
In today’s edition of La Repubblica, it is reported that the new director of the corps de ballet at La Scala will be Mauro Bigonzetti.
The announcement is not yet official but apparently the decision has been made and the theatre’s General Manager, Alexander Pereira, has met with union representatives to tell them of his choice.
It is a choice that will surprise many as Bigonzetti’s background is very different from that of the traditional classical company at La Scala, which forays every now and then into a more contemporary repertoire, as it did recently with Bigonzetti’s new production of Cinderella. As the director of the Aterballetto company he has been creating contemporary pieces for them, as well as being a guest choreographer for many important international companies. His formation was classical, having trained at Rome Opera Ballet’s school and worked for a couple of years in the company. However, when he was 23 he joined Aterballetto where he has been, as a dancer and then choreographer, ever since.
Some of the La Scala dancers told the paper’s Teresa Monestiroli,
We have nothing personal against Bigonzetti, but we believe that it would be suitable to appoint a person who has more classical background, together with an experience managing a large company such as that of La Scala. Aterballetto is a private company with fewer than 40 dancers which specialises in contemporary dance. Even Vaziev, who came after heading the Mariinsky in St Petersburg, had difficulty in settling in.
However, the decision seems to have been made. Vaziev left ten days ago to take over at the Bolshoi, leaving the company without a captain at the helm. The sea ahead is full of icebergs which could potentially capsize an already unstable ship. The company has made miraculous technical progresses under Vaziev’s leadership – the corps de ballet has never been better – but recent repertoire choices have been bizarre to say the least: a chamber-piece, Cello Suites, in La Scala’s vast auditorium; an oddly minimalist Nutcracker following on the heels of Nureyev’s sumptuous production; and Bigonzetti’s own Cinderella which left a lot of critics, fans (and some of the dancers themselves) deluded. If Bigonzetti is confirmed as the its director, I hope that he will put some of his own choreographic ambitions aside and concentrate on the tradition and future of a great company.
La Scala is not a small scale contemporary group, even if the personal taste of the theatre’s Managing Director seems to indicate that he wants to turn it into one. La Scala is the only world-class ballet company in Italy and it can’t be left to sink because of the personal whims of a few influential managers who will anyway move on to other jobs in a decade. Such appointments represent an enormous responsibility for the future of a company and those who work in it, young dancers who have trained for years to reach that rarefied level of dance which allows them to confront the most difficult ballets in the classical repertoire, and where better to present those ballets than on Milan’s legendary stage. These dancers and this theatre cannot be disappointed.
can’t be told better
-_- Non dimentichiamoci Le Streghe di Venezia, ma forse siete troppo giovani per averne subito lo shock
Mi era piaciuto , nelke streghe di Venezia solo il tutu’ della Sembra. …..il balletto completamente dimenticato…..
Dear oh dear indeed…
Vaziev già andato???? Mi dispiace tanto. Gli volevo bene
It may seem as if La Scala heads in the same direction as Paris Opera Ballet went…
One can’t really compare ….
Not even close 🙁
Fiamma Tinelli, that bad?…
…same direction that Berlin went…
I see… Curious choice.
O M G
Colour me disappointed. :/
Hmmmm
The Scala is on the verge of bankruptcy, no matter how many blinded devotees are out there, reinvention is the best option to pivot to something that might reach another mass.
Theaters are by definition not able to function economically efficient, but with the failure of Italy’s government came the cuts in the very necessary government funding. Scala management at least tries to get inspired by the METs private funding path (which will be impossible as you will see in the third quarter this year) and for performances it is either — do more classical acts that appeal to tourists (which happened in the past) and to preserve the useless tradition or try to go a new path and at least try to do something before dying and requiring another big private donor to survive another season.
I wonder why this die not happen to the even less cost efficient operas…
Addio vera danza e repertorio romantico. ..
This news has not hit the Edinburgh presses yet; tell me more?
More or less, a contemporary choreographer has been appointed to lead a classical company. It’s left dancers and fans puzzled and worried! Ciao Richard!
That is becoming “the norm” now. Many classical companies being taken over by contemporary choreographers……
Brigitte Lefevre did pretty well at the Paris National Opera Ballet: expanding repertoire and promoting a new generation of dancers. Her background was not strictly classical.
“Bigonzetti’s own Cinderella which left a lot of critics, fans (and some of the dancers themselves) deluded.”
I don’t follow you here. Under what delusions did it leave them?
Did you mean something like disappointed (the English translation of deluso)?
It is a desperate move in desperate times – almost the best move to make.
Best actually would be to infuse some youth into the management with some entrepreneurial innovation spirit. Innovation does not mean killing tradition, it just means adapting to the times.
C’mon Scala people, even the Bolshoi is opening up to change 🙂
Are you talking about “The Taming Of The Shrew” ballet, that is being staged in Moscow at the moment? This is an ugly choreography by C.Mallot.
P.S. talking about change at the Bolshoi, the new Ballet Director is Vaziev. Period. 🙂
Alberto Di Virgilio I enjoyed Maillot’s ballet immensely (along with thousands of people around the world, btw). Art evolves. Remember how shocked people were by Nijinsky’s Faun? Ballet companies must learn how to strike a balance between tradition/repertory and creation. Strict adherence to “the old ways” leads straight to sclerosis.
You mean, the higher the attendance, the better the show?
Good for you, if you enjoyed Mallot’s choreography “immensely”! to me that was not ballet, but a (bad) variety show.
Ballet may develop in more exciting ways, as in shows like “Lady of the Camellias” by John Neumeier or Boris Eifman’s “Anna Karenina”.
I don’t know if that will me you happy or worried, Alberto, but I wholeheartedly share your admiration for John Neumeier and Boris Eifman’s ballets 🙂 And no, the attendance doesn’t necessarily reflect the quality of a show. I was refering to the audience’s enthusiastic reaction to Jean-Christophe Maillot’s work in the packed cinema where I saw it.
M
OI’m
Jean-Christophe Maillot j’avoue ne pas saisir ce commentaire sibyllin mais j’en profite pour vous remercier pour ce ballet magnifique que j’ai vu dans un cinéma de Montréal. Je crois que John Neumeier était parmi les spectateurs à Moscou? Alberto ferait une jaunisse s’il apprenait que le Maître a aimé la Mégère, alors n’hésitez pas à nous en faire part 🙂
Local Stigmatic. Jaundice?! LOL.
Anyway, I won’t change idea. 😀
Oh oh
I hope that he will put some of his own choreographic ambitions aside and concentrate on the tradition and future of a great company.La Scala is the only world-class ballet company in Italy.
Questo è il dilemma! I hope so, but I’m not sure!
I would imagine that Scala’s superstr Roberto Bolle had some input into this decision. Without his approval, I don’t think Bigonzetti would have been hired. I also thought Bolle had some ambition to become the director of the company. Maybe he is just not ready to give up his full-time dance career, however, at this time.
Oh my god… ecco arrivato il colpo di grazia…
Graham, is it true the great Laurent Hilaire was also a candidate? Roslyn Sulcas’ NYT article claims so. Bummed if it is. He deserves a good company!
It is indeed true. And I thoroughly agree, he does deserve a company. A man of taste and talent with a similar background to that of this company.