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Gramilano

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Pointe

18-year-old Ashton Edwards, a “gender-fluid pointe dancer”

5 January 2021 by Gramilano 1 Comment

Ashton Edwards-01

The Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle is home to hundreds of students and professional dancers, but one particular student is pushing to evolve opportunities for dancers of all … [Read more...] about 18-year-old Ashton Edwards, a “gender-fluid pointe dancer”

The Tricks of the Trocks: powder, ice and pointe shoes

14 March 2015 by Gramilano 1 Comment

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 … [Read more...] about The Tricks of the Trocks: powder, ice and pointe shoes

Pointe shoes and tutus at the Ziegfeld Follies

7 July 2012 by Gramilano 2 Comments

Florenz Ziegfeld created his Follies in 1907, and the successful format continued on Broadway until 1931. The Ziegfeld Follies were extraordinarily elaborate revues inspired by the Folies Bergères in … [Read more...] about Pointe shoes and tutus at the Ziegfeld Follies

Why are Alina Cojocaru, Natalia Osipova and Viengsay Valdés wearing green pointe shoes?

1 July 2012 by Gramilano 1 Comment

What have Alina Cojocaru, Natalia Osipova and Viengsay Valdés got in common? Well yes, they are all ballet dancers. And yes, they have all danced Giselle. But think more deeply... They've all got dark … [Read more...] about Why are Alina Cojocaru, Natalia Osipova and Viengsay Valdés wearing green pointe shoes?

“A stripper in heels is like a ballerina en pointe” says University researcher defending lap-dancing clubs

6 December 2011 by Gramilano Leave a Comment

Judith Hanna, a 75-year-old grandmother and anthropology professor, spent an afternoon in 2005 on a beach in Jacksonville, Florida, photographing women’s swimsuited backsides, reports Bloomberg … [Read more...] about “A stripper in heels is like a ballerina en pointe” says University researcher defending lap-dancing clubs

Battle of the pointes: Grishko and the threat of plastic

3 November 2011 by Gramilano 4 Comments

Nikolay Grishko runs the company he founded by in the late 1980s after accompanying his professional dancer-wife Tamara during a French tour: Russian dancers were bringing ballet shoes from theatre … [Read more...] about Battle of the pointes: Grishko and the threat of plastic

A welcome return for the Royal Ballet’s ‘The Tales of Beatrix Potter’

20 December 2010 by Gramilano Leave a Comment

Even the sternest critic can't resist Fredrick Ashton's charming ballet. As Sarah Frater says in the London Evening Standard: Only the flinty hearted could resist Frederick Ashton’s ballet version … [Read more...] about A welcome return for the Royal Ballet’s ‘The Tales of Beatrix Potter’

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NEWS

Pam Tanowitz’s Secret Things, her second world premiere for The Royal Ballet this season

Prix de Lausanne 2023 – the full lineup

Principal dancer Jared Angle to give final performance with NYCB

The Australian Ballet will tour to the Royal Opera House in August 2023

Les Étoiles – the starry Rome gala at the end of January, now with two programmes

Alexei Ratmansky joins New York City Ballet as Artist in Residence

Ballet dancer Denis Vieira dies in Cyprus at 31

Bruno Vescovo, former principal dancer with the La Scala Ballet, has died at 73

In Memoriam 2022: Singers, Dancers, Actors, Writers, Directors

Sergei Polunin’s Rasputin show in Milan is cancelled

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Gregory Kunde as Otello, photo by Matthias Baus, Teatro alla Scala 2015

Top opera singers discuss how they choose and prepare new roles

Vadim Muntagirov answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition

Luca Pisaroni as Leporello in Don Giovanni at Glyndebourne   photo by Bill Cooper

In conversation with Luca Pisaroni: back to Milan with his La Scala debut

Lawrence Brownlee, © Shervin Lainez

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[Interview] Michael Spyres and Lawrence Brownlee on their new Rossini album

English National Ballet in Derek Deane's Swan Lake, photo by ASH, Arnaud Stephenson, 2013

Derek Deane on 20 years of his Swan Lake ‘in the round’

Yasmine Naghdi in rehearsal for Tarantella, The Royal Ballet © 2017 ROH. Photograph by Bill Cooper

[Interview] The Royal Ballet’s Yasmine Naghdi: a time to reflect

GRAHAM SPICER

Writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano’) about dance, opera, music and photography for people who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like. I was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. My scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times. I write the ‘Danza in Italia’ column for Dancing Times magazine.

You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, or follow my Facebook page.

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