Karen Kain will retire as Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada in January 2021 and will be named Artistic Director Emeritus. She has been the company’s Artistic Director since 2005. Toronto Life once said, Under the reign of Karen Kain, The National Ballet of Canada has flowered into one of the most thrilling companies in the world. Kain is the longest-serving … [Read more...] about Karen Kain to Retire as Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada
Alexei Ratmansky
Review: Giselle at La Scala with Zakharova/Hallberg, Manni/Andrijashenko, Valerio/Coviello
Giselle is one of La Scala Ballet’s international calling cards. Together with Nureyev’s Don Quixote, this production has been seen all over the world, and rightly so. The company dances it beautifully, and its staging by Yvette Chauviré (based, of course, on the Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot choreography) would be difficult to better. It is clearly told, the story points … [Read more...] about Review: Giselle at La Scala with Zakharova/Hallberg, Manni/Andrijashenko, Valerio/Coviello
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 at La Scala and had seen Tissi’s work. It was Vaziev (on having to find a substitute for Sergei Polunin, who was himself a substitute for David Hallberg), who chose the young corps de ballet dancer to partner Svetlana … [Read more...] about Interview: Who is Jacopo Tissi? The Bolshoi’s enigmatic Italian star talks about Moscow, Milan and London, “It certainly wasn’t easy”
Greta Hodgkinson receives a special gift from The National Ballet of Canada on her retirement
Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, has announced that Greta Hodgkinson will retire as Principal Dancer in 2020 after a career that spans 30 years. She will dance the title role in Giselle and appear in Petite Mort in November as well as The Nutcracker in December. Her final performance as Principal Dancer will be the role of Marguerite in Frederick … [Read more...] about Greta Hodgkinson receives a special gift from The National Ballet of Canada on her retirement
Dancing Times, September edition – with Gramilano’s Danza in Italia column including Woolf Works at La Scala and a Glass triple bill in Rome
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
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: Sylvia 14 December 2019 – 14 January 2020 Music: 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 Anniversary New Swan Lake by Karen Kain Three World Premieres and Three Company Premieres Tour to Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. New Choreographic Associate Karen 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