Principato moves to a Bigger Stage

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Last year I nominated Cristiano Principato of the Dutch National Ballet as our outstanding young choreographer of the year (see The Terpsichore Titles: Outstanding Young Choreographer 28 Dec 2016). I chose Principato because of his enormous achievement in assembling some of the world's most promising young dancers for a benefit performance for the Italian charity, Casa Alessia, in Trecate, a small industrial town in North West Italy (see From Italy with Love 1 July 2016).

In that show, Principato performed some of his own work including Palladio which he contributed to the Dutch National Ballet's New Moves in 2016 (see Palladio 4 June 2016). I described that ballet as  "a very sophisticated work and quite a remarkable piece for one so young." I should add that Principato had only recently celebrated his 21st birthday. Equally impressive, however, was Principato's management of the gala. I exchanged a few words with him after the performance in which he told me that he had been responsible for everything.

I am glad to say that Principato's talents have been recognized by his company for he has been put in charge of New Moves 2017.  This is an "annual event where dancers of the company get the opportunity to develop their choreographic talents will be like a gala performance, with a party to follow." This year there will be contributions from Thomas van Damme who was also in Trecate last year as well as Bruno Da Rocha Pereira, Sebastien Galtier, Chanquito van Hoeve, Matthew Pawlicki-Sinclair, Milena Sidorova, Bastiaan Stoop, Clotilde Tran-Phat, Jozef Varga, Remi Wortmeyer and Jared Wright.  In previous years the show has taken place in a studio. This year it will be performed on the main stage of the Music Theatre or Stopera.

Last year, as a special treat that happened to coincide with my birthday, I was allowed to walk on the stage of that theatre as part of the New Friends Tour (see Double Dutch Delights  17 Feb 2017). I remarked that

"From the audience's perspective the theatre is massive but from the performer's it has quite an intimate feel."

To be put in charge of such an event at age 22 is a remarkable achievement. Did Kevin O'Hare do anything like that at the same age? I ask myself, or, indeed any of the artistic directors of the world's other great national companies? Could Principato be one of their successors?

12,190!

That was the number of hits that we received in October 2016!  In March 2013, our first full month, we achieved 269 hits and actually dropped to 196 in August of that year. We are now averaging 393 hits in a single day.

I started this blog on the 25 Feb 2013 with a review of Ballet West's performance of The Nutcracker at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre. Since then we have published 777 posts including contributions from Alison Winward, Ciara Sturrock, David Murley, Gita Mistry, Janet McNulty, Joanne Goodman, Mary Howard, Peter Groves and Mel Wong.  My thanks to each and every one of them.

Our most popular article to date was my interview with Gavin McCaig of Northern Ballet on 3 Sept 2014, followed by my reviews of the Junior Company's opening night in Amsterdam on 8 Feb 2016, Ballet West's 2016 Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet in 2015 and Chelmsford Ballet's Nutcracker in 2014.

This blog has recorded important events in my life such as  my first lesson with the over 55 class of Northern Ballet and my first performance on film with Chantry Dance and my first live performance on the stage of the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre.

I have reviewed some great performances such as Ted Brandsen's Mata Hari, David Dawson's Swan Lake, Cranko's Onegin and David Nixon's Midsummer Night's Dream. Some of those shows have been in great theatres like the Stopera and Covent Garden. Others have been local theatres in small towns like the Chelmsford Civic and the Teatro Silvio Pelico in Trecate.

Through blogging I have seen some of the greatest dancers of all time such as Antoinette Sibley and Beryl Gray and shaken hands with some of the great names like Li-Cunxin and Peter Wright. I have also met some fine people - some on stage as dancers and choreographers, others in the studio as teachers and fellow students and many more in the auditorium or at talks who simply share my passion for dance.

I should like to thank all those who have danced for me or created dance for me, all who have taught me dance and all who have contributed in one way or another to this blog.

From Italy with Love

Cristiano Principato and Friends, Gala for Alessia, Silvio Pellico Theatre, Trecare, 28 June 2016

Trecate is a small town in Piedmont about 25 miles to the west of Milan and 4 miles to the east of Novara. Its Wikipedia entry could hardly be briefer:

"Trecate is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 90 kilometres (56 mi) northeast of Turin and about 9 kilometres (6 mi) east of Novara.
It harbors a major refinery complex for fuels and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), serving northern and central Italy.
It is served by Trecate railway station."

Tramping round the town centre on Monday night looking for somewhere to eat I was reminded of the small Northern mill towns such as Rawtenstall in Lancashire or Birstall in the West Riding. There is a parish church, a town hall, a market square, a small park, a few bars and ice cream parlours and an old fashioned cinema which doubles as a theatre. That's just about it.

Cristiano Prinipato, one of the most promising young dancers and choreographers of the Dutch National Ballet, comes from Novara.  In order to raise funds for a local charity called Casa Alessia he persuaded 11 of his chums from the Dutch National Ballet, La Scala Ballet, Vienna State Ballet and Jas Art Ballet to perform with him in the cinema cum theatre. From the Dutch National Ballet he brought Emilie Tassinari, Giovanni Princic, Thomas van Damme, Yuanyuan Zhang and Priscylla Gallo. From La Scala he brought Giulia Lunardi, Edoardo Caporaletti and Gaia Andreano, from Vienna Elena Bottaro and from Jas Art Federico Ginetti and Filippo Valmorbida.

Each of those young artists gave his or her time for free and travelled quite considerable distances in the case of the artists from the Dutch National and the Vienna State Ballets. They had very little time to rehearse together since several of them flew in on the day of the performance. Cristiano had to make most of the arrangements even down to the lighting design from Amsterdam. He did all that on top of his full time job as dancer and choreographer with the Dutch National Ballet and he has only recently celebrated his 21st birthday.

When I featured Cristiano just after he joined the Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet (see Meet Cristiano Principato of the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company 3 Dec 2014) I wrote:

"Cristiano's immediate ambitions are to work hard this year, to learn what he can from his teachers, to enjoy every performance and generally to become a very good dancer. He hopes to make a career with the Dutch National Ballet. In the long term his dream is to direct a major company where he can create new ballets. He has loved choreography ever since he was a child.
His passions outside ballet are travelling, reading (especially contemporary fiction), cinema, pop music, good food and the company of good friends.
Here is a another young man who knows where he is going and I shall follow his career with interest."

On Tuesday night this remarkable young man showed his potential to fulfil all those ambitions.

The Gala for Alessia was not dissimilar to the programme that the Junior Company takes on tour around the Netherlands every week. It consisted of 17 pieces that spanned just about everything from Bournonville to Brandsen. Cristiano contributed two of his own works to the programme: the opening solo Tempo and Palladio which his company had premiered a few days earlier in New Moves.  Valmorbida contributed Acqua to the show. He and Ginetti also offered their Giorni d'Orfantotrofio to the show. Other new works iwere Ted Brandsen's Replay and Ernst Meisner's Elegy and Embers. The rest of the programme consisted of extracts from Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Coppelia, La Sylphide, Flower Festival and The Sleeping Beauty.

I don't know how much ballet comes to Trecate or even Novara but it is unlikely to be very much. There is, of course, plenty of ballet at La Scala and other theatres in Milan but Milan is an hour's train journey away and La Scala is even more expensive than Covent Garden.  It is likely that for some members of the audience Tuesday's gala was their first experience of ballet.  If that was the case I cannot think of a better introduction than Cristiano's programme.

The evening began with Cristiano's Tempo which he danced himself. He is a tall, athletic and has a particularly expressive face. Clearly he loves music and expresses it in every fibre of his being. The music he chose for the piece was interesting. Its composer was Emilie Simon and the piece was rich in texture. I could be wrong but one of her instruments sounded like a didgeridoo which I have heard only once before in a classical arrangement. It was a great start to the show.

Giovanni Princip continued the momentum with Eric Gauthier's Ballet 101. He is another tall, athletic and altogether impressive dancer. I had seen him dance Ballet 101 before in Ballet Bubbles at the Meervaart in Amsterdam (see Giovanni Princic in Ballet 101 20 Feb 2016). I told him then that his performance was the best that I had ever seen. Tuesday's performance was even better. Much of the fun of the piece comes from the dialogue with such phrases as "Let's keep this classical" as the dancer raises his fists in 28th position and "Oh ho your 40th position looks a lot like your 25th" followed by creaking as he bends his knee. English is not spoken as much in Trecate as it is in Amsterdam so some of the jokes may have been lost but they still enjoyed the piece.

Cristiano followed with Emilie Tassinari in Ted Brandsen's Replay.  Emilie is another dancer to watch. She is super talented and very focused (see Meet Emilie Tassinari of the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company 6 Dec 2014). On stage she is very strong, very fast but also very delicate with superb technique and a mastery of detail. I have been one of her fans ever since I first saw her in Amsterdam in February 2015. I was even more impressed when I saw her in Cinderella later that year and more still when I saw her at the Meervaart in February. She is an excellent partner for Cristiano and when they dance together they are magnificent

The next piece was an extract from Petipa's Don Quixote which was danced by Gaia Andreano. It is a delightful variation but not easy to dance. In performing this solo, she showed charm as well as virtuosity. It was the first time I had seen Andreano and I am sure I shall hear a lot more about her even if I cannot see her very often. I cannot remember the last time La Scala Ballet visited London or even whether it has ever come to this country.

 Next came the seduction scene from the black act of Swan Lake danced by Giulia Lunardi and Edoardo Caporaletti. This is a ballet I have seen many times and I know the choreography very well. Nevertheless I learned something new from these dancers. Caporaletti danced the pas de deux in a way that suggested second thoughts. Perhaps he was beginning to cotton on that Odile was not Odette. Sensing those thoughts Luardi drew him back in line with a sharp slap on the shoulder. I should be interested to know whether this was the dancers' own interpretation or whether it is in La Scala's production. Had I been able to stay longer in Italy I could have found out for myself as La Scala danced Swan Lake last night.

Giovanni and Emilie followed with a very different portrayal of Siegfried and Odette-Odile from the white act. In this pas de deux Emilie showed her mastery of detail and her delicacy and Giovanni demonstrated his sensitivity. It is a lovely piece and one of which I never tire. There cannot have been many dry eyes in the house after that performance.

Two fine solo performances by the principals of Jas Art Ballet followed Swan Lake. Filippo Malborbida was a great Franz in an extract from Coppelia and Federico Ginetti an equally impressive James in his variation from La Sylphide. I was so impressed by their performances that I googled their company. I could not find a website but I discovered a Facebook page which stated:

"Productions for Theatres and Private Fashion and Commercial Events - Music Video Clips and TV under direction of Sabrina Brazzo International Etoile Dancer,"

Now Sabrina Brazzo is a name that I did know. A distinguished ballerina contemporaneous with our own Darcey Bussell  she can choose the very best young dancers in Italy for her company. Clearly Ginetti and Valmorbida are among the best.

The first half finished with Palladio which I believe I previewed on 4 June 2016. In the video about the ballet Cristiano explains that it is about a young girl who breaks her heart but recovers and moves on. It explores her sadness but then her strength as she creates new relationships.  Cristiano cast all the Amsterdam dancers in this piece including himself. This is a very sophisticated work and quite a remarkable piece for one so young. Though completely original I could see the influence of Meisner - but not just Meisner for I was also reminded of Jerome Robbins. Balanchine and Jose Limon's The Moor's Pavane. Most choreographers' early works are quickly forgotten but I don't think this will be one of them. I think it will be performed time and again, I might add that I think it will be popular in England as Cristiano's choreography is well suited for dancers trained in the English style.

After the interval there was a film about the brief life of Alessia Mairati, her vision and mission, her premature death in an air crash, the charity that her father, Giovanni Mairati, had founded in her honour, the work that it has done in different parts of the world and its resettlement project for former child soldiers in Burundi. Following the film Mr Mairati mounted the stage to thunderous applause and gave a short interview to the compere. Tickets for the show were free but envelopes were provided with the programme for anonymous donations. The pile of envelopes was pretty high by the time I left the theatre and if any my readers around the world wish to add to the kitty there is a giving page on the charity's website.

The rest of the show was themed on Africa and Alessia. The starting point was the pas de deux from The Pharaoh's Daughter which I found particularly interesting as that ballet is rarely performed in this country and I have never seen it before. It is a typical Petipa formula with entree, adagio, variations and coda which Cristiano danced impressively with Elena Bottaro. For me this was one of the high points of the evening. I should very much like to see the rest of the ballet and shall look out for it somewhere in Europe. It is in the Bolshoi's repertoire but it is not one of the works that they are bringing to London this month.

The commentator explained that Alessia loved flowers which was the cue for Bournonville's Flower Festival danced exquisitely by Thomas van Damme and Priscylla Gallo. I have seen Thomas more often than any of the dancers and he is another of my favourites. He is tall and graceful with a commanding presence but he is also a dance actor who can tell a story better than most. Priscylla I have seen only once before but her qualities shone through at once. Clearly another superstar in the making she reminded me of her compatriot Roberta Marquez. Together Thomas and Prisyilla were exquisite.

The commentator listed some of the challenges to Africa. The existential threat of drought caused by climate change was expressed in Valmorbida's solo Acqua which he danced himself. How can one express that concept in movement? Ketil Bjornstad's onomatopoeic music helped as did the fluidity of  Valmorbida's choreography and dancing.  A most impressive work.

War is another existential challenge to Africa and many of the conflicts that have arisen there in modern times have been been over minerals and in particular diamonds. That thought resonated with me as my late spouse came from Sierra Leone, a country that was devastated by a particularly savage civil war. It would also have resonated with members of the Dutch National Ballet since one of their company's most popular dancers was a victim of that same civil war. The connection with diamonds was expressed by Gaia Andreano in her Diamond solo from The Sleeping Beauty. It is a beautiful dance which Andreano performed well but in the context also full or irony.

The disruption of war was confronted in Meisner's Elegy which was perhaps the most moving ballet of the evening. Both English National Ballet and the New Zealand Ballet have staged commemorations of the centenary of the First World War and Ballet Black commissioned Christopher Marney to create War Letters which has recently been revived by Ballet Central,. Nothing is more poignant than Meisner's work. A duet by Cristiano in airman's blue and Emilie in a simple blue floral dress. The parting was as palpable as Romeo's and the fear and anxiety symbolized by Emilie's push to her lover. My regard for Meisner, which was already high, soared even higher. So too was my regard for his dancers who translated his steps into movement.

War leaves children fatherless and in many cases motherless too.   Much of Casa Alessia's work is for children and especially orphans. But orphanages can be loveless and often brutal places as Michaela DePrince reminds us in Hope in a Ballet Shoe. The shock and pain of sudden bereavement and absence of love was addressed by Ginetti and Valmorbida in Giorni d'Orfanotrofio or Orphanage Days which they created and danced to the music of Yann Tiersen.

But sometimes there can be happy endings such as where the sleeping princess in the forest is awoken by her beau or a child in an orphanage grasping a photo of a ballerina becomes a dancer with one of the finest companies of Europe and rises meteorically through its ranks. Thomas and Yuanyuan danced the awakening scene from The Sleeping Beauuty. I have seen Sibley in that role and more recently Aliya Tanykpayeva. Neither of them danced it more convincingly than Yuanyuan.

Last year Meisner was my joint choreographer of the year for creating Embers.  It moves me in a special way. I have now seen it four times and I love it a little more each time I see it.  Thomas and Nancy Burer introduced me to the work and they dance it beautifully. I experienced it in a different way when Cristiano and Priscylla danced the piece on Tuesday night. Never has it seemed more beautiful.

The emblem of the Casa Alessia is the sunflower. Members of the charity wear sunflower yellow t-shirts.  When the dancers appeared for their standing ovation each of the women artists received the most beautiful sunflower bouquet. But as I clapped and cheered from my seat a lady appeared with the same bouquet and presented it to me. A card that was attached to the cards read "Mrs Lambert Grazie di Cuore". It was signed on behalf of Mr Mairati, the dancers and the Friends of Alessia.   It was one of the most beautiful gifts I have ever received. It was not possible to bring the flowers back to Holmfirth but I found a home for them with a family in Italy who will enjoy them as much as I do.  I have however brought back their essence in the card and photo and these I shall never forget.

The Beautiful Dancers at the Gala for Alessia

More on the Gala for Alessia.  

The brilliant young dancer and choreographer, Cristiano Principato, whose photo appears in the top left hand corner, has persuaded 11 of his chums to come to Trecate in North West Italy to dance in a gala to raise funds for the Casa Alessia to carry out reconstruction work in Burundi (see Principato's Project 7 April 2016).

Casa Alessia is a charity established in memory of a remarkable young student called Alessia Mairati who had intended to work for those less fortunate than herself. Alas, she died in an air crash before she could do any of that work but her father set up the charity to do some of the work that she would have carried out. It is a very sad but also very beautiful story (see Some More Information on Alessia 30 April 2016).

Every year a fund raising concert takes place in Novara in which Cristiano had always hoped to participate. He could not do so while he was at ballet school but he can now. He has brought all those excellent young dancers from the Dutch National Ballet, La Scala ballet, the Vienna State Ballet and Jas Arts Ballet to the Silvio Pellico Theatre in Trecate for a splendid show.

The programme will begin with Tempo which Cristiano has choreographed for himself and will include extracts from Swan Lake, Coppelia, The Sleeping Beauty and The Pharaoh's Daughter which we don't see very often in England. There will be another work from Cristiano called Paladio which he has created for the Dutch National Ballet and will end with Ernst Meisner's beautiful short work Embers which is one of the best I have ever seen.

Where us Trecate? I hear you say. It is about 15 miles south of Milan's Malpensa airport which is well served with flights from all major British airports as well as Budapest (if Mel or Ryosuke are interested), Oslo and Stuttgart. Trecate is just outside Novara on the railway line and near the motorway between Turin and Milan. Although it is very close to the airport it is rather awkward to reach by public transport which is why Holiday Taxis, easyJet's partners in Milan, had the cheek to quote me an exorbitant £120 for the 30 mile round trip. Don't pay it folks! The chaps in Burundi need your money rather more. Put at least some of that dosh in the collection when Cristiano passes round the hat at the end of the show. There is a bus from Malpensa airport to Novara which stops at Novara railway station from where there are frequent trains to Trecate (see How to get to the Gala for Alessia 4 May 2016).

By bringing the ballet to Trecate Cristiano will give his dad an opportunity to see him dance. Mr Principato senior has been unable to travel long distances for medical reasons. He has only read about his son's triumphs in Amsterdam, London and other places up to now. On 28 June he will see not only his son but some other fine dancers who like Cristiano will be big box office in a few years time.

The Silvio Pellico Theatre is at 24 Piazza Cattaneo in Trecate and the Macri restaurant is at number 20 where I shall be in the chair from 19:00.

How to get to the Gala for Alessia

The Gala for Alessia which I have mentioned in Principato's Project 7 April 2016, Update on the Trecate Gala 28 April 2016 and Some More Information on Alessia 30 April 2016 as well as on BalletCo Forum and in the London Ballet Circle newsletter takes place at the Silvio Pellico Theatre at 24 Piazza Cattaneo, Trecate, 28069. Trecate is about 5 miles east of Novara, 28 miles West of Milan and 15 miles due South of Milan's Malpensa Airport.

It is a very, very, very long time since I studied Italian and like all Brits I am rubbish at modern languages so please don't quote me but I seem to remember that "mal" meant "evil" and "pensa" meant "thoughts". When I tell you that Holiday Taxis, easyJet's transfer company, quoted me £120 to drive the 15 miles from Malpensa to Trecate which is far more than easyJet charged for the flight from Manchester to Milan you can imagine all the unladylike expressions that passed through my mind. Clearly, Trecate is the Lombard cabbies' equivalent of "saarf ovva rivva darlin'" ("South of the River Madam"). I would much rather spend that kind of moulah on the folks in Burundi.

Happily there is a bus between Malpensa and Novarra which is operated by the bus company STN. It stops at Novara station as you can see from the timetable and there are plenty of trains between Novara and Trecate. Google maps and most of the guidebooks advise taking a train from Malpensa to the centre of Milan and then another out to Trecate but that would be like going from Loughton to Dartford by way of Ealing.

There do not appear to be many hotels in Trecate. Booking.com had only one property on its books yesterday and I nabbed it. But there are quite a few decent looking establishments in Novara and loads in Milan.  There is however an eatery called the Macri almost next door to the theatre and I will be there from 7 pm if anyone wants to meet me.

Milan is the same size as Manchester and reminds me very much of my city. There is the same kind of buzz about the place. However, although we have lots to offer tourists with the Bridgewater Hall, The Hallé and our unique collection of the Manchester Impressionists in the City Gallery they have La Scala with its magnificent museum, the Brera, The Last Supper and a magnificent Gothic cathedral on a classical base.  Also, and, I am sorry to have to admit this, but the Victor Emanuel Galleries beat the Arndale Centre into a cocked hat.

There are cheap flights to Malpensa from London and Manchester with and even cheaper ones with Ryanair to Bergamo.  There are also some good deals from Budapest with Wizzair if Ryosuke and Mel want to see a really good show with a really good crowd for a really good cause.

Some More Information on Alessia

Ernst Meisner's Embers

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Last year I was lucky enough to see Ernst Meisner's Embers twice: once in Amsterdam on 6 Feb 2015 (see The Dutch National Ballet Junior Company's best Performance yet 8 Feb 2015) and again in London (Junior Company in London - even more polished but as fresh and exuberant as ever 7 June 2015). When I first saw it I wrote:

"Quite simply, it is one of the most beautiful ballets I have ever seen. Its beauty had me close to tears."

When I saw it again at Covent Garden I wrote:

"The next work was Ernst Meisner's Embers danced by Nancy Burer and Thomas van Damme. In my previous review I described it as "quite simply ....... one of the most beautiful ballets I have ever seen." It moved me the first time I saw it on film - a performance on the concourse of Amsterdam railway station which I embedded into Junior Company's New Season 6 Feb 2015. It moved me again last night. "

I loved it so much that I named Meisner my choreographer of the year for 2015 (see Highlights of 2015 29 Dec 2015) and I might add that right now he is on course for being choreographer of the year for 2016 for his No Time Before Time (see Ballet Bubbles 16 Feb 2016).

I will have (and you too gentle readers can all have) the opportunity to see this masterpiece again if you come to Trecate near Novara in North West Italy on 28 June 2016 at 21:00 for the Gala for Alessia which I mentioned in Principato's Project on 7 April 2016 and Update on the Trecate Gala 28 April 2016. Embers will round off a brilliant evening of dance from the most promising young dancers in some of the world's greatest ballet companies which is being directed by Cristiano Principato of the Dutch National Ballet. Cristiano explains that he has chosen Embers to end his gala because it is "all about the sunset of a great love and that reminds me of a stunning but very dramatic sunset."

The love that the gala is celebrating is that of a family for a remarkable young woman called Alessia Mairati. She came from Novara (a town just a little bit bigger than Barnsley and about the same distance from Milan as Barnsley is from Manchester). Cristiano explained that:

"Alessia was the daughter of a colleague of my father so our families were always really close. Alessia died twelve years ago when she was only eighteen year old. She was on a school exchange spending her last year of secondary school at a school in Ecuador. She was telling her family about how poor people were in Latin America and saying that she really wanted to do something concrete to help those people once she returned to Italy. Unfortunately her plane crushed on her way back. So ten years ago her father founded the charity, Casa Alessia, to make her dream of helping to alleviate poverty come true."

 If you can read Italian you will find her life story here, her emails here and some lovely photos of her here.

As they were very close to Alessia's family, Cristiano's was very distressed by the tragedy. That was particularly true of his father who fell ill and he has still not recovered. Because of that illness, he has not been able to travel long distances to see his son on stage. Since it takes place very close to home, the Gala for Alessia will be Mr Principato senior's first opportunity in 7 years to see what his son can do. I am sure he will be a very proud man indeed. No wonder Cristiano is so excited.

Every year Casa Alessia holds a concert to raise money for its work.  Because his heart is very close to Casa Alessia and Alessia's father, Cristiano always wanted to take part in that event but he was not allowed to do so while at ballet school. He was also very busy with his academic work - not to mention driving lessons. He started to think about the project last year and this year he has finally made it a reality.

The gala will be divided into two parts. The first is an introduction to ballet and will consist of various pieces from the modern and classical repertoire. Cristiano will open the show with a solo called Tempo which he is choreographing for himself. There will be some classical favourites, the white swan pas de deux and an extract from Coppélia finishing with another of his works called "Palladio", which he is creating for the Dutch National's productions New Moves.

"The second part will be a sort of trip through Casa Alessia's work in Africa made through the choice of pieces that are related to it. It will start in Egypt with a suite from The Pharaoh's Daughter (pas de deux, solos and coda)".  

Cristiano will dance that piece with a dancer from the Wiener Staatsballet.

"Then again some other connections with African diamonds (the diamond solo from The Sleeping Beauty). One contemporary solo about the lack of water and rain, a two boys duet about two orphans, a pas de deux set the night before a soldier would have to leave for the war (Elegie by Ernet Meisner) and a lot of other pieces related to Alessia's life like her love for sunflowers (with an extract from The Flower Festival pas de deux). Every piece of the second part will be explained and introduced by an announcer. "

Finally, Ernst's Meisner Embers.

"It is such a very demanding and challenging event but I will do my best to make that happen and I hope in a great help to Casa Alessia." 

Admission is free but there will be a collection at the end of the show which will enable the audience to show their appreciation for the artists as well as the work of the charity. "We'll dance our hearts out" said Cristiano  "to encourage folk to dig deep. I hope we'll manage to raise a good amount to help Casa Alessia in its amazing work. We're all dancing for free so all the money will go to the charity."

Even if it wasn't for a good cause I would still come to Trecate to see the show. Ernst Meisner has scoured the world to find the world's best young dancers and they will be there to entertain us. Unless I am very much mistaken they are the stars who will be filling Covent Garden, the Met, Palais Garnier, the Bolshoi, the Scala and Stopera in 10 to 15 years time. On our 25th wedding anniversary in 2007 I saw a young lad called Xander Parish in York and I said to my late spouse "In 10 years he will be a big star," Less than 9 years on, was I right or was I right?

I might add that I would also support Casa Alessia and projects like it even if there were no show. I was married to an African and I know its human potential is like a tightly coiled spring. Once it is freed from poverty there will be no stopping its people in every field of human endeavour including the performing arts. Cristiano's colleague, Michaela DePrince, is proof of that.

Principato's Project

Cristiano Principato

Photo Robin DePuy

(c) Dutch National Ballet 2014

Reproduced with kind permission of the Dutch 

National Ballet

Cristiano Principato is an Élève (which translates roughly as "pupil", "apprentice" or "trainee") of the Dutch National Ballet. I wrote a feature on him in December 2014 shortly after he had joined the Junior Company That man can dance. He was trained at La Scala Ballet School, spent a year with the Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company and joined the main company last year. He has already performed at Covent Garden (see
Junior Company in London - even more polished but as fresh and exuberant as ever 7 June 2015) and at the Coliseum (see Wheeldon's Cinderella 13 July 2013) and I am sure we shall be hearing a lot more about him as time goes on.

Cristiano's latest project is a gala at the Silvio Pelico Theatre in Trecate on 28 June 2016 in aid of Casa Alessia's initiative in Bujumbura to give former child soldiers an opportunity to recover their childhood, to gain an education and learn a useful trade. Casa Alessia is an Italian charity which tackles need in Italy and overseas. According to the charity's website:

"Since 2008 a village of some 48 dwellings has been built at Masango in Burundi under the guidance of a Father Bepi.
The project was intended to enable former child solders regain their childhood. Father Bepi has taught them a trade while the charity has provided a roof over their heads to ensure a promising future.
Co-operative enterprises have been established around the village which brings relief to the poorest people."

Readers will know that this is just the sort of initiative that is close to my heart. My late spouse came from Sierra Leone which also suffered a vicious civil war in which children were kidnapped, drugged and forced to fight and commit the vilest atrocities. Michaela DePrince, who is also in the Dutch National Ballet, has described some of those appalling events graphically in Hope in a Ballet Shoe. My other connection with Africa is my late spouse's goddaughter who escaped the civil war to live with us. She is now the nearest I have to a daughter and her little boy the nearest I have to a grandson. I visited that country in 2007 and saw some of the devastation for myself (see Sierra Leone 18 April 2007 NIPC Law).

Because of my connection with Africa I have supported initiatives like Anno Africa's work in one of the toughest neighbourhoods of Nairobi (see What can be achieved by a good teacher 3 March 2013) and the Gala for Ghana 4 Feb 2014 which brought together some of the biggest names in dance including Elena Glurdjidze, Ed Watson and Lauren Cuthbertson who has just dazzled London with her Giselle (see Cuthbertson's Giselle 3 April 2016).

Cristiano's gala in Trecate promises to be just as riveting. He has enlisted some of his colleagues from the Dutch National Ballet such as Emilie Tassinari, Giovanni Princic, Yuanyuan Zhang, Thomas van Damme and Priscylla Gallo as well as dancers from elsewhere. Those dancers are some of the best of their generation and I have no doubt that at least some of them will be at least as great as Watson, Cuthbertson and Glurdjidze in 10 to 15 years time. There is a great video about the gala with some footage of Casa Alessia's work in Burundi circulating on Facebook.

Now if anybody wants to see these fine young dancers Trecate is about 6 miles from Novara which happens to be Cristiano's home town. For those who are interested in history a famous battle took place against the French 1513. There is a magnificent basilica with a dome that is almost 400 feet high, a neo-classical cathedral and the Broletto or forum. The town is not too far from the Alps. The nearest international airport is probably Turin which is about 60 miles away and served by BA and several budget airlines with direct flights to the UK

I should like to wish Cristiano and everybody involved in this show chukkas for the performance and everyone in Casa Alessiia every success with their valuable work.