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
Claudio Coviello
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 much a case of a first cast and a second cast. The first featured two guests from the original Royal Opera House production from 2015 – Alessandra Ferri and Federico Bonelli – and most of the company’s principal dancers; the second cast … [Read more...] about McGregor’s Woolf Works thrills and enthralls at La Scala
First photos of Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works at La Scala with Alessandra Ferri, Federico Bonelli and Company dancers
These are the first photos of La Scala's restaging of Wayne McGregor's Woolf Works created for The Royal Ballet in 2015. The work was seen again in London in 2017, and in Milan, two of the original interpreters- Alessandra Ferri and Federico Bonelli - reprise their roles.The photos are accompanied by extracts of a 2017 interview by The Royal Ballet with the work's composer … [Read more...] about First photos of Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works at La Scala with Alessandra Ferri, Federico Bonelli and Company dancers
Illustrated look at La Scala’s visit to Australia with Don Quixote and Giselle
After almost a month touring China, La Scala’s ballet company popped back to Milan for a run of Manon performances, before popping off to Australia for thirteen performances in Brisbane, from 7 to 18 November.It is the company’s first time in Australia and they are taking two of their most popular productions: Don Quixote and Giselle. Performances are at the Queensland … [Read more...] about Illustrated look at La Scala’s visit to Australia with Don Quixote and Giselle
Lescaut almost steals the show among excellent performances in Manon at La Scala
I wonder how many reviews of Manon start by appraising the portrayal of Lescaut. A very important character of course, but certainly he has less plot points or stage time than Des Grieux and the eponymous heroine. At La Scala, in the cast of 27 October, Lescaut was played, quite brilliantly, by Walter Madau.Madau is a member of the corps de ballet but is often favoured for … [Read more...] about Lescaut almost steals the show among excellent performances in Manon at La Scala
Photo album – fifteen evenings of La Scala Ballet in China
La Scala’s Ballet Company have been touring China for almost a month, taking in four cities and dancing 15 performances of Don Quixote and Giselle. Last night’s performance of Giselle in the Grand Theatre in Tianjin marked the last performance and today the company heads home.The Milanese company didn’t take guests — not even its resident Étoiles Svetlana Zakharova and … [Read more...] about Photo album – fifteen evenings of La Scala Ballet in China
Sneak peek of Don Quixote at La Scala – photos from today’s dress rehearsal
Rudolf Nureyev's Don Quixote returns again to La Scala with many of the company's newer Principals and Soloists making role debuts.Tomorrow night's cast - and that of this afternoon's dress rehearsal - will see Timofej Andrijashenko dance Basilio for the first time, and he will be dancing with Nicoletta Manni who is a house favourite in the role of Kitri.In the first … [Read more...] about Sneak peek of Don Quixote at La Scala – photos from today’s dress rehearsal
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
Le Corsaire docks at La Scala – many delights with a company on top form
Anna-Marie Holmes created her version of Le Corsaire for Boston ballet in 1997. A year later it arrived in New York when it was loaned out to the American Ballet Theatre. Italian dancer Giuseppe Picone played the romantic hero, Conrad, opposite Nina Ananiashvili as Medora. Holmes has mounted her version — and versions of her version! — from Hungary to Hong Kong, with … [Read more...] about Le Corsaire docks at La Scala – many delights with a company on top form
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 Symphony and above it, Barton fashions a small world with a community of people who play, cry and love with directness and simplicity.Although the music is Mahler’s, the atmosphere is certainly not European, evoking the open spaces … [Read more...] about Premiere of “Mahler 10”, Aszure Barton’s new dance piece for La Scala, reveals a small treasure