Les Étoiles gala in Rome 2026: A Bridge for Peace… but without Zakharova
Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone, Sala Santa Cecilia, Rome – 20 and 21 March
These are times of conflict, and Les Étoiles – the international dance gala curated by Daniele Cipriani – aims to “share its imaginative vision of a better world and convey a message of love and harmony”.
The ballet stars who will grace the stage of the Sala Santa Cecilia at the Ennio Morricone Auditorium Parco della Musica, on 20 March at 9 pm and 21 March at 5 pm, will offer their art so that it may be not only a delight for the eyes but, at the same time, a balm for the soul – beauty of dancing is not merely an escape, but a reminder of our shared humanity.
Les Étoiles, now in its 21st year, offers audiences the chance to see many of the world’s leading ballet dancers in one show. This year, the dancers are Bleuenn Battistoni and Andrea Sarri (Paris Opera), Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia (New York City Ballet), Matthew Golding (formerly of The Royal Ballet of London) and the international étoile Lucia Lacarra, Vadim Muntagirov and Fumi Kaneko (The Royal Ballet, London), Sasha Riva and Simone Repele (Riva & Repele, Geneva, and resident choreographers at Daniele Cipriani Entertainment). A constant presence is that of Les Étoiles’ favourite, flamenco star Sergio Bernal (Sergio Bernal Dance Company, Madrid).
Riva & Repele appear hot on the heels of their recent success, choreographing and dancing in the first dance sequence of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games’ opening ceremony, together with La Scala dancers in a piece called Cupid and Psyche.
As always, the programme is varied with traditional gala fare from the 19th and 20th centuries, alongside contemporary works by choreographers such as Forsythe, Possokhov, Golding, Bernal, and Riva & Repele.
The Gala of Love
This edition of Les Étoiles has been named ‘The Gala of Love’, partly (though not solely) because its cast includes no fewer than four couples who are partners both on stage and in real life.
The love story between Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia began during lockdown, when they decided to go into retreat to work together, train, dance, and create ballets; they tied the knot in June last year. They will dance Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux and the pas de deux from William Forsythe‘s Herman Schmerman to electronic music by Thom Willems.
Matthew Golding and Lucia Lacarra founded the Lucia Lacarra Ballet in 2023, a neoclassical company. They will perform Yuri Possokhov’s romantic and poignant Snow Storm, set to music by Georgy Sviridov. Instead, Golding’s Borealis, set to music by Max Richter, is in a completely different vein – rarefied, sidereal – and constitutes the second piece offered by this couple, whose harmony and complicity are evident.
Sasha Riva and Simone Repele, sometimes referred to as the “poets of dance”, have been creating and dancing together for many years, an indestructible couple on stage and in life. They will perform an unexpected version of Tchaikovsky’s “White Pas de Deux” from Swan Lake. In their own words, “it is a choreography that tells the story of a late encounter, in the ‘white’ period of life – old age – when one is aware of one’s own fragility”. There will also be their re-reading of the Don Quixote pas de deux, created especially for Les Étoiles and to be premiered in Rome.
Vadim Muntagirov and Fumi Kaneko are freshly married; they tied the knot on 11 February 2026, although, of course, they had already danced romantic wedding scenes together many times in the great ballets on stage at the Royal Opera House in London. In Rome, together with the lyricism of the pas de deux from Giselle, the two will perform Victor Gsovsky’s Grand Pas Classique.
Looking beyond the love between these couples on stage, is dance itself as an act of love, as a bridge enabling different schools, sensibilities and nationalities to come together, through the spirit of the universal language of dance.
Svetlana Zakharova will no longer appear in Rome
It was with this in mind that Svetlana Zakharova, a principal dancer at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, was invited to take part, driven by Cipriani’s deeply held belief that art is a means of bringing people together without reducing artists to their nationality, and that dance is one of the bridges that enable encounters in the spirit of peace.
Ms Zakharova is not subject to sanctions in European Union countries, and the invitation was issued in full compliance with current laws. In recent days, however, the organisers of Les Étoiles have received official communications and heartfelt, pained messages, which have highlighted the symbolic responsibility of cultural institutions in the current context. When an artistic event risks being misunderstood or exploited, appearing to normalise what is happening and exacerbating existing wounds, the bridge that art strives so hard to build risks collapsing before it is even completed.
For these reasons, whilst strongly reaffirming its respect for artists’ freedom of expression and its opposition to all forms of discrimination on the grounds of nationality, the Daniele Cipriani Entertainment has announced that it has withdrawn the invitation extended to the étoile and that, contrary to what had previously been announced, Svetlana Zakharova will not be taking part in the gala.
The 22nd edition of Les Étoiles, featuring a varied cast and programme, will take place on 11–12 April at the Teatro Arcimboldi in Milan.
Les Étoiles 2027 returns to the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone – Sala Santa Cecilia on Saturday 13 March 2027 at 9.00 pm and Sunday 14 March 2027 at 5.00 pm.
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.
