There are many, many Italian dancers scattered around companies throughout the world. Some are in the corps de ballet, others are principal dancers, but all continue the tradition that made Italian dancers some of the most famous of all. Even leaving the men aside, we have Pierina Legnani (noted as 'maybe' being the first to perform 32 fouetté turns) who was a prima ballerina … [Read more...] about Dance in Italy – Spoleto Festival’s Dance Gala with Abbagnato, Vogel, Frola, Dato and many more on 30 June
Eleonora Abbagnato
Rome Opera Ballet announces 2019-2020 season
Five different programmes make up Rome Opera Ballet’s new season, 2019-2020.Benjamin Pech’s successful Swan Lake will be remounted to open the season. This will be followed by an evening dedicated to Jerome Robbins; a new work by José Carlos Martínez telling the tale of Lord Byron’s Il Corsaro (The Corsair); a triple bill featuring Suite en blanc, Serenade, and Pastor’s … [Read more...] about Rome Opera Ballet announces 2019-2020 season
Rome Opera Ballet’s Philip Glass triple bill thrills
The Philip Glass triple bill at Rome Opera Ballet showed off three very different choreographic styles to one composer’s music. Glass has a way of seducing the listener into his world —his music is guileful and hypnotising. The mainly minimalist component to his music results in there being a stronger connection with Vivaldi or Bach than Wagner or Strauss, so it is not … [Read more...] about Rome Opera Ballet’s Philip Glass triple bill thrills
Rome Opera Ballet presents a Philip Glass Evening featuring a new work with Eleonora Abbagnato and Friedemann Vogel
Rome Opera Ballet presents a Philip Glass Evening, which opens 29 March 2019, and features a new work with the company’s director, Eleonora Abbagnato, and guest artist Friedemann Vogel.The programme offers Benjamin Millepied’s Hearts and Arrows, Jerome Robbins’s Glass Pieces, and Nuit Blanche, a new piece by Sébastien Bertaud with designs by Christian Dior Couture. Abbagnato … [Read more...] about Rome Opera Ballet presents a Philip Glass Evening featuring a new work with Eleonora Abbagnato and Friedemann Vogel
Isaac Hernández answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Q&AWhen did you start dancing? I was 8 years old. My father was teaching me in the backyard of our house.Why did you start dancing? We are a big family — 11 children — my parents had only what they knew to offer us at that point and Ballet was that gift.Which dancer inspired you most as a child? Nureyev and Baryshnikov.Which dancer do you most admire? Nureyev. … [Read more...] about Isaac Hernández answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Eleonora Abbagnato is confirmed as Director of the Rome Opera Ballet until 2021
Rome Opera has announced that Eleonora Abbagnato, étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet and current Director of the Rome Opera Ballet, will remain in her post until 31 December 2021.Virginia Raggi, the city’s mayor and President of the Rome Opera Theatre Foundation, said,It is something of great pride for our city that we are able to confirm an étoile like Eleonora Abbagnato as … [Read more...] about Eleonora Abbagnato is confirmed as Director of the Rome Opera Ballet until 2021
The Sleeping Beauty with Marianela Nuñez and Vladislav Lantratov at the Rome Opera Ballet
Jean-Guillaume Bart, former Étoile at the Paris Opera Ballet, created his version of The Sleeping Beauty for the Yacobson Ballet Theatre in St Petersburg in 2016. His POB colleague Eleonora Abbagnato — currently both an Étoile in Paris as well as director of the Rome Opera Ballet — asked him to adapt it for Rome last year. Some of it works, some does not.He has opened up many … [Read more...] about The Sleeping Beauty with Marianela Nuñez and Vladislav Lantratov at the Rome Opera Ballet
La Scala’s fired ballerina, and eating-disorder author, Mary Garret on her first year back with the company
In 2016, Mary Garret walked through the artists’ entrance at La Scala, ready to take daily class again with the company that had fired her four years previously.The ballerina Mariafrancesca Garritano, who writes under the name of Garret, wrote a book where she reflected on the nature of stringent diets and the search for the perfect physical form. La verità, vi prego, sulla … [Read more...] about La Scala’s fired ballerina, and eating-disorder author, Mary Garret on her first year back with the company
Robbins-Preljocaj-Ekman with Eleonora Abbagnato and the Rome Opera Ballet
Eleonora Abbagnato, who became director of the Rome Opera Ballet two years ago (while retaining her position as Étoile at the Paris Opera Ballet, and commitments such as a panel judge for the reality show Amici) has brought several works to the Italian capital that she has danced in the French capital. So it was with Jerome Robbins’ The Concert.THE CONCERT The piece saw … [Read more...] about Robbins-Preljocaj-Ekman with Eleonora Abbagnato and the Rome Opera Ballet
Introducing Rebecca Bianchi, Rome Opera Ballet’s new Principal ballerina
At the end of The Nutcracker at Rome’s Teatro Nazionale on 20 December last year, 25-year-old Rebecca Bianchi was promoted to Principal Dancer of the Rome Opera Ballet by the theatre’s General Manager, Carlo Fuortes, and the head of the ballet company, Eleonora Abbagnato.It was something I wasn’t expecting and it was very emotional... a truly wonderful surprise for me and a … [Read more...] about Introducing Rebecca Bianchi, Rome Opera Ballet’s new Principal ballerina