Viaggio nel repertorio del balletto (Journey into Ballet Repertoire), curated and presented by dance journalist and critic Francesca Pedroni, featuring the étoiles of Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
Giselle: Romanticism, Pointe Shoes, and the Ballet Blanc
Curated by Francesca Pedroni
With Étoiles Anna Chiara Amirante and Alessandro Staiano, Ballet Company of Teatro San Carlo, Naples
An iconic title of Romanticism, Giselle premiered in Paris in 1841 with choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot and music by Charles Adam. It remains an essential work in the repertoire of every major classical ballet company. A love story unfolding between the radiant, pastoral realism of the first act and the nocturnal forest realm of the Wilis — spirits of young women who died of heartbreak after being abandoned before their weddings. Diaphanous in their white tutus and pointe shoes, they rise from midnight to dawn, forcing any man who enters their haunted circle to dance to his death.
The Ballet Company of Teatro San Carlo, directed by Clotilde Vayer, will stage Giselle in Naples this November in Patricia Ruanne’s choreographic version. Around this title, the Journey into Ballet Repertoire series curated by Francesca Pedroni for the National Choreographic Centre / Aterballetto resumes. This performance-conversation blends readings, stories, and video excerpts, featuring the invaluable participation of Étoiles Anna Chiara Amirante and Alessandro Staiano of the Teatro San Carlo Ballet, who will perform live some of the ballet’s most emblematic scenes in dialogue with the curator.
Born in Naples, she trained at the Ballet School of the Teatro San Carlo.
In 2006, she joined the ballet company of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples under the direction of Elisabetta Terabust. That same year, Alberto Testa awarded her the “Premio Positano” as an emerging young talent. In December 2006, she joined the ballet company of Teatro alla Scala in Milan, directed by Frédéric Olivieri.
In 2007, she became a member of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma company, directed by Carla Fracci, where she immediately performed soloist and principal roles — among them the Russian Princess, the two Big Swans and the Pas de trois in Swan Lake, the Jewels in The Sleeping Beauty, and the Three Odalisques in Scheherazade. For A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Paul Chalmer created the role of Venus especially for her, and she was later chosen to dance the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker.
In October 2011, La Bayadère premiered at the Teatro dell’Opera, with Anna Chiara cast in the leading role of Nikia. In October 2012, she danced the principal role of the Street Dancer and one of Kitri’s friends in Messerer’s Don Quixote.
Also in 2014, she performed various principal and soloist roles at her home theatre, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, including Giselle by Lyudmila Semenyaka.
In 2016, she was chosen by Mikhail Lavrovsky to dance the role of one of the “Young Troubadours” in Romeo and Juliet.
More recently, she has performed as the Sugar Plum Fairy in Charles Jude’s The Nutcracker.
She has also danced other leading roles, including:
- Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland (chor. Gianluca Schiavoni)
- Echos Pas de Deux in Pink Floyd Ballet (chor. Roland Petit)
- Gymnopédies Pas de Deux (chor. Roland Petit)
- Marina in Zorba the Greek (chor. Lorca Massine)
- Cinderella (chor. Giuseppe Picone)
- Marguerite in The Lady of the Camellias (chor. Derek Deane)
- Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (chor. Paul Chalmer)
- Queen of the Dryads in Don Quixote (chor. Aleksej Fadeechev)
- Odette/Odile in Swan Lake (chor. Patrice Bart)
- Theme and Variations (chor. George Balanchine)
- Juliet in Romeo & Juliet (chor. Kenneth MacMillan)
In December 2022, following her performance as Odette/Odile, she was named Étoile of the Teatro San Carlo by Artistic Director Clotilde Vayer.
In January 2023, she took part as the leading performer in Francesco Ventriglia’s A Thousand Tales at the Dubai Opera, also dancing the role of Raymonda in Raymonda and Serenade by George Balanchine.
In September 2023, she was once again awarded the “Premio Positano”, this time as Best Performer.
She has since appeared in productions such as Suite en Blanc by Serge Lifar, In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated by William Forsythe, and Onegin by John Cranko.
She also performs in numerous national and international galas, interpreting both classical and contemporary repertoire.
He graduated in 2011 from the Ballet School of the Teatro di San Carlo. In 2012, he joined the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma for the production of Romeo and Juliet by Patrice Bart. With the Ballet Company of the Teatro di San Carlo, he has performed as a soloist and principal dancer in productions such as The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Carmen, Swan Lake, Without Words, The Bat (Czarda soloist), Cantata, Don Quixote, Carmina Burana, Mozart Requiem, and Le Corsaire (as Conrad).
In 2015, he danced as principal in The Nutcracker and Giselle, and took part in the 9th Festival Internacional de Ballet in Cali, Colombia. In 2016, he performed the role of Frantz in Roland Petit’s Coppélia, and was selected by Mikhail Lavrovsky to interpret one of the leading roles in Romeo and Juliet. He also appeared in “Bolle and Friends”, performing alongside the international star in the Pas de deux from Proust ou les Intermittences du Cœur (Roland Petit) in the role of Saint Loup.
He was invited as a guest principal dancer by the Opéra National de Bordeaux, performing the role of Frantz in Charles Jude’s Coppélia. In 2017, he danced the role of the Prince, partnering Maria Eichwald, in Cinderella, and in the same year performed as the Knave in Alice in Wonderland (chor. Gianluca Schiavoni) alongside Alicia Amatrain.
In 2022, under the direction of Clotilde Vayer, he was named Étoile of the Teatro San Carlo, following his performance as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (chor. Kenneth MacMillan).
As an Étoile, he has performed:
La Rose Malade (chor. Roland Petit), leading roles in Pink Floyd Ballet (chor. Roland Petit), Zorba the Greek (chor. Leonide Massine), The Lady of the Camellias (chor. Derek Deane), Don Quixote (chor. Aleksej Fadeechev), Swan Lake (R. Nureyev / P. Bart / R. Nuñez), Theme and Variations (chor. George Balanchine), In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated (chor. William Forsythe), Serenade (chor. George Balanchine), A Thousand Tales (chor. Francesco Ventriglia), Don Quixote (R. Nureyev), Suite en Blanc (chor. Serge Lifar), Le Jeune Homme et la Mort (chor. Roland Petit), and Onegin (chor. John Cranko).
He has participated in numerous national and international galas, performing pas de deux such as Diana and Acteon, Swan Lake, Pas d’Esclave, Le Corsaire, Raymonda, The Talisman, Don Quixote, Scheherazade, and Thaïs.
Throughout his career, he has danced alongside internationally renowned étoiles including Maria Eichwald, Alicia Amatriain, Maia Makhateli, Ludmila Konovalova, Maria Yakovleva, and many others.
Dance critic for the daily newspaper Il Manifesto and for the magazine Danza&Danza. For Classica HD (formerly Sky Classica, channel 124), she has worked as author and director of the series Danza in Scena — over 70 documentaries dedicated to artists such as William Forsythe, Pina Bausch, and Alessandra Ferri.
For cinema, she wrote and directed the docufilm Roberto Bolle. L’arte della danza, produced by Classica and Artedanza srl. She also curated the DVD collection I capolavori della danza, published by Classica HD and Corriere della Sera.
Since 2000, she has been teaching Dance History at the Accademia Teatro alla Scala, where she also leads ballet talks for the theatre’s Under 30/35 subscribers.
TICKETS
Single price: 6 euro
TICKET PURCHASE
- ONLINE: https://www.biglietteriafonderia39.it/home.aspx
- Fonderia Box Office: The box office opens half an hour before the start of the performance (via della Costituzione 39, Reggio Emilia).
Seats are unassigned.
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