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Carla Fracci, Luciana Savignano and Svetlana Zakharova go to the ball
To celebrate 200th Anniversary of the formation of the Ballet School at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, the Academy, which runs the school, threw a Black and White Ball with three exceptional guests:...
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Culture crash: MaggioDanza ballet company axed in Florence
Addio to MaggioDanza, the ballet company formed in 1967 under the auspices of the Florence’s Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. A financial crisis has resulted in the decision to axe the ballet company, and...
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Cynthia Harvey answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start dancing? At age 8. A short time ago. Why did you start dancing? Apparently I preferred it to walking; actually I still do. Music was frequently played at home. My mother...
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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...
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Claudio Coviello spreads his wings in Swan Lake with Natalia Osipova
In a brave casting move, Makhar Vaziev, director of La Scala’s ballet company, has given new-boy Claudio Coviello the opening night of Swan Lake with Natalia Osipova. 21-year-old Claudio...
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In & Out: Bolle, Gomes, Stiefel — how easy is it to be an openly gay ballet...
When Roberto Bolle popped out and in of the closet four years ago internet forums and gossip rags foamed at the mouth. Openly gay ballet dancers, like openly gay actors and singers, are few and far...
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Carla Fracci frolicking in the sea at 77 and returning on stage
Carla Fracci will be 77 on Tuesday, but seemingly nothing can hold her back. A couple of days La Nazione newspaper photographed her frolicking in the sea with her two grandchildren. Paparazzi shots,...
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Isadora on the beach, with Carla Fracci
Happy birthday to Carla Fracci who is 77 today.A couple of days ago one of the Italian paparazzi caught her with her two grandchildren on the beach at Forte dei Marmi where she is spending a few days...
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Unseen photos: Carla Fracci with her younger sister, Marisa
Carla Fracci (right) with sister Marisa Those who don’t live in Italy probably don’t know that ballerina Carla Fracci has a younger sister, Marisa, who was also a dancer. No Giselles for Marisa...
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Paolo Bortoluzzi: a great Italian dancer remembered
Italian ballet dancer Paolo Bortoluzzi died twenty years ago today: 15 October 1993. He died the same year as Rudolf Nureyev, and it was for these two contemporaries that Béjart created his Chant du...
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Liliana Cosi: an Italian ballerina
Liliana Cosi and Rudolf Nureyev, Swan Lake 1973 Italian ballerina Liliana Cosi, born in Milan in 1941, had a glorious career but was overshadowed by the great Carla Fracci, rather like Margot Fonteyn’s...
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Julio Bocca answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start dancing? When I was 4 my mother started to teach me dance; my grandfather, as all good Italians, was a lover of art, opera and ballet, so in my family there was always an...
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Birthday Book: 200 years of La Scala’s ballet school
A book celebrating the 200th birthday of La Scala’s Ballet School was launched at Milan’s iconic theatre yesterday: Album di compleanno. 1813–2013. La Scuola di Ballo dell’Accademia Teatro alla Scala....
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Carla Fracci meets with Italian Speaker of the House to save Italian ballet
Carla Fracci and Laura Boldrini The President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies (the Speaker of the Lower House of the Italian Parliament), Laura Boldrini, met with Carla Fracci yesterday to discuss...
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La Traviata at La Scala — first glimpses
Today’s the day, tonight’s the night. Milan celebrates Saint Ambrose (Sant’Ambrogio) and La Scala celebrates Giuseppe Verdi with a new production of La Traviata to open its 2013–2014 season. This is no...
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Damrau, Armani, Bolle, Zeffirelli, Fracci et al, comment on La Scala’s Traviata
La Scala’s Director, Stéphane Lissner Diana Damrau (soprano) This evening I feel like Violetta: it’s a special occasion, and I’ve never felt this way on a stage before and the success hasn’t quite sunk...
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Ambrogio Maestri risponde al Gramilano Questionario… Italian Edition
English version Q&A Ambrogio Maestri the cook — photo Johannes Ifkovits Quando hai iniziato a cantare? A 9 anni. Perché hai iniziato a cantare? Studiando pianoforte, il passaggio è stato...
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Ambrogio Maestri answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
versione in italiano Q&A Ambrogio Maestri the cook — photo Johannes Ifkovits When did you start singing? When I was 9. Why did you start singing? I was studying piano, and the transition was...
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Hey Old Friend… Carla Fracci and Roberto Bolle get together
Carla Fracci and Roberto Bolle at the Eni dinner At Milan’s Teatro alla Scala the most important date of the year is 7 December, the opening of the opera and ballet season. The theatre bursts with...
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Dancer Ivan Nagy dies at 70
Ivan Nagy and Marilyn Burr Ivan Nagy, one of the great names in dance during the twentieth century, died yesterday in Budapest; he was 70-years-old. Nagy was born on 28 April 1943 in Hungary. He...
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