Tamara Rojo on Ivan Vasiliev: everyone makes their own choices
It’s a shame, but I am not going to criticise him. Everyone makes their own health choices: in the past, I risked a lot by dancing with an appendicitis.
Tamara Rojo was talking about her intended partner for Don Quixote at La Scala, Ivan Vasiliev, who has withdrawn as he is recovering from a bout of pneumonia.
Instead of Ivan, I will dance with Claudio Coviello: very young and very talented.
While the role of Kitri is on her black list of female roles thought through by men, she approves of the Nureyev production which is danced at La Scala.
Nureyev was generous and he has given us a ballet that can be freely shaped to fit its interpreters.
In an interview with today’s Corriere della Sera, Rojo also talked of her position as director of the English National Ballet.
Women founded the ballet in England. Ninette de Valois and Alicia Markova were the pioneers. Now there are few women who head the ballet companies, but not because we are not capable. Women are less pushy so they don’t always get noticed, it is the same with choreography. They stop for maternity leave, find it difficult to get back into into the swing when they return, they don’t promote themselves and they are just content that their talent is acknowledged where, for the men, that is never enough.
It’s true that as director I have a rather aggressive approach with the press and marketing, but it is necessary for a company who has only 40% of its budget from the State; all the rest comes from donations and ticket sales.
And on returning to Spain?
Why should I? I’m so grateful to England for having welcomed me and appreciated my talents: I was an immigrant and London gave me opportunity and responsibility.
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 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.
Tamara Rojo she is not a good friend. Their comments about Ivan Vasiliev problem are poors and egoist.
Much less friendly is not alert to Tamara about the incident and only inform her when she was in Milan as an accomplished fact.