Alexei Ratmansky’s new Coppélia opens La Scala’s Ballet Season (in streaming)
Alexei Ratmansky‘s new production of Coppélia will be broadcast abroad live on the Medici TV digital platform on 17 December, and on 28 December on Italian national television, Rai5 and RaiPlay.
La Scala’s 2023-2024 Ballet Season opens with a world premiere: a new Coppélia from Alexei Ratmansky. The ballet was performed for the first time in 1870 and appeared at La Scala from the end of the nineteenth century until 2009, with Derek Deane’s production.
The new version is not a reconstruction but features new choreography from Ratmansky. There are four casts with company dancers and the new étoile Nicoletta Manni in the role of Swanhilda. Tomorrow’s opening performance, 17 December 2023, also sees Timofej Andrijashenko as Franz and Christian Fagetti as Coppélius who has been given more athletic choreography than is usually seen.
In the roles of Swanhilda, Franz and Coppélius, further performances will see Alice Mariani, Nicola Del Freo and Massimo Dalla Mora; Camilla Cerulli, Claudio Coviello and Matteo Gavazzi; and Martina Arduino, Marco Agostino and Massimo Garon. Paul Connelly conducts the Orchestra della Scala.
An added value for Ratmansky taking on this story is that the action takes place in Galicia, a region of present-day Ukraine, the land where he grew up. This connection also inspired designer Jérôme Kaplan’s research, using motifs of Ukrainian folklore in the sets and above all in the costumes. Ratmansky felt it was important in this difficult moment to celebrate the strength, beauty, and joys of his homeland.
Ratmansky has collaborated with the actor, screenwriter and theatre and film director Guillaume Gallienne on the dramaturgy and staging. In the rehearsal room, they concentrated on narration through gesture rather than traditional ballet pantomime. This is made easier as the original character of Swanhilda is already a ‘modern’ girl, and so different from many of the heroines of romantic ballets: individual, energetic, and resolute.
Below is a first look at the production together with set and costume designs.
Alexei Ratmansky’s Coppélia
Jérôme Kaplan’s designs for Coppélia
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.
