Bolshoi to show La Scala's version of Romeo and Juliet ballet

On October 11th-13th, the ballet group of the famous theatre La Scala will perform the Romeo and Juliet ballet on the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre.

Italian ambassador to Russia Gianfranco Facco Bonetti said at a news conference on Wednesday that the two famous theatres started cooperation long ago, and La Scala made the first tour to Moscow in 1964.

This time La Scala will treat the Moscow audience with Kenneth McMillan's version of Romeo and Juliet. In 1965 the choreographer accepted the proposal to stage the ballet, yet his edition was included in the repertoire of La Scala in 1995, after his death.

Frederic Olivieri, a young newly appointed artistic director of La Scala, treats Moscow tours as a great event. He expressed the hope that the strict Moscow audience would like McMillan's edition of this Italian story set to Russian music. Frederic Olivieri said that La Scala's edition of the ballet offered a better display of characters which enabled dancers to develop their artistic skills.

Famous leading ballerina Alexandra Ferri who will dance the part of Juliet says she is glad the two theatres have resumed cooperation and is proud to be able to dance on the Bolshoi stage. She acknowledged, though, that she was a bit nervous dancing on the stage which once gave birth to the ballet version of Juliet as performed by the great Galina Ulanova. Ferri added that this role had accompanied her all her life and it was this role with which she had commenced her artistic career.

For the first time Ferri will be dancing with a new partner, the young and promising soloist Roberto Bolle. He has already performed on the Bolshoi stage, at the concert devoted to Maya Plisetskaya's jubilee. According to Bolle, it would be a great honour and pleasure to him to dance on the Bolshoi stage again performing the part of Romeo which had been brilliantly performed before by the great soloists Nuriyev, Baryshnikov and Vasilyev.