Homage to Stravinsky with an addio to a transgender ballerina in Verona
The Verona Arena Ballet commissioned a Stravinsky evening from local-boy Renato Zanella, best known for his work in Stuttgart and Vienna. He chose Apollon Musagète and The Firebird – brave considering that the stage pictures and choreographic shapes are burned into every ballet-lover’s memory.
In fact it was impossible to remove George Balanchine’s choreographic genius from the mind when it was replaced by Zanella’s rather bland steps during Apollon Musagète. Giuseppe Picone was a technically precise Apollo and gave the audience some thrills with his high leaps and soft landings – a believable Greek god.
The Firebird (L’Oiseau de feu) was rather better. Greek ballerina Maria Kousouni was strong as the Firebird and Zanella seemed to be more a home with a precise story to convey.
The evening concluded with the presentation of flowers by Zanella to a ballerina who gave her last performance with the company that evening. Lisa Sorrentino though started with the company as Gaetano Sorrentino – an oddity which must be a first for a traditional ballet company.
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
