Richard Cragun and Marcia Haydée in John Cranko’s ballet “The Taming of the...
Just over two months ago Richard Cragun, an astounding actor-dancer of great charisma and grace, sadly passed away. He was 67 years old. Here are some photos of Cragun with his long time partner Marcia...
View ArticleAlicia Alonso makes a comeback at 91
Alicia Alonso, at 91 years of age, has made a stage comeback at the 23rd Havana International Ballet Festival. Prensa Latina reported that the Cuban ballet legend danced Un retrato para el recuerdo (A...
View ArticlePeter Martins on the New York City Ballet: it’s what you can wish for, only...
New York City Ballet is releasing a series of behind-the-scenes videos. Here the company’s Ballet Master in Chief, Peter Martins, talks proudly of his dancers and all the collaborators who make a...
View ArticleEvan McKie and Thiago Soares questionnaires online soon
Stuttgart Ballet principal Evan McKie is the the latest dancer to complete the Gramilano Questionnaire and it will go online over the weekend. Here’s a heads up about his guest appearance with the...
View ArticleEvan McKie answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start dancing? In the womb. Why did you start dancing? I will probably never know the answer to that. I just know why I keep doing it. Which dancer inspired you most as a child?...
View ArticleRoberto Bolle lays himself bare in Vanity Fair: it’s difficult to say “I love...
In a revealing interview with the Italian Vanity Fair, Roberto Bolle opens up, and reveals parts of his psyche that he usually prefers to keep hidden in interviews. Luca Dini was asking the...
View ArticleSylvano Bussotti: flamboyant composer, poet, set and costume designer,...
Silvano Bussotti, known as Sylvano, is an Italian eccentric, some say genius, and the word ‘flamboyant’ appears in many articles about this modern Renaissance man. He is a composer, poet, set and...
View ArticleWith boos among the light applause, Sasha Waltz’s Roméo et Juliette finally...
After changes of cast, threatened strikes, exorbitant economic demands from chorus and dancers, and a cancelled first night, Sasha Waltz’s ballet Roméo et Juliette finally opened yesterday in Milan....
View ArticleThiago Soares answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start dancing? I started age 15. Why did you start dancing? When I joined the Centro de Dança Rio it felt right, and I felt like I had found something that I had been looking...
View ArticleCruelty at the Bolshoi: acid attacks and smear campaigns. Filin’s rival...
Sergei Filin had been receiving intimidating phone calls for a while, and had had his tyres punctured and his email hacked, but the acid attack that has shocked the dance world is beyond all reasoning....
View ArticleBeppe Menegatti answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Directors’ Edition
Q&A When did you first go to the theatre? To see Rigoletto at the Teatro Comunale in Florence in 1939, with Gino Becchi, Ferruccio Tagliavini, and the young Giulietta Simionato as Madelena. Why did...
View ArticleGary Avis answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start dancing? My first steps were taken in the summer of 1981, at the tender age of 11. My starting point was Disco Dancing lessons at Tom & Pat Lait’s Ballroom classes, and...
View ArticleLeather tutus take to the stage in Milan
A Nabucco or Norma with leather costumes wouldn’t raise an eyebrow, but a ballet? Boots and belts maybe, but tutus and frocks? This was the conceit behind The Cloak of the Dragon presented at Milan’s...
View ArticleAlessandra Ferri returns to the stage after 6 years
After hanging up her pointe shoes in 2007, Alessandra Ferri has announced her return to the stage. At 49 she has decided to début in a new work, The Piano Upstairs, at the Spoleto Festival on 28 June....
View ArticleBoss of St Petersberg’s Mikhailovsky Theatre is banned from foreign travel
Bailiffs in St Petersburg have banned the director of the Mikhailovsky Theatre, Vladimir Kekhman, from leaving Russia, said Lenta. Businessman Kekhman has debts exceeding 285 million rubles (7 million...
View ArticleTriumph in Milan for Natalia Osipova and Roberto Bolle in Notre-Dame de Paris
The main curiosity surrounding the return to La Scala of Roland Petit’s ballet Notre-Dame de Paris was how cover-boy-ballerino Roberto Bolle could handle the role of the hunchback Quasimodo; as he said...
View ArticleBennet Gartside answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start dancing? I was probably about 7 years old. Why did you start dancing? Apparently I was energetic as a child — I have no idea where that’s gone now! My sister who’s 4 years...
View ArticleIvan Vasiliev is forced to cancel début at the last minute
Ivan Vasiliev, who has been suffering from back pains for a few days, was forced to bow out of his début at Teatro alla Scala in Milan at the last minute. He was already in make-up for his role as the...
View ArticleIvan Vasiliev’s injury gives unknown Claudio Coviello a chance to shine
While it wasn’t exactly a case of ‘A Star is Born’, 21-year-old Claudio Coviello was certainly given a golden opportunity when Ivan Vasiliev couldn’t go on at La Scala last night. Coviello had learnt...
View ArticleIvan Vasiliev drives Milan wild in his La Scala début
Ivan Vasiliev’s scheduled début with the ballet company at Milan’s La Scala, and also in the role of Quasimodo in Roland Petit’s ballet Notre-Dame de Paris, was delayed from Saturday due to a last...
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