Teatro alla Scala Ballet to raise curtain on theater's spring-summer season
The Teatro alla Scala Ballet's classic production of "Giselle" will be the opening performance of Shanghai Grand Theater's spring-summer performance season.
It has been six years since the ballet company visited the Grand Theater with "Don Quixote."
One of the oldest and most renowned ballet companies in the world, Teatro alla Scala Ballet will "present all the elements that make up romantic ballet in the most beautiful way," according to Manuel Legris, the company's artistic director.
Legris is an old friend of the Grand Theater, taking part in gala performances as a star dancer in 2014 and 2016. He was named the company's artistic director in 2020.
"Giselle is our traditional repertory and a life program for many dancers," said Legris. "For female dancers, it features difficult techniques and complicated emotions to express. For male dancers, they can perform Giselle from their 20s all the way to their 40s, but never in the same way, as they can continuously put in their personal experiences."
From left: Teatro alla Scala Ballet artistic director Manuel Legris with principal dancers Nicoletta Manni and Timofej Andrijashenko at Shanghai Grand Theater.
Three sets of casts will be featured in the four Shanghai performances, and Legris promises that each of them will be unique.
"This was my first main role in the company when I was young and inexperienced," said principal dancer Timofej Andrijashenko, who plays the role of Albrecht. He will be partnering principal dancer Nicoletta Manni, who is also his wife, in the Shanghai performances.
"I performed Albrecht every year, and my role grew with me," he said. "It was the first ballet that I worked together with Nicoletta. And now we are married. So Giselle is part of our life which witnessed our growing up."
Conductor Valery Ovsyanikov will lead the Shanghai Opera House Orchestra for the Shanghai performances.
"Giselle" is a highlight of Teatro alla Scala Ballet's traditional repertory.
Shanghai Grand Theater will present 51 productions in 345 performances in the new season through early August, covering music, dance, musicals and drama.
The Berliner Philharmoniker will present four symphony concerts and a few chamber concerts during their stay in Shanghai from June 24 to July 2. Pianist Wang Yujia will feature.
Married couple Svetlana Zakharova, a prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet, and violinist Vadim Repin will showcase their skills during performances of "Modanse and Pas-de-deux for Toes and Fingers" in May.
Peruvian operatic tenor Juan Diego Florez's recital is scheduled for May 20. American Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Joyce Didonato's "Eden" concert is on June 9.
The Grand Theater's One-Man-Show Classical Recital Series includes Vitaly Pisarenko's piano recital on April 9, and guitarist Kuang Junhong's recital on June 9.
Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center's first Shanghai-dialect production – "Everlasting Regret" – which is adapted from Shanghai writer Wang Anyi's best-known 1996 novel, will be staged at the Grand Theater on July 5-7.
Famed writer Mo Yan's play "Crocodile" will be performed on July 19-21.
The Chinese version of musical "The Brothers Karamazov" will make a return to the theater from March 28 to April 6. Also making a return is the original Chinese musical "No Longer Human," which will be performed from May 31 to June 8.
Dance drama "A Dream of Red Mansions" will be staged on May 8-12.
Immersive live theater performance "Inside No. 9," adapted from the popular British TV series of the same name, will continue to be staged at the theater's New Box space.
Performance info for "Giselle"
Dates: March 21-24, 2pm/7:30pm
Tickets: 180-1280 yuan
Venue: Shanghai Grand Theater 上海大剧院
Address: 300 People's Ave 人民大道300号
