Alessandra Ferri brings Martha Clarke’s Chéri to the Ravenna Festival in two weeks, with the same cast that accompanied her for the piece’s début at The Signature Theatre in New York: ABT’s Herman Cornejo and actress Amy Irving. Although Charles Isherwood for The New York Times said that Clarke’s choreography “sometimes falls into patterns of swooning sameness”, of Ferri […]
Valeria Crippa
Alessandra Ferri returns to dance the end of her marriage
At the end of June Alessandra Ferri will return to the stage after an absence of 7 years, and, at the age of 50, will restart her dancing career. At Spoleto, where she is the artistic director of the dance component, she will dance in The Piano Upstairs, a new work for which she is also […]
Eleonora Abbagnato talks about becoming Paris’ new étoile
This week, Eleonora Abbagnato became the first Italian étoile at the Paris Opera Ballet for generations. The only other was Carlotta Zambelli who became one of the company’s stars at the end of the 19th century. Quite an achievement for the 34-year-old dancer from Palermo. Valeria Crippa of the Corriere della Sera spoke to her. […]
Sylvie Guillem on why she’s still ‘Mademoiselle Non’
Sylive Guillem will be in Venice tomorrow to receive from the Biennale the Leone d’oro (Golden Lion) for “having redesigned the form of the dancer, defying the laws of physics”. Valeria Crippa of the Corriere della Sera talked to her about aspects of her career. I could have ended up like a cork bobbing along on […]
Zakharova and Fracci hit back at La Scala dancer’s anorexia claims: “she’s an unknown in search of publicity”
The anorexia scandal, started by Teatro alla Scala ballerina Mariafrancesca Garritano, which has had echoes worldwide, at first led to indignation by the public and fellow dancers alike when the theatre fired her for damaging the its reputation. Then the tide started to turn as various professionals – doctors, teachers – with the company and […]
Anorexia at La Scala: here’s the other side of the argument
The La Scala anorexia scandal rolls on… Valeria Crippa, in Italy’s Corriere della Sera, has been listening to the other side of the argument, as sacked dancer Mariafrancesca Garritano’s accusations against the theatre and its school echoes around the world. Luisa Vinci, director of the La Scala Academy (which includes departments of dance and music): This scandal has hit us like […]
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 year in St Petersburg at the Mariinsky to polish her technique. After the 2008-2009 season with the Bavarian State […]
Roberto Bolle on boys and ballet
The Corriere della Sera‘s Valeria Crippa asked Roberto Bolle what is causing the increase in the numbers boys studying ballet: There’s been a positive trend over recent years. Films like Billy Elliot have helped, the familiarity of dancing on TV and also new media. YouTube allows you to find any video, to be informed, to make comparisons. Of course, for those who like me who are clicked on […]
The Times celebrates Milan’s Raymonda… but why?
Milan’s newspaper, the most influential Italian paper, Il Corriere della Sera, almost ignored La Raymonda at La Scala last week, with Valeria Crippa’s short article dismissing it quickly. Here the past is preserved in mothballs, the brilliant Marius Petipa’s choreographic style appears decrepit, and dull scenery frames an ageing corps, despite the freshness of the students of the school. Others however looked a little closer. Elsa […]
