The latest issue of Dancing Times is out tomorrow. In September’s issue, I cover Wayne McGregor’s “amazing” Woolf Works at La Scala with Alessandra Ferri giving a “frighteningly intense” performance alongside an excellent cast from La Scala Ballet including “powerful and touching” performances from Timofej Andrijashenko as Septimus and Claudio Coviello as Evans, and Gioacchino … [Read more...] about Dancing Times, September edition – with Gramilano’s Danza in Italia column including Woolf Works at La Scala and a Glass triple bill in Rome
Alexei Ratmansky
In with the old – La Scala returns to Nureyev’s Sleeping Beauty
If there is a ballet that belongs to La Scala, it’s Rudolf Nureyev’s production of The Sleeping Beauty, created for the ballet company in 1966 with Carla Fracci and Nureyev in the main roles. It was performed 152 times until 2007, when Tchaikovsky’s score fell silent for eight years until awoken by Alexei Ratmansky when he brought his reconstructed version to Milan in September … [Read more...] about In with the old – La Scala returns to Nureyev’s Sleeping Beauty
La Scala Ballet Season 2019 – 2020
This morning, Frédéric Olivieri, director of La Scala’s ballet company, announced the theatre's 2019-2020 season:Sylvia14 December 2019 – 14 January 2020Music: Léo Delibes Choreography: Manuel Legris based on Louis Mérante and others Story and libretto: Manuel Legris and Jean-François Vazelle based on Jules Barbier and Jacques de Reinach Sets and costumes: Luisa … [Read more...] about La Scala Ballet Season 2019 – 2020
Karen Kain’s 50th Anniversary at National Ballet of Canada
2019/20 Season: Karen Kain’s 50th AnniversaryNew Swan Lake by Karen KainThree World Premieres and Three Company PremieresTour to Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.New Choreographic AssociateKaren Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, has announced that she will direct and stage a new Swan Lake for the 2019/20 season in celebration of her 50th … [Read more...] about Karen Kain’s 50th Anniversary at National Ballet of Canada
Dancing Times, August 2018 out now – including latest Danza in Italia column
The latest Dancing Times magazine is now on sale. The August 2018 issue contains my latest Danza in Italia column with thoughts on the new Le Corsaire by Anna-Marie Holmes at La Scala, with company dancers Nicoletta Manni, Timofej Andrijashenko, Martina Arduino and Mattia Semperboni. The theatre also dedicated a series of evenings to Rudolf Nureyev to mark the 80 years since he … [Read more...] about Dancing Times, August 2018 out now – including latest Danza in Italia column
Martina Arduino and Marco Agostino make extraordinary role debuts in Don Quixote at La Scala
There was a buzz in the air at La Scala for the last in the short run of Rudolf Nureyev’s Don Quixote. Martina Arduino was to dance Kitri for the first time.Since Alexei Ratmansky pulled her out of the corps to be his Odette/Odile when she was 19, (just a year after graduating from La Scala’s ballet school), she has made several remarkable role debuts, but none has seemed so … [Read more...] about Martina Arduino and Marco Agostino make extraordinary role debuts in Don Quixote at La Scala
Robert Lepage and Guillaume Côté’s new dance work Frame by Frame to come to Sadler’s Wells
Robert Lepage and Guillaume Côté's new dance work Frame by Frame opens tonight, 1 June, at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto.Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, announced that Sadler’s Wells in London will co-produce Frame by Frame, a collaboration between theatre artist Lepage and Choreographic Associate and Principal … [Read more...] about Robert Lepage and Guillaume Côté’s new dance work Frame by Frame to come to Sadler’s Wells
Notes on Le Corsaire at La Scala… an alternative cast
The success of Le Corsaire’s first night cast at La Scala was reviewed here previously, but no less was an alternative cast which had a shining beacon in Martina Arduino as Medora. She is a lovely dancer who was thrust into the spotlight when Alexei Ratmansky plucked her from the corps — she was not even on a permanent contract — and cast her as his Odette/Odile. She was just … [Read more...] about Notes on Le Corsaire at La Scala… an alternative cast
La Scala Ballet Season 2018-2019 announced
The new ballet season at La Scala sees seven programmes, including three pieces being presented at the theatre for the first time, including a newly commissioned work.George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker will open the season on 16 December and it will be the first time that his version has been presented in Italy. A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Jewels are already in the … [Read more...] about La Scala Ballet Season 2018-2019 announced
Ratmansky’s Swan Lake delights once again at La Scala: music and choreography restored
Such was La Scala’s confidence in Alexei Ratmansky’s Swan Lake that even before its premiere in Milan in June 2016 — the co-production with Zurich had had its world premiere four months earlier — it had already been chosen for a tour to Paris later that year and also programmed to be part of La Scala’s following season. So, a year on, there’s another chance to see Ratmansky’s … [Read more...] about Ratmansky’s Swan Lake delights once again at La Scala: music and choreography restored