My name is Donald Hutera.

I am an American-born arts journalist who resides in

Britian. I am currently writing about dance, theatre, circus, live art and other
performance forms for The Times of London but also numerous other publications
and websites in the UK and abroad. I have been doing this since 1977.

I know Riccardo Attanasio's work in my guise as a performance curator and

mentor. Since 2014 he has been a part of two projects of mine, both of which were
devised under the auspices of Chelsea Arts Collective aka CAC, a modest but
enterprising ad hoc entity that I co-founded in 2014 with the visual artist and
thinker Lilia Pegado.

In 2014 Riccardo presented his work Nostalgia as part of a multi-disciplinary

performance evening of short, sharp works by an eclectic group. I didn't know his
work beforehand and indeed had not seen it, but I was glad I trusted my instincts
about him. (Riccardo himself has exceptional creative instincts.) His solo was one
of the night's highlights - daring, provocative, questioning, engaging. He has a
magnetic presence deployed with a sense of both clarity and mystery. That
ambiguity is part of what makes his work so intriguing and appealing.

He also displayed some visual art (small canvases) as part of an exhibition

connected to the event which was held in a church hall before an intimate
audience of 100 in modest and flexible circumstances.

The second time we worked together Riccardo was partnered with the dancer
Andrew Downes in a two hour-plus outdoor performance party entitled Paradise on
Earth: Give and Take. I was the host and ringmaster for this largely unrehearsed
event featuring about three dozen diverse groups or individuals and staged in the
sunken garden of a housing estate. Again, Riccardo - and Andrew's - contribution
was outstanding. The two men were acutely sensitive to each other's bodies and
beings in a brief but compelling improvised duet that revealed who they were
(including to each other) in a most unpretentious and non-formulaic manner. Their
work possessed a strong yet gentle, almost tidal dynamic that - at the risk of
speaking on behalf of an audience of more than 100 (including the other
performers) - captured and held collective attention. I was impressed and moved.

If it isn't plain by now, I believe Riccardo would be eminently worth supporting and
nurturing creatively in any endeavour his mind is set on.

Warmly, Donald Hutera

donaldhutera@yahoo.com

Donald Hutera UK (44) 207 503 0286 US (1) 763 788 5854