Mauro Bigonzetti resigns as director of La Scala Ballet Company

Mauro Bigonzetti, who was appointed as head of the La Scala Ballet at the beginning of this year, has been forced to step down.

A severe back problem has persisted since the beginning of the summer and his doctors have said that he mustn't use any force in the foreseeable future. This means that he can no longer continue with his duties as director of the Company.

The Managing Director of La Scala, Alexander Pereira, has appointed Fréderic Olivieri, currently head of the theatre's dance academy, to fill the post until February of next year, giving the theatre time to choose someone suitable to take up the post. Something, some would say, that wasn't done with the appointment of Bigonzetti so soon after the unexpected departure of Makhar Vaziev for the Bolshoi.

Bigonzetti was due to create a new version of Coppélia to open the next season of dance in December; a new choreographer for the ballet will be announced next week.

La Scala wish Maestro Bigonzetti a speedy recovery.

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.