Nervi International Ballet Festival 2025 with The Royal Ballet, Paris Opéra Ballet and Stuttgart Ballet among the line up

NERVI INTERNATIONAL BALLET FESTIVAL 2025
28 June – 27 July 2025
Parchi di Nervi, Villa Grimaldi Fassio – Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa

The Nervi International Ballet Festival 2025 opens on Saturday 28 June 2025 in Genoa. It is a celebration of dance with seven guest companies from five countries, a gala with international étoiles, and nine masterclasses with world-class maestri. Mathieu Ganio, Dorothée Gilbert, Hugo Marchand, Yasmine Naghdi, and Marianela Nuñez are some of the dancers who will participate.

The 2025 edition of the Festival is dedicated exclusively to ballet, going back to its roots when it was founded in 1955 by Mario Porcile (1921 – 2013), whereas in recent years it has blurred its identity with the inclusion of pop and orchestral concerts. Hamburg Ballet’s principal dancer Jacopo Bellussi is the new artistic director – the 32-year-old is from Genoa. His artistic advisor is Maina Gielgud.

“Three of the world’s leading companies – The Royal Ballet, Paris Opéra Ballet and Stuttgart Ballet – return to Nervi after almost forty years,” said Bellussi. “Then, following the idea of founder Mario Porcile, the Festival will also be a showcase for emerging companies such as the Ballett Kiel and the Lucia Lacarra Ballet, with a variety of choreographic styles from classical to contemporary.

“The training of young dancers will be another pillar of the programme, with performances by the Ballet School of the Teatro alla Scala Academy, the Bavarian Junior Ballet from Munich, and several international masterclasses. The Festival will end with a gala dedicated to Mario Porcile, with étoiles who will perform repertoire and contemporary choreography.”

Accademia Teatro alla Scala

Nervi International Ballet Festival 2025
Teatro Carlo Felice – Genova
Saturday 28 June 2025 at 20.00

Ballet School of the Teatro alla Scala Academy (Italy): La Fille mal gardée

Choreography: Frédéric Olivieri
Musica: Peter Ludwig Herte
Sets: Angelo Sala
Costumes: Luisa Spinatelli
Lighting: Andrea Giretti

Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris

Nervi International Ballet Festival 2025
Parchi di Nervi – Villa Grimaldi Fassio – Genoa
Friday 4 and Saturday 5 July 2025 at 9.15 pm

Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris (France): Signature Pieces

In the Night by Jerome Robbins
Grand Pas Classique by Victor Gsovsky
Le jeune homme et la mort by Roland Petit
Le Parc by Angelin Preljocaj
Raymonda by Rudolf Nureyev

Ballett Kiel

Nervi International Ballet Festival 2025
Teatro Carlo Felice – Genoa
Wednesday 9 July 2025 at 20.00

Ballett Kiel (Germany): Following a Bird – Tribute to Ezio Bosso / Walking Mad

Following a Bird – Tribute to Ezio Bosso
Choreography: Yaroslav Ivanenko
Music: Ezio Bosso, Kimmo Pojohnen, Max Richter
Set design: Yaroslav Ivanenko, Marie Rosenbusch
Costumes: Min Li
World premiere: 30 March 2019, Ballett Kiel

Walking Mad
Choreography and set design: Johan Inger
Music: Maurice Ravel, Arvo Pärt
World premiere: 17 May 2001, Nederlands Dans Theater

The Royal Ballet

Nervi International Ballet Festival 2025
Parchi di Nervi – Villa Grimaldi Fassio – Genoa
Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 July 2025 at 9.15 pm

The Royal Ballet (UK): A Celebration of the Works of Frederick Ashton

with principal dancers Matthew Ball, William Bracewell, Lauren Cuthbertson, Mayara Magri, Yasmine Naghdi and Marianela Nuñez, together with company colleagues Luca Acri, Giacomo Rovero, Ginevra Zambon and Valentino Zucchetti.

Swan Lake – Pas de quatre
Choreography: Frederick Ashton
Music: Pyotr Il’ič Tchaikovsky

The Dream – Pas de deux
Choreography: Frederick Ashton
Music: Felix Mendelssohn

Cinderella – Pas de deux
Choreography: Frederick Ashton
Music: Sergei Prokofiev

Voices of Spring
Choreography: Frederick Ashton
Music: Johann Strauss II

Marguerite and Armand
Choreography: Frederick Ashton
Music: Franz Liszt

Rhapsody
Choreography: Frederick Ashton
Music: Sergej Rachmaninov

Lucia Lacarra Ballet

Nervi International Ballet Festival 2025
Teatro Carlo Felice – Genoa
Wednesday 16 July 2025 at 20.00

Lucia Lacarra Ballet (Spain): Lost Letters by Matthew Golding

Basque star Lucia Lacarra presents the first production of her new company, the Lucia Lacarra Ballet. Lost Letters is a ballet about letters sent from the war front with choreography by Canadian principal dancer Matthew Golding.

Concept and direction: Lucia Lacarra and Matthew Golding
Choreography: Matthew Golding
Choreographic assistant: Gianluca Battaglia
Music: Sergéi Rachmaninov and Max Richter
Film directed by Matthew Golding and Ekain Albite

Dancers: Lucia Lacarra, Matthew Golding, Lucia Castellano Luri, Itziar Ducajú Mayans, Francesco Forcina, Carlos López Muñoz, Gabriel Martínez Rodríguez, Manuela Medeiros, Jossehp Abdiel Peñaloza, Eva Nazareth Suár ez Pérez

Das Stuttgarter Ballett

Nervi International Ballet Festival 2025
Parks of Nervi – Villa Grimaldi Fassio – Genoa
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July 2025 at 9.15 pm

Das Stuttgarter Ballett (Germany): Romeo e Giulietta by John Cranko

Choreography and staging: John Cranko
Music by Sergei Prokofiev
Set design and costumes: Jürgen Rose
World premiere: 2 December 1962, Stuttgart Ballet

Bayerisches Junior Ballett München

Nervi International Ballet Festival 2025
Parchi di Nervi – Villa Grimaldi Fassio – Genoa
Wednesday 23 July 2025 at 9.15 pm

Bayerisches Junior Ballett München (Germany): Modern Masters

Bach-Suite 3
Choreography: John Neumeier
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach

Night on Bald Mountain
Choreography: Eric Gauthier
Music: Modest Mussorgsky

3/4 Preludes
Choreography: Richard Siegal
Music: George Gershwin

Songs of a Wayfarer
Choreography: Jiří Kylián
Music: Gustav Mahler

All Long Dem Day
Choreography: Marco Goecke
Music: Nina Simone

Gala Mario Porcile

Nervi International Ballet Festival 2025
Parchi di Nervi – Villa Grimaldi Fassio – Genoa
Sunday 27 July 2025 at 9.15 pm

Pas de Quatre, reimagined by Anton Dolin in 1941 from Jules Perrot’s oringial version from 1845 in London which brought together Marie Taglioni, Fanny Cerrito, Carlotta Grisi and Lucile Grahn). At Nervi in 1957 Dolin chose the the 21-year-old Carla Fracci to join Alicia Markova, Yvette Chauviré and Margrethe Schanne. In 2025 the Pas de Quatre will be danced by Ida Praetorius, Cassandra Trenary, Aliya Tanikpaeva and Jessica Xuan.

Maurice Béjart’s 1971 work Song of a Wayfarer set to Gustav Mahler’s song cycle, was danced by Rudolf Nureyev and Paolo Bortoluzzi (also from Genoa, and a student of Mario Porcile) during the Nervi Festival in 1973. Matthew Ball and Jacopo Bellussi will be dancing the piece during the gala.

Excerpts include the Black Pas de Deux from John Neumeier’s The Lady of the Camellias and the Balcony Pas de Deux from Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet.

with dancers: Matthew Ball (Principal Dancer Royal Ballet), Jacopo Bellussi (Principal Dancer Hamburg Ballett and Étoile Ballet du Capitol Tolosa), Jakob Feyferlik (Principal Dancer Bayerisches Staatsballett), Ksenia Ovsyanick (Prima Ballerina Staatsballett Berlin), Ida Praetorius (Prima ballerina Hamburg Ballett e Royal Danish Ballet), Aliya Tanikpaeva (Prima ballerina Hungarian National Ballet), Dmitry Timofev (Principal Dancer Hungarian National Ballet), Cassandra Trenary (Prima ballerina American Ballet Theatre), Jessica Xuan (Prima ballerina Dutch National Ballet).

Masterclasses

27 June
Accademia Teatro alla Scala: Classical and Contemporary (students 11-14 years)
2:30 pm Classical dance masterclass with Paola Vismara, teacher at the Ballet School of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala
4:00 pm Contemporary dance masterclass with Emanuela Tagliavia, teacher at the Ballet School of the Teatro alla Scala Academy and choreographer

28 June
Accademia Teatro alla Scala: Classical and Contemporary (students 14-17 years)
2.30 pm Classical dance masterclass with Frédéric Olivieri, director of the Ballet School of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala and choreographer
4.00 pm Contemporary dance masterclass with Emanuela Tagliavia, teacher at the Ballet School of the Teatro alla Scala Academy and choreographer

8 and 9 July Ballett Kiel: Balanchine Technique (from 14 years old)
2.30 pm /4.30 pm with Heather Jurgensen, deputy director of Ballett Kiel

16 July Maina Gielgud: mime of the Romantic Ballet (from 14 years old)
3.00 pm / 5.00 pm with Maina Gielgud, international étoile and artistic director

22 and 23 July Bayerisches Junior Ballett München: Classical (from 14 years)
2.00/4.00 pm with Olivier Vercoutère, teacher at the Bayerisches Junior Ballett München

For information and registration, send an email to education@carlofelice.it

Gramilano Editor

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 Italian ballerina 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.