Bracing herself to dance! A video experience

Alessia Mancini, 17,  a patient at our centre since she was just 10 years old, has become the star  of a brief video recounting her exciting and remarkable journey. Although the video last only a few minutes, this is long enough to convey the  heartwarming story of this young patient, a dancer who loves nothing more than dancing en pointe!

Despite the uphill battle she faced, Alessia, her head full of dreams and fortunate enough to be able to draw on great strength of character, proved equal to the challenge. Now, through a collaboration with a young director, Riccardo, and a young director of photography and video operator, Sophia, a video has been made telling Alessia’s inspiring story.

“It all began years ago, when my parents noticed that my back, which had three scoliotic curves, the worst one measuring 40 degrees, was getting worse” Alessia begins. “We consulted Isico, where I was prescribed a brace, to be worn for 23 hours a day”.

For Alessia, who was already passionate about dancing, it was like being told to wear a suit of armour.  

“I love dancing” Alessia goes on, “and in fact I hope to dance professionally. In the end, I can say that I have been helped, in my pursuit of this ambition, both by my dancing and by my treatment, which came to an end a month ago, when I was finally told I could leave the brace off for good”.

For Alessia, living day in day out with her brace has been like living constantly in the company of both a friend and an unwelcome companion, an experience that she first recounted a few years ago when she entered, and won, the “Concorsetto”, a national competition organised  by Isico and open to our brace-wearing patients.

“I have always felt best able to express myself through art” Alessia tells us. “It was wonderful to be invited by Sophia and Riccardo to make this video about my story, and the important part that dance has played in it. Working with them was a fantastic experience. They are both wonderful artists who really managed to bring out my qualities, both as a dancer and as a person. In this way, they helped me to connect with the audience, and I hope I may serve as an example for the many others that find themselves in a similar position”.

The director. Riccardo, 22, from Naples. “I study directing and screenwriting at the national film academy in Bologna and I directed this video” Riccardo says. “I was struck by Alessia’s story and by what a strong person she is. Thanks to her outstanding qualities, it proved easy to create a story that conveyed, through music, dance and expressions, the many challenges this girl has overcome. All this has been a new experience for me, different and very stimulating”.

Riccardo’s meeting with Alessia came about thanks to Sophia, 23, a young mother and photographer: “I was fascinated  by the idea of  taking true stories, like Alessia’s, and bringing them to life through cinema. Late one Sunday night — it was midnight —, I called Alessia and Riccardo and told them that I had decided that, rather than doing the planned photoshoot, two days later we would instead be filming a video. I had realised that simple photos were not enough. I wanted to recreate Alessia’s seven-year experience through a full range of audiovisual stimuli.

Even though it was all a race against time, both Riccardo and Alessia did an absolutely wonderful job, giving it their very best” .

Thank you so much, Alessia, for sharing your story, and Riccardo and Sophia for making such a beautiful video!