto Bolle and Friends) Arena di Verona · Fjord Review · August 2025 No Escape to the Dream (Il lago dei cigni) Teatro alla Scala · Fjord Review · August 2025 Toward Azure Distances (Spectacle de l'École de Danse) Paris Opéra Ballet · Fjord Review · April 2025 Emerging Voices at the POB (Danseurs Chorégraphes) Paris Opéra Ballet · Fjord Review · April 2025 The Resistance of Love (Sylvia) Paris Opéra Ballet · Fjord Review · April 2025 Beauty Reawakens (La belle au bois dormant) Paris Opéra Ballet · Fjord Review · March 2025 A curated portfolio of criticism, essays, and research on ballet, performance, and cultural thought.