“That’s brave!”, was my first thought on seeing the La Scala Ballet School’s programme for its annual show: The Kingdom of the Shades act from La Bayadère together with In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated. And in Milan’s famous opera house too. It was a brave choice, but not an ill-considered one. The girls of the school seem to be more prepared or gifted than the (numerous) … [Read more...] about La Scala’s ballet school show shows bold programming, with Forsythe’s signature piece making a debut
La Scala ballet school
English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer finalists 2019
Celebrating its tenth year, English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer competition will be held at Sadler’s Wells on Tuesday 7 May 2019. Through this event, English National Ballet recognises the excellence of its artists. Selected by their peers, six of the company's most promising dancers perform in front of an eminent panel of expert judges, before one receives the 2019 … [Read more...] about English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer finalists 2019
Meeting Alice Bellini, winner of English National Ballet’s People’s Choice Award 2018
Alice Bellini, who graduated from The Royal Ballet School last year, has won this year’s People’s Choice Award at the annual Emerging Artists competition held by English National Ballet to promote its new talent. The People’s Choice Award is voted for by audience members so represents how an artist communicates with the public. This is my first season with English National … [Read more...] about Meeting Alice Bellini, winner of English National Ballet’s People’s Choice Award 2018
La Scala, Milan: Opera and Recital Season 2018 – 2019
OPERA SEASON 2018 - 2019 La Scala announced its 2018-2019 Opera season today with 15 titles, nine of which are new productions, and two are La Scala premieres. At the heart of the season remains the Italian repertoire, continuing with the cycle of works of Verdi, Puccini, Verismo (which will return in 2020 with Giordano’s Fedora and Montemezzi’s L’amore dei tre re), and the … [Read more...] about La Scala, Milan: Opera and Recital Season 2018 – 2019
Serata Nureyev – An Evening for Nureyev at La Scala: full casting with Zakharova, Bolle, Nuñez, Louvet, Muntagirov
24*, 25, 26, 29 May 2018 Serata Nureyev – An Evening for Nureyev Remembering the 80th Anniversary of Rudolf Nureyev's birth, 25 years after his death with Corps de ballet of La Scala, Director Frédéric Olivieri Étoiles Svetlana Zakharova, Roberto Bolle Guest Artists Marianela Nuñez, Germain Louvet, Vadim Muntagirov Conductor David Coleman Orchestra of the La Scala … [Read more...] about Serata Nureyev – An Evening for Nureyev at La Scala: full casting with Zakharova, Bolle, Nuñez, Louvet, Muntagirov
La Scala ballet school’s Nutcracker in Milan is pure joy
Teatro Strehler in Milan has welcomed the young dancers from La Scala’s Ballet Academy to its stage during the Christmas period for several years. It’s a win-win situation where the theatre sells out its 900 seats for the nine-day run, and the kids get to dance, dance, dance. And dance they do. This isn’t a watered-down version with an end-of-term show feeling, but a full on, … [Read more...] about La Scala ballet school’s Nutcracker in Milan is pure joy
La Scala dancer Jacopo Tissi joins the Bolshoi
Jacopo Tissi, the young Italian dancer who is starting to make waves, has been offered a contract with the Bolshoi Ballet Company. That’s not something that happens every day. The Moscow company, like all Russian companies, has almost no dancers from outside the ex-Soviet borders. Tissi arrives via the Makhar Vaziev connection, the ex-director of the La Scala company and since … [Read more...] about La Scala dancer Jacopo Tissi joins the Bolshoi
Passion, Love, Life… InternationBalLET makes its debut in Italy
InternationBalLET has arrived in Italy for two performances of its programme Passion, Love, Life... The newly-formed group is made up of dancers from the Hungarian State Ballet in Budapest but, remarkably, six of the twelve dancers are Italian, underlining something that this Italian-based blog has held to be true for a long time: Italians dance, they dance well, but to work … [Read more...] about Passion, Love, Life… InternationBalLET makes its debut in Italy
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
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 theatre for a long time. It is charming, it is theatrical, it is technically retro-innovative and also demanding for the dancers. Reintroducing some positions and movements, which have been gradually dropped from classical … [Read more...] about Ratmansky’s Sleeping Beauty in Milan casts its magic spell