La Scala honours Carla Fracci with the first annual gala
On Saturday 9 April 2022 La Scala will present Gala Fracci – First Edition. The director of La Scala’s ballet company, Manuel Legris, has devised a wide-ranging programme that reflects the repertoire that Carla Fracci danced at the theatre and elsewhere during her long career.
The guest artists are all closely associated with the theatre: Alessandra Ferri, Marianela Nuñez, Olga Smirnova, Svetlana Zakharova and Roberto Bolle. Carsten Jung will join Ferri for an excerpt of Maurice Béjart‘s L’heure exquise that he created for Fracci and in which Ferri is currently touring.
To celebrate the career of Carla Fracci, Legris wishes for the gala to become a regular event each season, much as he did as director of the Vienna State Ballet with an annual gala celebrating the career of Rudolf Nureyev.
On hearing the news of Fracci’s death at the end of May 2022, Legris said,
Her spirit remains with us, fills the rehearsal studios, the stage and our hearts, and so her energy continues as when she mesmerised and captivated us when she returned to embrace this theatre and its artists.
There is a great void which, at the same time, makes us feel fuller and richer knowing her story, which is part of the history of ballet, and privileged to have shared her art that is a life, a legendary model, and a source of inspiration for all generations of dancers.
First Part
Giselle
Act II: Myrtha and the Willis
Choreography Jean Coralli-Jules Perrot
Revived by Yvette Chauvirè
Music Adolphe Adam
Excelsior
Pas de deux Act I
Choreography Ugo Dell’Ara
Music Romualdo Marenco
Chéri
Pas de deux from Scene 2
Ballet by Roland Petit
Music Francis Poulenc
Romeo and Juliet
Pas de deux Act I
Choreography Rudolf Nureyev
Music Sergej Prokofiev
L’heure exquise
Extract
Choreography Maurice Béjart
Music Gustav Mahler
Alessandra Ferri – Carsten Jung
The Merry Widow
Pas de deux from Act III
Choreography Ronald Hynd
Music Franz Lehár
Marianela Nuñez – Roberto Bolle
The Nutcracker
Act II: Waltz of the Flowers and Grand pas de deux
Choreography Rudolf Nureyev
Music Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Second part
La strada
ensemble and pas de deux
Choreography Mario Pistoni
Music Nino Rota
La Péri
Pas de deux
Choreography Jean Coralli
Revived by Loris Gai
Music Friedrich Burgmüller
Cachucha
Choreography Jean Coralli
Music Casimir Gide
The Sleeping Beauty
Rose Adage Act I
Choreography Rudolf Nureyev
Music Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Marianela Nuñez
Onegin
Pas de deux Act I Scene 2
Ballet by John Cranko
Music Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Arranged and orchestrated by Kurt-Heinz Stolze
Olga Smirnova – Roberto Bolle
The Dying Swan
Choreography Mikhail Fokin
Music Camille Saint-Saëns
Svetlana Zakharova
Symphony in C
IV Movement and Finale
Choreography George Balanchine
© School of American Ballet
Music Georges Bizet
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.
