It is a must, when in Milan, to visit the “Teatro Alla Scalla”. An amazing opera theatre where some of the most awarded ballets, theatrical performances and orchestras have taken place.
But let me first take you back in time, in 1776, when the city of Milan was left without an opera theatre, since the Teatro Regio Ducale was destroyed by fire under mysterious circumstances. The empress, Maria Theresa of Austria, appointed the architect, Giuseppe Piermarini, to build a new theatre. The site chosen was the degraded area of the Church of Santa Maria della Scala, so named in honour of Beatrice Regina della Scala, the wife of Bernabò Visconti. In just two years, Teatro Grande alla Scala, was ready and destined to become one of the most important focal points for both Italian and European culture. However, in August 1943, the Theatre was raided by air from the Royal Air Force. Reconstruction began again and the Teatro was rapidly rebuilt and reopened in all its original splendour with a memorable concert conducted by Arturo Toscanini. Many years later, another restoration and this time the most profound modernisation took place by Mario Botta, since the end of World War Two. The fly tower and the oval tower, which can be seen from the outside of the building, stand as a testament to this renovation.
On the night of February the 28th, I was invited at the Premier of “Madina”. A new project, on both its approach and hemes, current, universal and most importantly, rarely expressed in ballet. A story about a young lady named Madina who grows up in a land where war deprived her of her parents. Pushed by the rest of her family to become a suicide attacker in a Western town, Madina chooses not to and therefore she is put on trial.
This story is a story of dilemmas, deep motives and rough impulses, symbolic places, and the perverse dynamics of self-destructive violence, where good and evil are pitted against each other but also continue to intermix.
Words, music, body language, rythmic vibes become an interchangeable synthesis of Mauro Bigonzetti’s choreography and Fabio Vacchi’s music composition, to the libretto by Emmanuelle de Villepin from her novel La ragazza che non voleva morire. Tradition and contemporary forms intercept in a very exciting and unique way.
The amazing performances, its history, the prevailing red velvet inside the theatre, the thick and luxurious curtains, the autocue of the dialogues of the dancers and the whole mesmerising atmosphere of this place, make it an important “stone” in the art history of mankind!
Don’t miss it!
Photos: Courtesy of Teatro Alla Scala
www.teatroallascala.org/it/index.html
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