★★★★✰ Steeped in the company’s history, this Sleeping Beauty is a real treasure – a lavishly-outfitted and deeply absorbing spectacle which bears the indelible imprint of its creator, the legendary Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev.
Tag - La Scala
Nearly 2 years into his directorship at RNZB, Michelle Potter talks to Francesco Ventriglia about his life before joining the company and broad hopes for the company.
![Lusymay Di Stefano and Claudio Coviello in [I]Giselle[/I].© Marco Brescia and Rudy Amisano, Teatro alla Scala. (Click image for larger version)](https://dancetabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/mb-giselle-lusymay-di-stefano-claudio-coviello-death_360.jpg)
The Festival kicked off with two classical ballet companies presenting very different versions of the oldest and most celebrated Romantic ballets in the repertoire: a classic rendering of Giselle and a radically different take on La Sylphide...
Nijinsky's 'Jeux', like 'Rite', is in its centenary year - lesser known it may be but Archer & Hodson give fascinating detail on its creation and the thought that went into putting on, at UNCSA, their reconstructed version earlier this year.
That said, the company is still on top form. The corps de ballet is flawlessly unified technically, stylistically and musically down to their eyelashes.
My nickname in BRB used to be Bastard - and something happened with Ballet Hoo! - I don't know whether it's my age, or the kids we worked with, but it made me realise that you can get the best out of dancers and students by coming in on a certain level and talking to them on a certain level - not always shouting. I do shout still, I do get very angry...
La Scala Ballet is often dismissed as a company without depth, a haven for international guest artists living on a steady regime of full-length ballets. And yet Makhar Vaziev, who left the Mariinsky to take the helm in Milan in 2008, has been taking on more ambitious projects, one baby step at a time...
The crowd erupted in cheers. Ek’s piece hints at another side of Guillem, a goofier, simpler human being beneath the veneer of the icon. If it feels a little coy, well, maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. It’s a smart, well-calibrated program in every sense.