#marta arduino

[gothicsynthetic]

Marta Arduino and Nicola del Freo in La Scala’s production of Alexei Ratmansky’s reconstruction of Swan Lake.

Photo by Monica Bragagnoli

[galina-ulanova]

Marta Arduino as the Sugar Plum Fairy in Balanchine’s The Nutcracker (La Scala Ballet, 2018)

[gramilano]

Swan Lake, photo by Brescia e Amisano © Teatro alla Scala

Such was La Scala’s confidence in Alexei Ratmansky’s Swan Lake that even before its premiere in Milan in June 2016 — the co-production with Zurich had had its world premiere four months earlier — it had already been chosen for a tour to Paris later that year and also programmed to be part of La Scala’s following season. So, a year on, there’s another chance to see Ratmansky’s immensely satisfying reconstruction of Tchaikovsky’s ubiquitous ballet. A construction of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov’s 1895 version for the Mariinsky, that is, not the original, but unsuccessful, first outing in 1877 when Julius Reisinger choreographed the ballet for the Bolshoi.

Ratmansky has a great deal of respect for Petipa and believes that dancers and companies should treat him with similar reverence. But ballet has moved on, is the cry from many balletomanes and dancers when elements of the style we’ve become accustomed to are changed to how they were intended. Yet, if modern technique is more advanced, why do dancers have problems keeping up with original tempi (thrilling played by La Scala’s orchestra under Michail Jurowski’s baton) or executing some of the fiendish steps? New, rediscovered technical elements need to be worked at and perfected, and then how many more shades will dancers (who understand) have at their disposal to colour their performances. There is nothing about going backward here; it’s about reclaiming something we’d lost.

Nicoletta Manni, Timofej Andrijashenko and Christian Fagetti in Swan Lake, photo by Brescia e Amisano © Teatro alla Scala

Nicoletta Manni and Timofej Andrijashenko in Swan Lake, photo by Brescia e Amisano © Teatro alla Scala

The musicality of Ratmansky’s staging is precise and logical, an example being when the Prince’s elderly tutor, Wolfgang, dances with a young villager and tries to grab a kiss. The whole scene is at one with the score, perfectly judged, as though Tchaikovsky and Petipa/Ratmansky had devised it together. At La Scala the scene was expertly played by Andrea Pujatti and Marta Gerani, who was also given some complex steps which she handled with skill.

The stools, flower baskets, and maypole are great fun during the Act 1 waltz, creating a stage awash with movement and colour: heads bobbing left and right, dancers leaping on and off stools, ribbons flying through the air around the maypole. Joyous. The peasant dance from the same act is also a delight, and the usual exiting of the corps during the final bars of the music, leading to a cinematic effect of continuum, is found elsewhere in this version: Odile rushes off during the last chord of the black swan pas de deux, and the Act 3 mazurka also finishes with the dancers moving into the wings. It pleasingly breaks the familiar pattern.

Nicoletta Manni, who shone a year ago as Odette/Odile, was again in sparkling form, and manages to communicate more through her dancing in this version of Swan Lake, than in any other piece I have seen her in. She combined the joy of a secure technique with the emotion of fully-rounded characterizations, and the result was magical.

Martina Arduino and Nicola Del Freo in Swan Lake, photo by Brescia e Amisano © Teatro alla Scala 2

Martina Arduino and Nicola Del Freo in Swan Lake, photo by Brescia e Amisano © Teatro alla Scala

Another cast featured Martina Arduino who is another dancer at La Scala with a well-stocked technical armoury, though she lacks some of Manni’s aplomb which, I imagine, is due to her lack of performances in a leading role (she is not yet even a soloist, though presumably that will change very soon). As a character, she was more convincing as Odile, where her flirting with Siegfried and conniving asides with Rothbart was all flashing eyes and capricious smiles.

The Princes — Timofej Andrijashenko (Manni) and Nicola Del Freo (Arduino) — were both less noticeable than their partners, yet such marvellous dancers. Together with the Benno of Marco Agostino, all three were timid in their mime, and created a wall between them and the audience which came down for the end of a variation as they took their applause. Only Christian Fagetti’s Benno was convincingly played. However, in the dancing department, both Andrijashenko and Del Freo were superb. Andrijashenko is long-lined and princely, yet copes with the lighting speed of the beats and footwork. Del Freo has the most incredible feet, his stretched leg is like a steel rod, and he possesses a clean and secure double tour en l’air, which both he and Andrijashenko finished with the deepest and softest of pliés.

Mick Zeni (Rothbart), Caroline Westcombe (the Queen) and Andrea Pujatti (Wolfgang) should give them all lessons in confident, clear storytelling through mime.

Virna Toppi and Alessandra Vassallo must be singled out for the excellent pas de trois, danced with the always reliable Fagetti on the opening night and Agostino in the later cast.

The corps de ballet is first-rate and the hard-working women are wonderful right to the last pianissimi as, with their backs to the audience, their rippling port de bras seem to push aside the water of the lake with their palms. There is no triumphant brass and timpani bellowing as the curtain closes, but a diminuendo over the final three chords, leaving an otherworldly hum in the auditorium… as Tchaikovsky intended. Music and choreography restored.

Swan Lake waltz, photo by Brescia e Amisano © Teatro alla Scala

Ratmansky’s Swan Lake delights once again at La Scala: music and choreography restored Such was La Scala’s confidence in Alexei Ratmansky’s Swan Lake that even before its premiere in Milan in June 2016 — the co-production with Zurich had had its world premiere four months earlier — it had already been chosen for a tour to Paris later that year and also programmed to be part of La Scala’s following season.

[micaramel]

  Artists: Rosa Aiello, Camille Aleña, Adelhyd van Bender, Karin Borer, Patricia L. Boyd, Manuel Burgener, Lisa Herfeldt, Samuel Jeffery, Maggie Lee, K.R.M. Mooney, Kaspar Müller, Phung-Tien Phan, Vaclav Pozarek, Marta Riniker-Radich, Julia Scher, Richard Sides, Davide Stucchi, Sergei Tcherepnin, Angharad Williams, Amy Yao

Venue: Stadtgalerie Bern

Exhibition Title: Kasten

Date: February 28 – July 11, 2020

Curated By: Cédric Eisenring and Luca Beeler

Click here to view slideshow

Full gallery of images, press release and link available after the jump.

Images:

Images courtesy of the artists and Stadtgalerie Bern

Press Release:

1

SAMUEL JEFFERY

Untitled, 2017

PVC, acrylic primer, insulating tape

30.5 x 47.5 x 28 cm

Untitled, 2019

PVC, acrylic primer, vintage car motor oil

30.5 x 50.5 x 32.5 cm

Two containers, formed from cut, heated and bent PVC sheets, are part of an ongoing series of works by Samuel Jeffery. Each is placed on a plinth. The container-like objects are treated with various materials and coated with hardware store paint. Seemingly manufactured according to precise standards, they nevertheless differ from one another in detail. The outer surface of Untitled (2019) has been treated with motor oil used for vintage classic engines. Much like a car, the box-works could be imagined as carriers of sorts, transport for unidentified transmissions. The motor oil and its mechanical associations only accentuate the containers’ state of inertia and give them a slightly nostalgic, military-industrial feel. Offsetting a longing for the bygone with the anticipation of pending action, these works look both backwards and forwards.

2

RICHARD SIDES

The slowest plane crash ever recorded in history, 2020

1-channel HD, monitor, concrete, plywood

120 x 50 x 25 cm

The slowest plane crash ever recorded in history—the title suggests an event so drawn out as to defy the event-focused, technical logic of media. Plywood covers the front face of Richard Sides’s work. One face broken up into four parts only allows indirect views from the face into the inner space of the concrete structure. The faces move toward the back in perspective, thus drawing the eye slowly into the interior toward a flickering light source—in a hypnotizing way, like watching an unstoppable, eternally dragged-out event. The title of the work is taken from a You-Tube commentary on the Prince Andrew interview, in which he tries for fifty minutes to wriggle himself out of the Epstein scandal.

3

K.R.M. MOONEY

Accord, A Chord I, 2016

Wood composite, vinyl, folded aluminum, steel, spray millet, cast silver, whistle, solder

Two parts: 45.7 x 35.6 x 7.6 cm; 53.3 x 45.7 x 7.6 cm

Composite board form the outer shell of Accord, A Chord I, initially installed in a residential shed that formerly served as a mechanic’s workshop, the work consists of two small, box-like sculptures placed directly on the floor. Incorporating materials with generative qualities or structures that shift with environmental factors, obscured within their interior are seeds and plants—some cast, others dried—that are used by humans and animals alike, normalizing alliances between materials with multiple associations. Linking participatory actors such as existing systems and their adjoining surroundings with sculptural form and behavior, K.R.M. Mooney’s works occupy intermediary positions between abstract, autonomous and the site-specific.

4

AMY YAO

Weeds, 2015

Artificial flowers, silicone, artificial nails

30.5 x 43 x 18 cm

Silk flowers, bones, plastic fingernails and nuts fill the volume of a transparent protective cover for pillows. These materials mark spaces where a specific domesticity and industrial production meet. The preserved and ever-blooming silk flowers are confronted with a logic of circulation and production in which waste is not a by-product, but a basic prerequisite. In this sense, Weeds also illustrates the extent to which the rigid separation of the categories “natural” and “artificial” is associated with a particular form of production.

5a / 5b

ROSA AIELLO

Resolve (tritone inward), 2020

2 motion-activated loudspeakers

Dimensions variable

Detecting movements in their vicinity, the sensors of the two small devices function as electrical switches. Motion activates

the integrated speaker causing each device to play a different chord: the first part of a two-part tritone. The devices are arranged in a particular order in the room. The first chord creates a feeling of anticipation or tension. The second erodes or fulfills the expectation. The minimal variances reinforce to an even greater degree the conditions in the space that are altered by the devices and show how the configuration of the room can impact lived experience.

6

LISA HERFELDT

Slithering, 2019

Acrylic glass, nylon fabric, polyester fleece

23 x 67 x 23 cm

These tongue-like objects perform synthetic affects. Transparent cubes of acrylic glass serve as containers for otherwise disembodied tongues.

7

MAGGIE LEE

Alfred Hitchcock Microchipped Pigeon, 2020

Packing tape, flock fiber, acrylic, photocopy

33 x 27.9 x 2.5 cm

Brown packing tape on canvas. Three photographs serve as labels for this visual package: a low-resolution print of a child’s antique bedframe, a cropped magazine image of a gift of flowers and a dove with a microchip on its head. Alfred Hitchcock Microchipped Pigeon can be interpreted as a suggested title for a fictional (and non-existent) film by Alfred Hitchcock. In attempting to describe the mechanisms of tension in his films, Alfred Hitchcock coined the term “MacGuffin.” The MacGuffin more or less describes any object or creature in a film that triggers or advances the action without serving another functional purpose. The externally controlled behavior of a microchipped pigeon or an unwanted gift could assume this function within the narrative implied here.

8a

MARTA RINIKER-RADICH

A Frame of Cast Iron Lace, 2018

Color pencil and pencil on paper

29.7 x 21 cm

8a

MARTA RINIKER-RADICH

The Vapors, 2019

Color pencil and pencil on paper

29.7 x 21 cm

The tiny vanity cases depicted in the series of drawings by artist Marta Riniker-Radich address the privileged aspect of personal care that allows us to isolate ourselves, to think about ourselves and only about ourselves and no one else. The cases condense domestic space, with its promise of providing protection from the outside world, creating in the process an ever-threatening negative pressure. The meticulous technique of colored pencil drawings only reinforce the latent feeling of tense silence. The space of the box is often the starting point for Marta Riniker-Radich to formulate her drawings: both enclosed and infinite, like a magic box with a false bottom.

9

KASPAR MÜLLER

Ohne Titel, 2020

Wood, metal, coins, lacquer, acrylic paint, glitter, rhinestones

46 x 16 x 32 cm

As is evident, this object served as a historical medicine chest while it has not necessarily been stripped of its original function. In working with the object, the artist has only altered its status. As a box coated in layers, Ohne Titel is suggestive of various temporalities: the artist’s time in the studio, the time of the material, historicism. A seductive patina that serves any desire for authenticity but remains permanently unfulfilled at the same time.

10

PATRICIA L. BOYD

SL-1200MK2 Face: Christian Andersen, 10/25/19-12/21/19, 2019–2020

Used cooking fat, wax, damar resin, particle board

63 x 54 x 10 cm

SL-1200MK2 Face: Christian Andersen, 10/25/19–12/21/19 is part of an ongoing series of works by artist Patricia L. Boyd.

The works in the series go through various stages, forming links with the physical and logistical architecture of an institution

or gallery: the negative forms, cast from a mixture of used cooking fat, wax and damar resin, are embedded on site into

the walls of the exhibiting gallery or institution. The cast is held in place by particle board that is integrated into the gallery

wall. Like a prosthesis, the piece of particle board is not only attached to but also alters and reconfigures the work. After the

closing of the exhibition, the negative form and plate are removed and converted into a free-standing sculpture (box), which

can now be circulated and shown in any number of subsequent exhibitions. The exhibition dates and name of the location

where it was exhibited first is then added to the work’s title. The various negative forms are from components of two objects

Patricia L. Boyd purchased at the liquidation sale of a San Francisco-based tech company: a Herman Miller Aeron office

chair and a Technics SL–1200 record player.

11

MANUEL BURGENER

Untitled, 2017

Glass, cardboard, LED, alcoholic spirits

43.5 x 25.5 x 44 cm

The volume of the glass cube on the bottom is derived from that of the shipping package of Sia Abrasives sandpaper. The cardboard box is positioned in such a way that it defies all structural logic; opening it up is the only way to release the glass structure that supports it. Found inside is a bottle with self-distilled gin and glasses—a situation visitors can activate.

12

CAMILLE ALEÑA

Fortnum and Mason, 2017

9 music boxes, Arduino board

41ø x 17 cm

Fortnum and Mason consists of music boxes from the eponymous British luxury department store. Imprinted with a horse carousel, the nostalgic product is both a biscuit tin and music box. For Camille Aleña’s work the original melodies and rotary motors have been retained, transformed and rearranged into a ghostly choreography that repeats every six minutes.

13

ANGHARAD WILLIAMS

Wet flannel on my side like the saddle on a horse, 2016–2020

Paper, air-dried clay, acrylic ink, hinges, storage box

55 x 18 x 78 cm

Angharad William’s plastic boxes are micro scenes. Oscillating between makeshift display cases and material storage boxes, they create certain reading contexts for the texts that accompany them: stories that feed on despair, vulgarity and seduction. The objects illustrate collages of absent characters – remnants taken from the stories. The box presented at the Stadtgalerie is part of this ongoing series.

14

DAVIDE STUCCHI

Her Mess, 2019

Carton, various unloaded items

38 x 13 x 6 cm

Her Mess, 2019

Carton, various unloaded items

38 x 13 x 5 cm

Her Mess, 2019

Carton, various unloaded items

38 x 13 x 4 cm

Her Mess, 2019

Carton, various unloaded items

38 x 13 x 3 cm

“Personal effects is a mind-boggling way to phrase belongings. I love word plays, especially when English is not our native language so we take ‹meanings› / etymology even more literally—at least I do. It exposes the limits of one’s cognitive abilities, and the labour to keep up with everyday flows. […] Personal effects, titles of my works such as Her Mess or Neck Laced are a lovely way to situate the pieces on a timeline of actions. It definitely feels the works conjure an absent user. The many signifiers point to their class/societal position. To me it came across distinctively bourgeois. It’s incredible to grasp the residue people leave in our lives, especially how immaterial it is mostly. Scents, body areas once touched by lovers and friends, specific times of the day. I don’t know how this happened, but every now and then for years I turn my head to see the time and it is 4:40pm, or around that hour. I used to wait for a really good friend of mine, who I was deeply obsessed and in love with, to meet and have a snack after school. We don’t talk to each other anymore.”

Davide Stucchi in correspondence with Bruno Zhu

15

SERGEI TCHEREPNIN

Baby Box #2 (Ringing Rock Stages of Production), 2013

Steel, copper, transducer, amplifier, iPod

18 x 18 x 18 cm

The object Baby Box # 2 (Ringing Rock Stages of Production), featuring a copper tongue and a steel box, is a sound sculpture that works simultaneously as a loudspeaker and an instrument. The box belongs to a group of sound system-based works, characters that encourage interaction. The material configurations and their specific sounds allow viewers to navigate around using their ears and bodies.

16

JULIA SCHER

For fairness (Pink and Black box), 2019

3-print, paint, cotton glove

3 x 9.5 x 9.5 cm

Artist Julia Scher’s box is a hybrid: deeply rooted in everyday regular boxes, it nevertheless points to the hybridity of future conditions. It could provide support, protection, and nourishment for a range of functions and activities for future entities. Its construction and materiality shifts between the domestic (storage, preservation, cupboard and table) and the terrestrial: it is made out of minerals, cellulose, natural adhesives and colour. Inside the box is a white cotton glove, but it could basically host anything one might deem necessary. Based on a source code, the design is reproducible with any 3D-printer: the code merely suggests an initial state from which to derive new functions and meanings. 

A hybridity of theme- a unique artwork 

A hybridity of making- a formal articulation that celebrates the uniqueness of any making 

A hybrid of assembly- a combination usually called montage or collage 

It seems built for one hand but can suggest the expression of multiplicity. 

Can (anything) work together…as one?

Julia Scher

17

KARIN BORER

Danger, 2018

Charred wood

43 x 6 x 190 cm

The dark surfaces of the ceiling-mounted wooden box have been burned and carbonized—a traditional technique to prevent insect attacks. The box has slits on the bottom and sides. These form links between different habitats. Karin Borer’s work aims to generate intersecting gazes: human and non-human. Here she plays with aspects of the box as addressing the registers of visibility and non-visibility.

18a

DAVIDE STUCCHI

Personal Effects, 2019

Cardboard, adhesive tape

83 x 15 x 15 cm

18b

Infusion d`Iris, 2019

Plexiglass, perfume packaging

23 x 17 x 17 cm

19

PHUNG-TIEN PHAN

Lil Emo, 2019

Toy trucks, photographs in wooden display cases with sliding glass panels

Each 60 x 80 x 9.5 cm 

The work Lil Emo by artist Phung-Tien Phan consists of six commercial display cases. Photographs of male, international pop stars, actors, musicians, models and writers appear as reified rites of passage: a specific collection representative of certain fragile ideas, memories, concepts and masculine imagery, and also of a certain biography and its social background. The images are juxtaposed with a collection of toy trucks of primarily German companies and brands. They suggest different ideas about cultural identification, masculinity and coming of age. Beyond the aspect of adopting things for personal usage, both collections refer to larger industrial and infrastructural links. The objects are arranged into a single letter inside each display case; together they form the title of the work: Lil Emo.

20

ADELHYD VAN BENDER

Untitled (1–14), 1999–2014

Cardboard, metal handles and rivets, adhesive tape, varying contents

Each about 50 x 37 x 25 cm

Folders and boxes serve as physical structures in Adelhyd van Bender’s work, whose cryptic systematization employs graphic and scientific means, repetition and variation. Against the backdrop of impending self-destruction during the Cold War, Adelhyd van Bender developed an obsessive fascination with atomic radiation that preoccupied him up to his death in 2014. Repeatedly appearing in his countless drawings are geometrical diagrams reminiscent of atomic models, orders of the universe or mystical models – like the Sefiroth of the Kabbalah. These also include missile-like structures, maps of alleged nuclear power plants in Germany, plans for the city of Moscow and radiation warning signs. The status of the contents inside the fourteen commercial and variously patterned storage boxes remains unclear. The A4 sheets, often copied multiple times and in some cases showing slight variances, are most likely original material the artist intended to work on further. The boxes also contain official documents – some of which also reappear in drawings – mail-order catalogs, magazines and other material.

21

LISA HERFELDT

Lilac Licker 3, 2019

Acrylic glass, nylon fabric, polyester fleece

45 x 23 x 11 cm

22a

VACLAV POZAREK

Geschlossen, 2016

Wood, painted

75 x 71 x 100 cm

22b

VACLAV POZAREK

Wandrelief halboffen, 2002

Wood, painted

44 x 72 x 57 cm

Terms such as geschlossen [closed], halb offen [half-open], offen halb offen halb leer [open half-open half-empty], or offen [open] are recurring titles or additions to titles in the work of Vaclav Pozarek. They describe an object’s state. The often reappears in Vaclav Pozarek’s sculptures, drawings and photographs. Even the crates used to transport his works, made by the artist himself, look like stand-alone works. The sculptural boxes create space—both visible and invisible. They require no pedestals and most are themselves support structures. Vaclav Pozarek also frequently creates display cases, shelves and entire exhibition arrangements.

  Link: “Kasten” at Stadtgalerie Bern

from Contemporary Art Daily https://bit.ly/3bCsZUj

[houseimr]

Chierichetto, soffri in pace.

[The Beautiful Blue Danube - Strauss Jr.]

Dio non capisce l’importanza della relazione tra corpo e anima. Dio spreca risorse. Dio non non dà ali ai serpenti.  Dio vuole il bello sul vuoto di bellezza. Dio si diverte, è uno sprecone. Dio non esiste!

Perché parlo di Dio? Dio sei tu! Tu sei cosa Dio vuole per me, il vuoto, lo irrito!!!

Quando la smetterà di dirmi cosa fare forse lo farò, devidireadiodismetteredicercaredisoddifarmiconlesuecazzate.

Fosse Deus existente o mundo seria justo, se a justiça fosse figlia di un Dio esistente tu sapresti cosa è il bello.

La mia mia voglia di fare non vale l’angoscia che ho di vivere.  La tua morale trasborda dal tuo cervello ignorante di bello.  Dio ha creato le nuvole, volaci su ogni tanto. Dio vuole riderti in faccia. Fagli ridere!!! Dio è irritato, incazzato! Ascolta, Tom Holland, Dio lo fa apposta. Dopo Claudio, Daniel, Tamia e Emanuele pensa di fregarmi.  Lui mi odia, io lo odio, sai perché stai in mezzo?  PERCHÉ DIO LO VUOLE COSÌ!!! Dopo Riccardo, Greta, Marta e Simone pensa di rincoglionirmi. Lui mi odia, io lo odio. Io mi odio. Oddio!

Dopo tutti, dopo Nicola! NICOLA! Dio ha perso la battaglia, ha perso Nicola, io ho perso Nicola, mi è caduto dalle tasche. Nicola smarrito, e tu al suo posto. Dio fa ridere, ridigli in faccia. L’eleganza non è tua, la coscienza non è tua.

DOVE E’ NICOLA?

Tu dovresti saperlo! Chiedilo a Dio. Tu sei Nicola? Dio non sa più ingannarmi, sono peggio di Dio, meglio di Satana. Dio non esiste. Dà eleganza a chi gli pare, meno male che non te la data.

Chierichetto, devi volare, sognare, amare, UBRIACARTI anche di Arduino, ma ubriacati, lascia stare Dio, ti vuole male, ci vuole male.  Le gambe! Ah, le gambe, Dio sa come confondere. Non dà la faccia alle gambe. Forse...

Dio non esiste!!!

I bambini che vivono sempre al buoi non hanno più paura di niente. Nicola risplendeva di luce opacamente nera.  

Lo irrito, lo provoco, voglio le sue risorse, faccio domande a cui non vuole rispondere, rispondo quello che non chiede e sogno quello che è di sua proprietà. 

Ah, le gambe! Le gambe di Dio; sono sue, camminano per lui, provocano per lui, irritano, infastidiscono, ostentano la sua grandiosità. Ah, le fottute gambe di Dio. Che culo, Simone, non sai cosa sono le gambe di Dio. Colpa mia. Perdonami.  Dio mi voleva morto, Dio manda i suoi seguaci; ha mandato Nicola, io divento più forte. Sei nato con irrilevanza, adesso muori senza virtù. Vai così, continua a gioire nella tua assoluta insignificanza. Vai ad incontrare Dio, salutalo, digli che lo odio.  Chierichetto, stai per morire, ma sai? Non sei mai stato Vivo.

Soffri in pace.

Grazie, Signore.

[galina-ulanova]

Nicoletta Manni and Martina Arduino in Apollo (La Scala Ballet, 2018)

[galina-ulanova]

Marta Arduino and Francesco Leone in Serenade (La Scala Theatre Ballet School, 2014)

[galina-ulanova]

Marta Arduino rehearsing Boléro (La Scala Ballet, 2018)

[galina-ulanova]

Nicoletta Manni as Terpsichore, Marta Arduino as Polyhymnia, Virna Toppi as Calliope, and Roberto Bolle as Apollo, in Apollo (La Scala Ballet, 2018)

[galina-ulanova]

Marta Arduino in Boléro (La Scala Ballet, 2018)

[galina-ulanova]

Marta Arduino and Christian Fagetti rehearsing Petite Mort (La Scala Ballet, 2018)

[galina-ulanova]

Marta Arduino as Odette, and Nicola del Freo as Prince Siegfried, in Swan Lake (La Scala Ballet)

[galina-ulanova]

Marta Arduino as Odile, and Nicola del Freo as Prince Siegfried, in Swan Lake (La Scala Ballet, 2017)

[galina-ulanova]

Marta Arduino as Odette, and Nicola del Freo as Prince Siegfried, in Swan Lake (La Scala Ballet, 2016)

[gramilano]

Le combat des anges Claudio Coviello, Marco Agostino, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

An unusual mixed bill at La Scala showcased the works of two choreographers: Hans van Manen and Roland Petit. Two of the van Manen pieces were new to the company, though his Adagio Hammerklavier, which opened the programme, was performed in Milan in 1985.

Adagio Hammerklavier was created in 1973 (the men wear leg-warmers and choker necklaces!) to the considered adagio of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata. Though it is plotless, it suggests unexplained stories through glances and the manner of the dancers’ exits and entrances. The three couples are as introspective as the music and they seem to be remembering the past, maybe something sad… something lost. Van Manen, searching for how slow a movement can be, delightfully describes the result as ‘a wheel that is still just moving after a push, just before it falls’.

Martina Arduino and Nicola Del Freo were especially captivating during the longest of the sustained and controlled duets, and the others in the first-night cast – Agnese di Clemente, Gioacchino Starace, Francesca Podini and Gabriele Corrado – were all first-rate, showing physical control while being totally immersed in the mood of the piece.

Adagio Hammerklavier Agnese Di Clemente, Gioacchino Starace, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

Roland Petit’s Les combat des anges, taken from his full-length ballet Proust, ou les intermittences du cœur, certainly has a homoerotic element, but how much more interesting it is when the original context for this pas de deux for two men is not forgotten as they engage in a passionate yet destructive dance. The manipulative power of Morel (the black angel) was superbly conveyed by both Marco Agostino and Gabriele Corrado. He tries to corrupt Saint-Loup (the white angel) who is both captivated by him, mirroring his movements, and disturbed, turning his back and pulling away. Saint-Loup was touchingly played by Claudio Coviello and Domenico di Cristo. At one performance for young people, nervous giggles on the first touches between the two men soon gave way to silence as they were captivated by Petit’s choreography and Gabriel Fauré’s heart-wrenching Elegie for cello and piano. Both casts gave riveting performances.

Le combat des anges Claudio Coviello, Marco Agostino, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

Van Manen’s Kammerballett was created for the Nederlands Dans Theater in 1995 and is set to the seemingly conflicting music of Kara Karayev, Domenico Scarlatti and John Cage, yet the score emerges seamlessly from the piano. There are four couples, with the men in leotards, the women in unitards, each pair with its colour – orange, bordeaux, yellow and black. The dancers enter with a stool and, as in Adagio Hammerklavier, van Manen evokes little stories and moods with the smallest of gestures and elegant simplicity, even by just moving a stool – maybe disdainfully, maybe humorously. There is great humanity in his work and great musicality too. Van Manen also makes way for virtuoso moments – Domenico di Cristo in yellow was impressive – and the whole piece is highly coordinated and demanding. Alessandra Vassallo was given the long, final solo as the others look on. Dressed in black, she was sultry, sexy and sad, playing with her moods as much as her movements.

Kammerballett photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

The stocking-filler, van Manen’s Sarcasmen, was delightful. Again it allowed the dancers to play off each other. Here a man is posturing (rather impressively, with a stamina-demanding section where he hops around the stage like a rabbit, and an idiosyncratic manège, among other wooing moves) in front of a very unimpressed woman. They tease each other and provoke each other – his disparaging finger pushing on her forehead, her hand grabbing his genitals. A wonderfully understated choreographic touch has him rotating her backwards and forwards on pointe, with her raised foot arrogantly flexed around her ankle. Nicoletta Manni was mischievously naughty, flashing her eyes or raising them to the sky, while Claudio Coviello accomplished the tricky steps with supercilious bravura. Another performance had the superb Martina Arduino and Gioacchino Starace as the sparring couple.

Sarcasmen Nicoletta Manni, Claudio Coviello, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

Petit’s Le Jeune homme et la Mort closed the evening. This classic gem has been a favourite in Milan since the original young man, Jean Babilée, performed it in 1955. Luigi Bonino and Luciana Savignano danced it in the ‘80s, and more recently Mick Zeni and Ivan Vasiliev have hung from the noose. It has been popular with Roberto Bolle since 2006 when he danced it with Darcey Bussell, and again in the year of her retirement in 2007, as well as with Lucia Lacarra and Marta Romagna. Bolle, still looking like a ‘jeune homme’ (Babilée danced it for the last time when he was 61) was muscley in his dungarees, accurate in his moves and he gave it all he has in passion. Another cast saw Coviello in the role and he was more agile in the garret and more complex emotionally. However, the most satisfying performance came from Nicola Del Freo who was not only physically ideal but emotionally raw with his eyes bursting out of their sockets as he stared death in the face; a man confused and desperate. It was a murkier and darker performance that that of his colleagues.

Marta Romagna played La Mort in Del Freo’s performance. La Scala’s principal dancer, now in her forties, has been seen most recently as the Lilac Fairy, which is a mimed role in Rudolf Nureyev’s version, and Princess Bathilde in Giselle. Maybe this was her swan song, because she was more attuned to the needs of the role than the (very fine) Manni and Arduino, as her flirtiness was cruel, with sneering smiles stolen from Disney’s Wicked Queen, and her quite beautiful legs and feet oozed seductiveness.

Le Jeune homme et la Mort Nicoletta Manni, Roberto Bolle, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

Photo album

Adagio Hammerklavier

01 Adagio Hammerklavier Agnese Di Clemente, Gioacchino Starace, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

03 Adagio Hammerklavier Francesca Podini, Gabriele Corrado, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

04 Adagio Hammerklavier Francesca Podini, Gabriele Corrado, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

38 Adagio Hammerklavier photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

39 Adagio Hammerklavier photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

40 Adagio Hammerklavier Nicola Del Freo, Maria Celeste Losa, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

41 Adagio Hammerklavier Nicola Del Freo, Maria Celeste Losa, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

42 Adagio Hammerklavier Nicola Del Freo, Maria Celeste Losa, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

43 Adagio Hammerklavier photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

44 Adagio Hammerklavier photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

45 Adagio Hammerklavier photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

Le combat des anges

05 Le combat des anges Claudio Coviello, Marco Agostino, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

06 Le combat des anges Claudio Coviello, Marco Agostino, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

08 Le combat des anges Claudio Coviello, Marco Agostino, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

09 Le combat des anges Claudio Coviello, Marco Agostino, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

Kammerballett

11 Kammerballett photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

13 Kammerballett Antonella Albano, Domenico Di Cristo, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

14 Kammerballett Gabriele Corrado, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

15 Kammerballett Chiara Fiandra, Gioacchino Starace, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

16 Kammerballett Chiara Fiandra, Gioacchino Starace, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

17 Kammerballett Francesca Podini, Marco Messina, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

18 Kammerballett Francesca Podini, Marco Messina, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

19 Kammerballett Alessandra Vassallo, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla S

20 Kammerballett Alessandra Vassallo, Gabriele Corrado, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

Sarcasmen

21 Sarcasmen Claudio Coviello, James Vaughan, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

22 Sarcasmen Nicoletta Manni, Claudio Coviello, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

23 Sarcasmen Nicoletta Manni, Claudio Coviello, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

24 Sarcasmen Nicoletta Manni, Claudio Coviello, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

26 Sarcasmen Nicoletta Manni, Claudio Coviello, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

27 Sarcasmen Nicoletta Manni, Claudio Coviello, James Vaughan, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

28 Sarcasmen Nicoletta Manni, Claudio Coviello, James Vaughan, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

Le Jeune homme et la Mort

29 Le Jeune homme et la Mort Roberto Bolle, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

30 Le Jeune homme et la Mort Nicoletta Manni, Roberto Bolle, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

31 Le Jeune homme et la Mort Nicoletta Manni, Roberto Bolle, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

32 Le Jeune homme et la Mort Nicoletta Manni, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

33 Le Jeune homme et la Mort Nicoletta Manni, Roberto Bolle, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

34 Le Jeune homme et la Mort Nicoletta Manni, Roberto Bolle, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

35 Le Jeune homme et la Mort Roberto Bolle, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

36 Le Jeune homme et la Mort Nicoletta Manni, Roberto Bolle, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

Review: Enthralling programme of 5 works by Hans van Manen and Roland Petit at La Scala An unusual mixed bill at La Scala showcased the works of two choreographers: Hans van Manen and Roland Petit.

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Le Jeune homme et la Mort with Roberto Bolle and Nicoletta Manni, photo by Brescia e Amisano, Teatro alla Scala

Serata van Manen – Petit, (Van Manen and Petit Evening) opens at La Scala on 23 January. The evening consists of five gems from Hans van Manen and Roland Petit.

The three van Manen pieces are Adagio Hammerklavier, Sarcasmen and Kammerballett, while the Petit pieces are Le combat des anges (from his ballet  Proust, ou les intermittences du coeur ) and Le Jeune homme et la Mort which brings company étoile Roberto Bolle back to La Scala’s stage.

Here are the first photos of the rehearsals.

ADAGIO HAMMERKLAVIER

Music Ludwig van Beethoven Choreography Hans van Manen Sets and costumes Jean-Paul Vroom Lights Jan Hofstra

Set and costumes from Wiener Staatsballet Production, 2015

Adagio Hammerklavier with Agnese Di Clemente and Gioacchino Starace, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (1)

Adagio Hammerklavier with Martina Arduino and Nicola Del Freo, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (6)

Adagio Hammerklavier with Martina Arduino and Nicola Del Freo, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (4)

LE COMBAT DES ANGES

Music Gabriel Fauré Ballet by Roland Petit from Proust, ou les intermittences du coeur pas de deux Morel et Saint Loup Choreographic supervision Luigi Bonino

Teatro alla Scala production

Le combat des anges with Claudio Coviello and Marco Agostino, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (3)

Le combat des anges with Claudio Coviello and Marco Agostino, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (4)

Le combat des anges with Claudio Coviello and Marco Agostino, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (1)

Le combat des anges with Claudio Coviello and Marco Agostino, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (2)

KAMMERBALLETT

Music Kara Karayev, John Cage, Domenico Scarlatti Choreography Hans van Manen Sets and costumes Keso Dekker Lights Joop Caboort

Staging by Opernhaus, Zurich

Kammerballett with Chiara Fiandra and Gioaccihno Starace, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (5)

Kammerballett with Alessandra Vassallo and Gabriele Corrado, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (7)

Kammerballett with Chiara Fiandra and Gioaccihno Starace, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (6)

Kammerballett with Antonella Albano, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (1)

Kammerballett with Francesca Podini and Marco Messina, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (8)

SARCASMEN

Music Sergei Prokofiev Choreography, sets and costumes Hans van Manen Lights Jan Hofstra

New Teatro alla Scala production

Sarcasmen with Nicoletta Manni and Claudio Coviello, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (8)

Sarcasmen with Nicoletta Manni with, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (9)

Sarcasmen with Nicoletta Manni and Claudio Coviello, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (9)

LE JEUNE HOMME ET LA MORT

Music Johann Sebastian Bach Ballet by Roland Petit Choreographic supervision Luigi Bonino Libretto by Jean Cocteau Sets Georges Wakhevitch Costumes Karinska Lights Jean-Michel Désiré Étoile Roberto Bolle (23, 24, 25, 28, 31 Jan., 1 Feb.)

Teatro alla Scala production

Le Jeune homme et la Mort with Roberto Bolle and Nicoletta Manni, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (9)

Le Jeune homme et la Mort with Roberto Bolle and Nicoletta Manni, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (8)

Le Jeune homme et la Mort with Roberto Bolle, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (7)

Le Jeune homme et la Mort with Roberto Bolle, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (6)

Le Jeune homme et la Mort with Roberto Bolle and Nicoletta Manni, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (13)

Le Jeune homme et la Mort with Martina Arduino and Claudio Coviello, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (3)

Le Jeune homme et la Mort with Martina Arduino and Claudio Coviello, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (1)

Le Jeune homme et la Mort with Martina Arduino and Claudio Coviello, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (2)

Le Jeune homme et la Mort with Martina Arduino and Claudio Coviello, photo by Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala (4)

CAST

Thursday 23 January 2020 at 8pm

ADAGIO HAMMERKLAVIER

First couple Agnese Di Clemente, Gioacchino Starace Second couple Francesca Podini, Gabriele Corrado Third couple Martina Arduino, Nicola Del Freo

LE COMBAT DES ANGES

Saint Loup Claudio Coviello Morel Marco Agostino

KAMMERBALLETT

Woman in black Alessandra Vassallo Woman in brown Chiara Fiandra Woman in yellow Francesca Podini Woman in orange Antonella Albano Man in black Marco Messina Man in brown Gabriele Corrado Man in yellow Domenico Di Cristo Man in orange Gioacchino Starace

SARCASMEN

Nicoletta Manni, Claudio Coviello

LE JEUNE HOMME ET LA MORT

Le Jeune homme Roberto Bolle La Mort Nicoletta Manni

Friday 24 January at 8pm

ADAGIO HAMMERKLAVIER

First couple Agnese Di Clemente, Gioacchino Starace Second couple Francesca Podini, Gabriele Corrado Third couple Martina Arduino, Nicola Del Freo

LE COMBAT DES ANGES

Saint Loup Claudio Coviello Morel Marco Agostino

KAMMERBALLETT

Woman in black Alessandra Vassallo Woman in brown Chiara Fiandra Woman in yellow Francesca Podini Woman in orange Antonella Albano Man in black Marco Messina Man in brown Gabriele Corrado Man in yellow Domenico Di Cristo Man in orange Gioacchino Starace

SARCASMEN

Nicoletta Manni, Claudio Coviello

LE JEUNE HOMME ET LA MORT

Le Jeune homme Roberto Bolle La Mort Nicoletta Manni

  Saturday 25 January 2020 – at 8pm

ADAGIO HAMMERKLAVIER

First couple Agnese Di Clemente, Gioacchino Starace Second couple Alessandra Vassallo, Emanuele Cazzato Third couple Maria Celeste Losa, Marco Agostino

LE COMBAT DES ANGES

Saint Loup Domenico Di Cristo Morel Gabriele Corrado

KAMMERBALLETT

Woman in black Antonella Albano Woman in brown Chiara Fiandra Woman in yellow Giulia Lunardi Woman in orange Stefania Ballone Man in black Andrea Risso Man in brown Emanuele Cazzato Man in yellow Endi Bahaj Man in orange Edoardo Caporaletti

SARCASMEN

Nicoletta Manni, Claudio Coviello

LE JEUNE HOMME ET LA MORT

Le Jeune homme Roberto Bolle La Mort Nicoletta Manni

  Tuesday 28 January 2020 – at 8pm

ADAGIO HAMMERKLAVIER

First couple Agnese Di Clemente, Gioacchino Starace Second couple Alessandra Vassallo, Emanuele Cazzato Third couple Maria Celeste Losa, Marco Agostino

LE COMBAT DES ANGES

Saint Loup Domenico Di Cristo Morel Gabriele Corrado

KAMMERBALLETT

Woman in black Antonella Albano Woman in brown Chiara Fiandra Woman in yellow Giulia Lunardi Woman in orange Stefania Ballone Man in black Andrea Risso Man in brown Emanuele Cazzato Man in yellow Endi Bahaj Man in orange Edoardo Caporaletti

SARCASMEN

Martina Arduino, Nicola Del Freo

LE JEUNE HOMME ET LA MORT

Le Jeune homme Roberto Bolle La Mort Nicoletta Manni

  Friday 31 January 2020 – at 8pm

ADAGIO HAMMERKLAVIER

First couple Agnese Di Clemente, Gioacchino Starace Second couple Francesca Podini, Gabriele Corrado Third couple Martina Arduino, Nicola Del Freo

LE COMBAT DES ANGES

Saint Loup Claudio Coviello Morel Marco Agostino

KAMMERBALLETT

Woman in black Alessandra Vassallo Woman in brown Chiara Fiandra Woman in yellow Francesca Podini Woman in orange Antonella Albano Man in black Marco Messina Man in brown Gabriele Corrado Man in yellow Domenico Di Cristo Man in orange Gioacchino Starace

SARCASMEN

Nicoletta Manni, Claudio Coviello

LE JEUNE HOMME ET LA MORT

Le Jeune homme Roberto Bolle La Mort Nicoletta Manni

  Saturday 1 February 2020 – at 8pm

ADAGIO HAMMERKLAVIER

Firsti couple Agnese Di Clemente, Gioacchino Starace Second couple Francesca Podini, Gabriele Corrado Third couple Martina Arduino, Nicola Del Freo

LE COMBAT DES ANGES

Saint Loup Claudio Coviello Morel Marco Agostino

KAMMERBALLETT

Woman in black Alessandra Vassallo Woman in brown Chiara Fiandra Woman in yellow Francesca Podini Woman in orange Antonella Albano Man in black Marco Messina Man in brown Gabriele Corrado Man in yellow Domenico Di Cristo Man in orange Gioacchino Starace

SARCASMEN

Nicoletta Manni, Claudio Coviello

LE JEUNE HOMME ET LA MORT

Le Jeune homme Roberto Bolle La Mort Nicoletta Manni

  Wednesday 5 February 2020 – at 8pm

ADAGIO HAMMERKLAVIER

First couple Agnese Di Clemente, Gioacchino Starace Second couple Alessandra Vassallo, Emanuele Cazzato Third couple Maria Celeste Losa, Marco Agostino

LE COMBAT DES ANGES

Saint Loup Domenico Di Cristo Morel Gabriele Corrado

AMMERBALLETT

Woman in black Antonella Albano Woman in brown Chiara Fiandra Woman in yellow Giulia Lunardi Woman in orange Stefania Ballone Man in black Andrea Risso Man in brown Emanuele Cazzato Man in yellow Endi Bahaj Man in orange Edoardo Caporaletti

SARCASMEN

Martina Arduino, Nicola Del Freo

LE JEUNE HOMME ET LA MORT

Le Jeune homme Claudio Coviello La Mort Martina Arduino

  Friday 7 February 2020 – at 2.30pm – Young People and Over65

ADAGIO HAMMERKLAVIER

First couple Agnese Di Clemente, Gioacchino Starace Second couple Alessandra Vassallo, Emanuele Cazzato Third couple Maria Celeste Losa, Marco Agostino

LE COMBAT DES ANGES

Saint Loup Domenico Di Cristo Morel Gabriele Corrado

KAMMERBALLETT

Woman in black Alessandra Vassallo Woman in brown Chiara Fiandra Woman in yellow Francesca Podini Woman in orange Antonella Albano Man in black Marco Messina Man in brown Gabriele Corrado Man in yellow Domenico Di Cristo Man in orange Gioacchino Starace

SARCASMEN

Woman in black Antonella Albano Woman in brown Chiara Fiandra Woman in yellow Giulia Lunardi Woman in orange Stefania Ballone Man in black Andrea Risso Man in brown Emanuele Cazzato Man in yellow Endi Bahaj Man in orange Edoardo Caporaletti

SARCASMEN

Nicoletta Manni, Claudio Coviello

LE JEUNE HOMME ET LA MORT

Le Jeune homme Nicola Del Freo La Mort Marta Romagna

  Friday 7 February 2020 – at 8pm

ADAGIO HAMMERKLAVIER

First couple Agnese Di Clemente, Gioacchino Starace Second couple Francesca Podini, Gabriele Corrado Third couple Martina Arduino, Nicola Del Freo

LE COMBAT DES ANGES

Saint Loup Claudio Coviello Morel Marco Agostino

KAMMERBALLETT

Woman in black Alessandra Vassallo Woman in brown Chiara Fiandra Woman in yellow Francesca Podini Woman in orange Antonella Albano Man in black Marco Messina Man in brown Gabriele Corrado Man in yellow Domenico Di Cristo Man in orange Gioacchino Starace

SARCASMEN

Martina Arduino, Nicola Del Freo

LE JEUNE HOMME ET LA MORT

Le Jeune homme Claudio Coviello La Mort Martina Arduino

  Saturday 8 February 2020 – at 8pm

ADAGIO HAMMERKLAVIER

First couple Agnese Di Clemente, Gioacchino Starace Second couple Francesca Podini, Gabriele Corrado Third couple Martina Arduino, Nicola Del Freo

LE COMBAT DES ANGES

Saint Loup Claudio Coviello Morel Marco Agostino

KAMMERBALLETT

Woman in black Alessandra Vassallo Woman in brown Chiara Fiandra Woman in yellow Francesca Podini Woman in orange Antonella Albano Man in black Marco Messina Man in brown Gabriele Corrado Man in yellow Domenico Di Cristo Man in orange Gioacchino Starace

SARCASMEN

Martina Arduino, Nicola Del Freo

LE JEUNE HOMME ET LA MORT

Le Jeune homme Claudio Coviello La Mort Martina Arduino

Photo Album: Rehearsal photos of La Scala’s new mixed bill with Roberto Bolle, Manni, Coviello, Arduino and company Serata van Manen – Petit, (Van Manen and Petit Evening) opens at La Scala on 23 January.