[Photo Album of Gala Fracci below] In 2021, the director of the La Scala ballet company, Manuel Legris, had the idea to invite Carla Fracci to give a short masterclass during preparations for … [Read more...] about [Review] The second annual Gala Fracci at La Scala
Raymonda
Royal Opera House Stream goes live with 130 titles
The Royal Opera House has launched a streaming service that offers 45 performances from The Royal Ballet and The Royal Opera’s archives. Together with these are also 85 behind-the-scenes features, … [Read more...] about Royal Opera House Stream goes live with 130 titles
Olga Smirnova leaves the Bolshoi Company for Amsterdam
The Russian principal dancer Olga Smirnova, an outspoken critic of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has decided to leave the Bolshoi Ballet Company where she is one of its most popular and admired … [Read more...] about Olga Smirnova leaves the Bolshoi Company for Amsterdam
English National Ballet’s 2022-2023 season
The English National Ballet has announced its plans for the 2022-2023 season, a season that will involve a change of leadership as Tamara Rojo, the company’s Artistic Director, leaves for San … [Read more...] about English National Ballet’s 2022-2023 season
Dancing Times, February 2022, out now
The February 2022 edition of Dancing Times looks at two new productions that jumped through a few hurdles before finally getting before an audience: Jonathan Gray reviews English National Ballet’s … [Read more...] about Dancing Times, February 2022, out now
Tamara Rojo to leave English National Ballet
English National Ballet has announced that Artistic Director and Lead Principal Dancer, Tamara Rojo, will step down towards the end of 2022 to take up the role of Artistic Director at San Francisco … [Read more...] about Tamara Rojo to leave English National Ballet
First look at Tamara Rojo’s Raymonda for English National Ballet
The first photos of English National Ballet’s new production of Raymonda are of the rehearsals that took place in the company’s Holloway Production Studio at its east London home, the Mulryan Centre … [Read more...] about First look at Tamara Rojo’s Raymonda for English National Ballet
Tamara Rojo to choreograph her first ballet – English National Ballet 2020-2021 Season
Tamara Rojo to direct and choreograph her first ballet, Raymonda, after Marius Petipa Raymonda will receive its world premiere in Manchester, before a UK Tour Triple bill of works by William … [Read more...] about Tamara Rojo to choreograph her first ballet – English National Ballet 2020-2021 Season
Photo Album – First look at The Royal Ballet’s triple bill Concerto/Enigma Variations/Raymonda Act III
Tonight, 22 October 2019, is opening night at The Royal Opera House for a Petipa/Ashton/MacMillan triple bill. The Royal Ballet will be dancing Concerto, Enigma Variations and Raymonda Act III … [Read more...] about Photo Album – First look at The Royal Ballet’s triple bill Concerto/Enigma Variations/Raymonda Act III
Photo Album: Nureyev Gala at La Scala – Zakharova, Louvet, Nuñez, Muntagirov and Bolle (and Nureyev at La Scala facts and figures)
Last night a Gala to celebrate Rudolf Nureyev was had at La Scala. It is the 80th Anniversary of his birth and also 25 years after his death. The Gala was previewed by a benefit audience on Thursday, … [Read more...] about Photo Album: Nureyev Gala at La Scala – Zakharova, Louvet, Nuñez, Muntagirov and Bolle (and Nureyev at La Scala facts and figures)
Eufemia Brancato, queen of the tutu, dies at 95
Eufemia Brancato died this morning three weeks before her 96th birthday. She was the head of Brancato Costumiers in Milan which she founded in 1961 after five years working at the Piccolo Teatro with … [Read more...] about Eufemia Brancato, queen of the tutu, dies at 95
A good, old-fashioned gala? Pignotti salutes Nureyev
Luigi Pignotti was Rudolf Nureyev’s massager then manager. He now has a company which produces evenings of ballet, flamenco and tango… though not together. It was, maybe, obvious that he would … [Read more...] about A good, old-fashioned gala? Pignotti salutes Nureyev
Raymonda at La Scala… a year on
A year ago at Milan's Teatro alla Scala the ballet company scored a hit with its restaging of that difficult piece Raymonda. The ballet's improbable story, with a lack of obvious dramatic push, can … [Read more...] about Raymonda at La Scala… a year on
Being groomed for stardom: Italian ballerina Petra Conti
23 year-old Petra Conti is a dancer at La Scala in Milan, who is being slowly brought before the public by director (ex-director of the Mariinsky) Makhar Vaziev. He first saw her when she spent a … [Read more...] about Being groomed for stardom: Italian ballerina Petra Conti
La Scala’s Raymonda “is a true banquet: pomp, circumstance, and an entire world on stage”, says the Financial Times
The Financial Times visited Milan's historic theatre to witness Sergei Vikharev’s reconstruction of Raymonda - a production which is sending ripples of interest and excitement around the ballet … [Read more...] about La Scala’s Raymonda “is a true banquet: pomp, circumstance, and an entire world on stage”, says the Financial Times
‘Restored’ video of Rudolf Nureyev’s version of Romeo and Juliet with Carla Fracci and Margot Fonteyn, now on YouTube
In 1983, Rudolf Nureyev's version of Romeo and Juliet was filmed in Milan, and broadcast in Italy and in Britain on Boxing day of the same year. It stars Carla Fracci as his Juliet and the … [Read more...] about ‘Restored’ video of Rudolf Nureyev’s version of Romeo and Juliet with Carla Fracci and Margot Fonteyn, now on YouTube
Olesia Novikova in the Raymonda Act III variation, joined by Friedemann Vogel for the coda
Another clip from Sergei Vikharev’s newly reconstructed version of Raymonda. Mariinsky ballerina Olesia Novikova is joined by Stuttgart Ballet's Friedemann Vogel in the Act III variation and … [Read more...] about Olesia Novikova in the Raymonda Act III variation, joined by Friedemann Vogel for the coda
Olesya Novikova’s extraordinary thirty entrechat-quatre en pointe in Raymonda
The last great work from the glorious era of the Imperial ballets had never before been performed by the La Scala ballet until last night. The La Scala première marks the most faithful version of … [Read more...] about Olesya Novikova’s extraordinary thirty entrechat-quatre en pointe in Raymonda