The Royal Ballet’s Steven McRae on injury: turning weakness into strength
In 2007, I entered the stage as Romeo and I honestly thought that I was living the dream. I was on the Royal Opera House…
Sergei Polunin “I’m tired of being a rebel… I want to be a role model”
Sergei Polunin was in Milan recently to partner Natalia Osipova in Giselle after David Hallberg was forced to withdraw. There was great curiosity and excitement…
Bella Ratchinskaia and Manuel Legris talk about the abuse allegations at Vienna State Opera’s Ballet Academy
Accusations of abuse at Vienna State Opera’s Ballet Academy quickly travelled the world, from The Guardian to the New York Times which began its article…
En Avant with quality, integrity, musicality and artistic meaning in classical ballet
En Avant is a “New Non-Profit Foundation for Specialised Ballet Coaching, Mentoring and the Awarding of Scholarships”. The Foundation is new, but what is it offering…
At La Scala: Tamara Rojo and Claudio Coviello in a winning Don Quixote
What an extraordinary dancer Tamara Rojo is. Here she was, fabulous at forty, able to toss off the fiendishly difficult – and long – role…
You choose it out of Love! Dancing with the Khan-MacKay family
Dancing, like acting and singing, often runs in the family. There are countless dancers whose parents danced: Zenaida Yanowsky (Royal Ballet), Yury Yanowsky (Boston Ballet) and Nadia…
We may be saying ‘bye’ to the dancer, but certainly not to Sylvie Guillem
Sylvie Guillem is an extraordinary creature: exuding a special aura yet blessed with the common touch. She has almost always been this way, the ordinary…
Martina Arduino answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Q&A in italiano When did you start dancing? I started dancing for fun when I was four, and more seriously when I was 11 after…
Young American at the Bolshoi: Julian MacKay wins Sochi and Istanbul medals
The (other) American at the Bolshoi, 16-year-old Julian MacKay, has been winning medals at the international ballet competitions at Sochi and Istanbul. Of course there…
Alessandra Ferri’s pain at being rejected and joy at being reborn
The word “comeback” isn’t one I like; what I am doing is going ahead. These years off stage have taught me that I can’t live…
Autistic ballet dancer James Hobley wins place at English National Ballet School
James Hobley, a fifteen year-old from Redcar, has been offered a place at the English National Ballet School. Congratulations, another Billy Elliott makes his way…
Sarah Lamb on débuting at La Scala in Manon with Claudio Coviello
As has already been reported, the on-off-on-off again tale of Natalia Osipova as Manon in Milan is now definitely “off” and she has been replaced…
Mara Galeazzi’s farewell gala with her Royal Ballet friends
Summer months in Italy boast many ballet galas: Bolle & Friends, Abbagnato & Friends… who doesn’t want to tour the glorious piazze of Italy: fantastic…
Xander Parish answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start dancing? I started dancing when I was 8 years old. Why did you start dancing? After seeing my younger sister…
From Noverre to Chauviré: A dancer must have a real depth of culture
If you read November’s edition of Dancing Times (and I strongly recommend that you do!), the magazine’s Talking Point column has some musings by Gramilano on…
Tamara Karsavina compares Rudolf Nureyev and Vaslav Nijinsky
Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West in 1961 and later that same year he danced with Margot Fonteyn for the first time, and the following…
Swan Lake at La Scala – Alexei Ratmansky puts the ballet’s heart where it belongs
Alexei Ratmansky’s reconstruction of the Petipa/Ivanov Swan Lake is as eye-opening as was his version of The Sleeping Beauty: it is fresh, it is vital,…
Steven McRae answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start dancing? Age 7 in Sydney, Australia. Why did you start dancing? My sister inspired me; she was a brilliant gymnast…
Roberto Bolle on why Natalie Portman should give back her Oscar… and more
The Bolle and Friends tour is in full swing, and one of the stops is Istanbul where Roberto Bolle was photographed last month. He talked to…
Pia Russo and the art of teaching ballet
Pia Russo is a highly respected Italian ballet teacher, currently working at the Ballet School of Teatro San Carlo in Naples, one of the world’s…
Rothko in Rome: an interview with Carolyn Carlson
“It’s very difficult to tour now in Italy with its money problems,” Carolyn Carlson tells me, which makes producer Daniele Cipriani a brave man indeed: he is…
Premiere of “Mahler 10”, Aszure Barton’s new dance piece for La Scala, reveals a small treasure
Aszure Barton has created a gem of a ballet for Milan’s Teatro alla Scala. Mahler 10 uses the first movement of Gustav Mahler’s unfinished Tenth…
Sylvie’s last dance: a tribute to Guillem, the artist and her career
A tribute by Ioannides Yiannakis In 29 December 1984, after a memorable performance of Swan Lake at the Paris Opera, the great Rudolf Nureyev named an…
McGregor’s Woolf Works thrills and enthralls at La Scala
The La Scala Ballet usually fields a first cast, and several alternative casts, but not with Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works – here it was very…
Giselle masterclass – Carla Fracci and Pompea Santoro coach two very different versions
Golden anniversaries are occasions to celebrate and for a dancing school what could be better than having Carla Fracci give her first public masterclass; Mats…
Meet Francesco Gabriele Frola — National Ballet of Canada and English National Ballet’s new Principal Dancer
Italian ballet dancer Francesco Gabriele Frola has been promoted to Principal Dancer of the National Ballet of Canada and at the same time becomes a…
Dutch National Ballet’s Marijn Rademaker on injury and recovery
‘Being injured is part of our job, it happens, we will get back stronger!’ That’s what we say when we try to sweet talk ourselves…
Interview: Who is Jacopo Tissi? The Bolshoi’s enigmatic Italian star talks about Moscow, Milan and London, “It certainly wasn’t easy”
Three years ago, Jacopo Tissi left La Scala to join the Bolshoi Company in Moscow. Makhar Vaziev, the Company’s current director, was previously the director…
Alessandra Ferri: The art of becoming a couple is the gamble of a lifetime
Alessandra Ferri has been interpreting Eleonora Duse in John Neumeier’s ballet Duse, most recently in Venice at the beginning of February. Does she feel she…
Picasso in Rome, with Diaghilev, Cocteau and Massine: The Ballets Russes and Parade
One hundred years ago, Pablo Picasso lived Rome for two months. It was his first trip to Italy. The Ballets Russes was in town and…
Meeting Davide Dato, the Italian ballet star who’s finally hitting the headlines in his homeland
Salsa, merengue and mambo… that’s how I started dancing. So says Davide Dato, Principal Dancer at the Vienna State Ballet. Many classical dancers began in…
Mats Ek retires and pulls the plug on his choreography worldwide
Mats Ek presents his last ever piece of choreography tonight until 10 January in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on the first stop of…
Julian MacKay – the teenage American ballet dancer making waves in Russia
Julian MacKay at 16 was winning medals at the Sochi and Istanbul competitions when he represented his school, the Bolshoi Academy. At 17 he won…
Ratmansky explains why his Swan Lake is arriving bigger and better at La Scala
Alexei Ratmansky’s reconstruction of Marius Petipa’s Swan Lake was rapturously received by almost all the critics when it premiered in Zurich in February. Alastair Macaulay…
BALLET2000 Prix presents Maya Plisetskaya Awards in Cannes
The first edition of the Awards handed out by the dance magazine BALLET2000 were in 2004 when Maya Plisetskaya was presented with the main Prix…
Interview with Alicia Alonso at 95: my dancing is my most eloquent testament
I was fascinated by dance when I was very young, and after my first lesson I said to my mother, “This is what I want…
Introducing Michele Esposito… winner of the Prix de Lausanne 2017
Michele Esposito has won the Prix de Lausanne 2017. The first prize, sponsored by the Swiss investment firm Adveq, was not his only award as…
Backstage at the Nutcracker with the English National Ballet
My first ballet experience was going to see the Nutcracker with my family. We caught the train from Surrey up to Waterloo, and walked along…
Francesca Hayward answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start dancing? When I was 3 years old. My grandparents didn’t know how to keep me occupied so they bought a…
In conversation with Marianela Nuñez
The Royal Ballet’s Argentinian principal dancer, Marianela Nuñez, is in lockdown in Buenos Aires. She went there to be near her family and partner, because…
The extraordinary talent of Marianela Nuñez dominates Onegin at La Scala
The extraordinary talent of Marianela Nuñez dominated this performance of Onegin at La Scala. From her opening, distracted scenes to her final act of resolve,…
Dancers from the Royal Ballet and ENB reopen the glorious Teatro Colón in Bogotá
Teatro Colón in Bogotá reopens tomorrow night after a six-year restoration. Ten dancers from the Royal Ballet and the English National Ballet will help to…
[Interview] The Royal Ballet’s Yasmine Naghdi: a time to reflect
I’ve interviewed The Royal Ballet’s principal ballerina Yasmine Naghdi several times over the past five years. The first time, she was a soloist and preparing…
Svetlana Zakharova: When they cut my costume in half
Svetlana Zakharova knows that a lot of jealousy surrounds her but she’s fought for her rightful position in the dance world since she was a child:…
Martina Arduino in Ratmansky’s Swan Lake – a ballet star is born at La Scala?
If you visit NASA’s website, they define a protostar as the “hot core at the heart of the collapsing cloud that will one day become…
Julio Bocca talks about his emotional 50th Birthday Gala in New York this Friday
Youth America Grand Prix celebrates Julio Bocca on his 50th Birthday, as part of its Legends in Dance series, this Friday, 14 April. An exciting…
To Carla Fracci, on your 80th Birthday, from your colleagues and friends
Today is the 80th birthday of the Italian ballerina, Carla Fracci. She was born in Milan on 20 August 1936. To celebrate we asked fellow…
Interview with Alessandra Ferri: Maturing I find myself smiling more
I’m enjoying a new chapter in my life having the fortune to play women of my age and not romantic roles like the Giselles, Carmens,…
Sergei Polunin on sex change, his new girlfriend, and manning up
In an interview, before several appearances in the Italian peninsula over the next two months, Sergei Polunin said, I deeply believe in love. It’s a…
Marcia Haydée answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start dancing? When I was three years-old. Why did you start dancing? I was born to dance! Which dancer inspired you…
In and Out: Bolle, Gomes, Stiefel – how easy is it to be an openly gay ballet dancer?
When Roberto Bolle popped out and in of the closet four years ago internet forums and gossip rags foamed at the mouth. Openly gay ballet…
18-year-old Vincenzo di Primo on winning at Lausanne and studying at the Vienna Ballet Academy
18-year-old Vincenzo di Primo was one of the seven winners at the annual Prix de Lausanne, taking away the Albert Amon Foundation scholarship which will…
Tsiskaridze: Real ballet dancers are trained in Paris, Moscow or St Petersburg
Forget the Royal Ballet School or the The School of American Ballet, Nikolai Tsiskaridze says there are only three real ballet schools in the world:…
Erik Bruhn and Carla Fracci – Romeo and Juliet, 1966
Erik Bruhn choreographed a version of Romeo and Juliet which he and Carla Fracci danced with the Rome Opera Ballet in 1966. The balcony scene…
Ratmansky’s Sleeping Beauty in Milan casts its magic spell
Alexei Ratmansky’s ‘reconstruction’ of The Sleeping Beauty at La Scala made for one of the most interesting and satisfying evenings that I’ve had in the…
Save the best until last – La Scala’s triple bill shows a company in excellent form
Save the best until last. Not a bad programming policy, and with La Scala’s recent triple bill, the last was Maurice Béjart’s Boléro. Obviously, with…
Mara Galeazzi by her Royal Ballet friends and colleagues
Sarah Lamb, Marianela Nuñez, Gary Avis, Steven McRae, Thiago Soares and Edward Watson celebrate Mara Galeazzi As Royal Ballet dancers arrived in Verona to share the stage with Mara…
Julian Mackay on entering and winning the Prix de Lausanne 2015
Seventeen-year-old Julian Mackay is one of the six winners of this year’s Prix de Lausanne. He is part of the extraordinary Khan-MacKay family which boasts…
La Scala Ballet School’s director for 32 years on “Teaching Dance”
versione italiana Anna Maria Prina was the director of the La Scala Theatre Ballet School for thirty-two years, producing artists such as Mara Galeazzi, Massimo Murru, Roberto Bolle, Mick…
Marianela Nuñez on working with celebrity photographer Paola Kudacki for Humanity magazine
The photoshoot for Citizens of Humanity was a brilliant experience. says Royal Ballet principal dancer Marianela Nuñez who is featured in the 13th issue of…