Luciana Savignano is an exotic creature from her unworldly physical movements to her unique, vaguely Asian features and her unquestionably hypnotic gaze. She is petite yet seems a giant onstage with her wide shoulders and expansive arms. Her famously expressive use of those arms is still intact, even as she approaches her 77th birthday. It is easy to see how Maurice Béjart was … [Read more...] about A magical Luciana Savignano dances Le Sacre
La Scala
La Scala announces its opening gala programme
La Scala has announced the programme, though not with full casting, of its Ballet Gala which marks the return of the company to the stage after the cancellation of the theatre's programming in March due to the coronavirus. The four-evening run begins on 23 September and stars the company’s étoiles Svetlana Zakharova and Roberto Bolle, guests Alessandra Ferri and Federico … [Read more...] about La Scala announces its opening gala programme
Nureyev on staging the “ballet of ballets” The Sleeping Beauty
Rudolf Nureyev first staged Sleeping Beauty at La Scala in Milan. On 22 September 1966, the curtain went up on La Bella addormentata nel bosco with sets and costumes by Nicholas Georgiadis, Nureyev was Prince Florimund and Aurora was Carla Fracci. In 1989, Nureyev said, When I was first learning to dance in Ufa, my ballet master, who had belonged to the Kirov ballet, used … [Read more...] about Nureyev on staging the “ballet of ballets” The Sleeping Beauty
The experience of returning to a socially-distanced La Scala
The usual throng found buzzing under the portico outside La Scala while waiting for the doors to open, was replaced by a slow trickle of spectators. The theatre had opened a full hour before curtain up. A new number was printed on the tickets, indicating the entrance door to use, rather like turnstiles at a football stadium. We were confronted by a machine that reads body … [Read more...] about The experience of returning to a socially-distanced La Scala
In conversation with Marianela Nuñez
The Royal Ballet’s Argentinian principal dancer, Marianela Nuñez, is in lockdown in Buenos Aires. She went there to be near her family and partner, because now home, for Nela, is London, which also happens to be home to her beloved company at The Royal Opera House. We caught up via Skype in June: I was in my office in Milan, and Nela was 11,000 km away, sitting against an … [Read more...] about In conversation with Marianela Nuñez