Manuel Legris has just packed his bags and left Milan after five years at the helm of Italy’s most prestigious dance company. He has had a remarkable effect on the ballet company at La Scala. The corps de ballet has never been in such a good shape in all the years I have been attending performances, and there are many strong personalities among the dancers – dancers that you can instantly recognise.
He didn’t have an easy start with the first Covid lockdown being enforced a month after his appointment was announced. When he arrived in Milan in December 2020, his plans were curtailed in a theatre that had found its income decimated, and his job was a logistical exercise of substituting sick dancers, creating socially distanced programmes for video, and keeping up company morale. Also, after ten years in Vienna, his last months there were spent juggling with the pandemic restrictions. He is proud that both at Vienna and Milan he did not terminate any dancer’s contract.
Legris’ programming has mostly focused on what he knows, so Milan saw productions and dancers from Vienna, where he was the director for ten years, and back were the Nureyev productions that he danced in with the Opéra in Paris. But it is a repertoire that fits well with La Scala’s traditions and dancers. There were also important new creations, most notably from William Forsythe and Alexei Ratmansky.
One young dancer, soon after having been offered a permanent contract with the company (before Legris took over 40% of the company were on seasonal contracts, that number has now gone down to 20%) complained that they were being made to work too hard. A quick scan down La Scala’s calendar and then glancing at those of The Royal Ballet or San Francisco Ballet, for example, will show that they don’t know how lucky they are. Or unlucky… most dancers want to dance more, though maybe most would pass up on daily Nutcrackers like the SF company endures every Christmastime. Well, if the dancers have been working harder, then the results are certainly on stage for all to see.
With Frédéric Olivieri returning to head the company for the third time, there will be no brutal surprises in the administration or artistic choices, but many voices are lamenting Legris’ departure.
As for Legris, he says that after 15 years working as a company director, that he has sometimes forgotten about himself, and now looks forward to enjoying life at a slightly slower pace. His version of Sylvia will be produced at the Paris Opéra in May, and he wants to coach dancers without worrying about schedules and other administrative necessities. He has also received several proposals to create ballets, and this is something that he wants to pursue.
Below is an interview I did for Dancing Times magazine in 2020, just before Manuel Legris took up his new position at La Scala.
Manuel Legris takes over from Frédéric Olivieri as director of La Scala’s ballet company on 1 December. He arrives from Wiener Staatsballett where he’s been its director since 2010, the year after he gave his final performance with Paris Opera Ballet after 23 years as a danseur étoile. After ten successful years in Vienna he wanted to move on, and by happy coincidence the position at La Scala opened up.
The theatre announced his appointment in February this year, then less than a month later La Scala closed due to the escalating coronavirus pandemic. Like many European theatres it created socially distanced programmes when lockdown eased, but at the beginning of November it was forced to close its doors once more. Of course, Legris’ plans have been thrown into disarray.
“Theatres are affected economically so I want to use existing productions to lower costs. I will have to face a multitude of problems and certainly will not have a lot of freedom in programming for at least two seasons. But we must keep our hopes up. I have many projects in my head and will fight to realise them.”
Rudolf Nureyev was director of the Paris Opera Ballet for six years and promoted Legris to étoile in 1986 following a performance of Raymonda when the company was on tour in New York. There are numerous connections between the two men. Nureyev’s versions of the classics Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty have been in the repertoires in Paris, Vienna, and Milan. After periods in Paris and Vienna, it seems destined that he should come to Milan.
“My experience at the Paris Opera and even more, my ten years spent in Vienna as director will be an asset for Milan. Each company must have its own identity, and I must bring them the best. La Scala deserves the best. A rich and varied repertoire of classic and contemporary creations are essential, and of course with great classical productions but not exclusively by Nureyev.”
Most tellingly, he says: “I also want to be very close to the dancers in their daily work because they are the ones who will inspire and guide my programming.” Legris’ love of dancers lights up his face. It was his dancers in Vienna who inspired him to choreograph for the first time when, in 2016, he created a version of Le Corsaire.
“I had never really wanted to choreograph before, but it came from a close relationship with my dancers. I wanted to imagine something for them and to form a different relationship from that of dancers and director.”
He’s created two versions of the classics so far – will Milan see a third? “I don’t want to do another version of a classic if I don’t feel a deep desire or find the exact motivation. After the success of Le Corsaire and Sylvia in Vienna, I had several proposals from famous companies, including the Mariinsky, that I have neither accepted nor turned down. We’ll see what Milan inspires in me.”
His version of Sylvia opened the current season at La Scala. He thinks the company is “brilliant” and appreciates its ability to confront many styles. “Sylvia was an ideal first contact with the company, and it played a big part in my final decision to come here. I loved every moment in the studio with the dancers, ballet masters and pianists. To see how each dancer and each soloist appropriated this ballet was real happiness!”
Most of La Scala’s dancers come up through its school, also directed by Olivieri, who Legris says “does a wonderful job”, adding, “In fact, in Vienna, I hired a lot of dancers who went through the La Scala school. That’s an excellent reference!”
What makes a good dancer? “Those who dance with passion and sincerity.” He thinks a little. “For me, personality is vital, musicality is essential, and technique is the best way to feel free in order to be able to interpret important roles.” Legris works hard and expects the same of his dancers. “It is the only secret to longevity. And I like those who know why they are on stage and why they are in this profession. To be gifted is not enough; you also have to be smart!” In Vienna he took daily class with the company. “I want and must continue to train, it is a physical need. It’s not because I want to go back on stage but to feel good about myself.”
The ballerina Nikisha Fogo left Vienna when Legris announced his departure, and now is a principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet. “I love working with Manuel because he’s a great coach,” she says. “If you get the chance to be in the studio with him, you learn so much, and he knows how to bring out the best in you. Manuel is very good at seeing the potential in people.”
I read her comments to him. “Yes, you must consider everyone in a company; it isn’t just about the soloists. You have to work with passion, be attentive, and make decisions that can sometimes be upsetting but which prove to be right and necessary over time. You have to impose discipline and respect and give the dancers the possibility of developing by regularly giving them opportunities.”
La Scala’s dancers have fewer performances and thereby get fewer opportunities than their counterparts in the Paris Opéra or Vienna State Ballet. The planned season for this year consisted of just seven programmes.
“In Vienna, I created the programming for two theatres, the Volksoper and the Staatsoper, and I prepared 15 different programmes per season with more than 100 dancers.” Was it a steep learning curve? “I learned a lot: choosing choreographers, casts, organising budgets and so on. A huge job, but before taking on Vienna I had already organised performances with dancers from the Paris Opéra, so even if it was not on the same scale, I already had some experience. After that, I think I’m ready for La Scala!”
Will you try and increase the number of performances in Milan? “When we get back to normality, which we all hope for, I would like to investigate the possibility of adding more shows at La Scala and also in other theatres. Teatro degli Arcimboldi [which was built 20 years ago to house La Scala during renovations] could be a possibility, and I’d like to increase touring and exchanges with other companies.”
Legris guested many times with the company, beginning in 1987 when he made his debut as Basilio in Don Quixote; Nureyev also danced the role during that run. “I danced in Milan many times, especially with Alessandra Ferri. When we danced MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet in 1996, I remember seeing the young Roberto Bolle and Marta Romagna in the roles. I have unforgettable memories of these shows and of Elisabetta Terabust who invited me for several years. A wonderful woman.”
He calls La Scala “magical”, saying, “You just have to sit in the audience or be on stage to feel overwhelmed with emotions.” Yet it’s a stage that he will not dance on again. Does he miss that feeling?
“I loved every moment of my youth learning the classical roles, and the fascinating period where I was able to work and create with choreographers such as Kylián, Forsythe, Petit, Nureyev, MacMillan, Robbins, Béjart, Lacotte, Neumeier… I also liked the end of my career at the Opéra when I danced more character roles.
“Honestly, it’s an exciting life and I don’t feel any frustration. My career is clearly behind me now but transmitting what I know to younger dancers gives me as much happiness as being on stage.”
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.