Photo album: A first look at La Scala’s new production of Le Corsaire (opens 20 April)

Italian designer Luisa Spinatelli has created scenes and designed 180 costumes for a new production of Le Corsaire at La Scala.

Le Corsaire designs by Luisa Spinatelli (6)

Le Corsaire designs by Luisa Spinatelli (3)

Le Corsaire designs by Luisa Spinatelli (4)

Le Corsaire designs by Luisa Spinatelli (5)

Anna-Marie Holmes, who has already staged the ballet at the American Ballet Theatre and English National Ballet, now brings a version to Milan, which opens on Friday 20 April.

Le Corsaire rehearsal Timofej Andrijashenko

Le Corsaire rehearsal Mattia Semperboni

The ballet will be transmitted live in cinemas on 16 May (and later on Italy's RAI5 TV channel).

Le Corsaire rehearsal with Nicoletta Manni

Le Corsaire rehearsal Nicoletta Manni

Le Corsaire rehearsal

Holmes first staged the ballet for Boston in 1997, and it marked the first time that a non-Russian company had danced the piece. A year later she produced the well-known version for the American Ballet Theatre. It was transmitted by PBS as part of their Great Performances series and won an Emmy Award.

Le Corsaire rehearsal (2)

Le Corsaire rehearsal Martina Arduino

There are more than 100 performers on stage from the corps de ballet, to the extras, to the children from La Scala's Ballet School.

Le Corsaire designs by Luisa Spinatelli (1)

Le Corsaire created in La Scala's workshops (2)

Le Corsaire designs by Luisa Spinatelli

Le Corsaire designs by Luisa Spinatelli (2)

The first cast sees Nicoletta Manni as Medora, Martina Arduino as Gulnare, Timofej Andrijashenko as Conrad, Marco Agostino (Lankendem), and Antonino Sutera (Birbanto). Claudio Coviello as Alì the slave will be replaced by Mattia Semperboni for the first two performances because of injury, and Antonella Albano plays Zulmea.

Later performances see La Scala's new principal dancers Martina Arduino and Virna Toppi as Medora.

Gaia Andreanò and Mattia Semperboni

Antonino Sutera, Emanuela Montanari, Mariafrancesca Garritano, Christian Fagetti, Massimo Garon rehearse Le Corsaire

Virna Toppi, Marie Celeste Losa and Alessandra Vassallo

Virna Toppi and Nicola Del Freo

Virna Toppi and Nicola Del Freo (3)

Virna Toppi and Nicola Del Freo (2)

Timofej Andrijashenko and Antonino Sutera

Patrick Fournillier will conduct the performances.

Of Le Corsaire, Jennifer Stahl of Dance Magazine wrote,

I have a guilty pleasure to confess: I kind of really, really love Le Corsaire.

Nicoletta Manni

Nicoletta Manni, Timofej Andrijashenko and Claudio Coviello

Nicoletta Manni, Martina Arduino and Alessandro Grillo

Nicoletta Manni and Timofej Andrijashenko

Nicoletta Manni and Timofej Andrijashenko (4)

Nicoletta Manni and Timofej Andrijashenko (3)

Nicoletta Manni and Timofej Andrijashenko (2)

I totally get why many people hate this ballet. Although it's loosely based on a Lord Byron poem, the plot as it exists in ballet form today is absurdly thin. More importantly, it's morally repugnant: Centered around the selling and stealing of sex slaves, it basically portrays women as weak, non-human objects, and Muslims as evil or buffoon-like…

Nicoletta Manni and Claudio Coviello

Mattia Semperboni

Martina Arduino

Martina Arduino and Marco Agostino

Marco Agostino

Le Corsaire rehearsals

Le Corsaire rehearsals (5)

Le Corsaire rehearsals (3)

…Still, I can't help smiling through just about the whole darn ballet. It's a buffet of virtuosity. The dancers perform like they've been let off the leash and given permission to let loose with all their favourite tricks.

Le Corsaire

20, 22, 27 April; 9, 11 (2 perf.), 16 (2 perf.), 17 May 2018

Music by Adolphe Adam, Cesare Pugni, Léo Delibes, Riccardo Drigo, Peter von Oldenburg

Libretto by Jules-Henry Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Joseph Mazilier,  in a version by Anna-Marie Holmes,
based on Lord Byron's The Corsair (1814)

Choreography Anna-Marie Holmes
Based on Marius Petipa and Konstantin Sergeyev

Music orchestrated by Kevin Galiè

Sets and costumes by Luisa Spinatelli
Lighting by Marco Filibeck

Conductor Patrick Fournillier

Le Corsaire created in La Scala's workshops

Le Corsaire created in La Scala's workshops (5)

Le Corsaire created in La Scala's workshops (4)

Le Corsaire created in La Scala's workshops (3)

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.