38 members of La Scala’s ballet company test positive for Covid

There has been an outbreak of coronavirus cases in the Corps de Ballet at La Scala, discovered because of the theatre's regular testing programme.

35 dancers and three members of the Ballet Management have tested weakly positive for Covid-19. On 26 February – the day on which the company was due to record its Tribute to Nureyev gala – there was one positive case, and the performance, which was to be performed without an audience, was suspended as well as subsequent classes and rehearsals. The dancer who was positive tested negative a few days later.

Yesterday, results also showed three positive cases among the company for the Kurt Weill programme: Die sieben Todsünden and Mahagonny Songspiel, which is due to be streamed by the television channel Rai Cultura on 18 March. Two hairdressers also tested positive. Rehearsals have been suspended.

Tests on the orchestra and chorus are all negative, so the concert with Myung-Whun Chung, scheduled tomorrow at 6 pm and to be broadcast by Rai Cultura in live streaming on RaiPlay, is therefore confirmed.

Corps de ballet photo by Marco Brescia Teatro alla Scala

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.