Q&AWhen did you start dancing? I started dancing at the age of 3 at my mothers dancing schoolWhy did you start dancing? My mother wanted to give me as many opportunities in life to see what passions I grew for myself, and also what I was talented at. Dance was just one of many, but obviously it was also so we could have more time together.Which dancer inspired you … [Read more...] about Laurretta Summerscales answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Michael Jackson
Lisette Oropesa answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start singing? We have a recording of me when I was three singing La via dolorosa, complete with background track. So it’s safe to say, I think, since I was a toddler.Why did you start singing? My whole family sings, and my mother in particular is very gifted. So it was a way to bond with everyone as we grew up, harmonizing along with the radio. And … [Read more...] about Lisette Oropesa answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Meeting Davide Dato, the Italian ballet star who’s finally hitting the headlines in his homeland
Salsa, merengue and mambo… that’s how I started dancing. So says Davide Dato, Principal Dancer at the Vienna State Ballet. Many classical dancers began in their living room imitating Michael Jackson’s moonwalk, but the Caribbean dances for Dato were not just a phase. I started when I was very young, with my sister Greta. Our parents enrolled us in a dancing school and we … [Read more...] about Meeting Davide Dato, the Italian ballet star who’s finally hitting the headlines in his homeland
Abdiel Cedric Jacobsen answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… dancers’ edition
Q&A When did you start dancing? I began dancing when I was in the womb, taught informally by my mother through the blood memory of her ancestors. My mom is Ivorian - from Côte d'Ivoire - and when we were little kids she would push aside the coffee table in the living room to teach my two older sisters and I West African dances from the Ivory Coast.We started a dance … [Read more...] about Abdiel Cedric Jacobsen answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… dancers’ edition
Mathilde Froustey answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Q&AWhen did you start dancing? I started at the age of 10 in my hometown Dax, near Bordeaux in southwest France.I was hyperactive so my mother had me do as many activities as I possibly could (tennis, swimming, violin, theatre, gymnastics, horse riding, skiing...) I started ballet because I had a bad back and my mother wanted me to stand straight. I hated it when … [Read more...] about Mathilde Froustey answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
The Tricks of the Trocks: powder, ice and pointe shoes
The audiences laugh, sometimes the dancers laugh, but getting a dozen or so male dancers on pointe through more than one hundred performances a year is no laughing matter. Being a Trock is a serious business. I talked to three of the Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo company - Alberto Pretto from Italy, Chase Johnsey from America and Carlos Renedo from Spain - about the … [Read more...] about The Tricks of the Trocks: powder, ice and pointe shoes
The Tricks of the Trocks: questions and answers with Carlos Renedo
Can you give a quick background leading up to how and why you finished up as a Trock? I was born and raised in Barcelona in Spain. I grew up always wanting to become an actor, and studied acting, as well as taking voice, Spanish guitar and magic lessons. It was later, when I was 17 years old, that I discovered the dance world. Ballet was something really hard and unknown at … [Read more...] about The Tricks of the Trocks: questions and answers with Carlos Renedo
Elena Vostrotina answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Q&AWhen did you start dancing? I was always dancing since I can remember. From when I was 5-years-old in various ballet schools, and since I was 10 at the Vaganova Ballet Academy.Why did you start dancing? I always loved it! I also grew up in the theatre - my mother was a dancer with the Kirov ballet - so it was always part of my life.Which dancer inspired … [Read more...] about Elena Vostrotina answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Fabrice Calmels answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start dancing? I started dancing very young, around 4, at the dance studio in Magnanville, France.Why did you start dancing? I used to wait for my sister while she was taking ballet classes. The teacher and owner of the school (Murielle Maurin) saw me, she pulled me into the class, and said, "We never had a boy, so you will be the first … [Read more...] about Fabrice Calmels answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Adam Cooper talks to the Sunday Times about ballet, Michael Jackson, Vaughan Williams and the Kirov
In today's Sunday Times, Adam Cooper - ex-Royal Ballet dancer, and currently tip-tapping in the West End - talked about the places where he and his elder brother, Simon, grew up. Until their teens they lived in a 'poky' flat in Tooting. The flat was much too small for two energetic boys with a musician father who had instruments, keyboards and sheet music everywhere. Music was … [Read more...] about Adam Cooper talks to the Sunday Times about ballet, Michael Jackson, Vaughan Williams and the Kirov