Dance School of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala
directed by Frédéric Olivieri
LA FILLE MAL GARDÉE
Ballet in two acts
Choreography
Frédéric Olivieri
Music
Peter Ludwig Hertel
(edited by Mario Bois, Paris)
Scenes
Angelo Sala
Costumes
Luisa Spinatelli
revised by Maria Chiara Donato
Lighting
Andrea Giretti
We would like to thank Fondazione Milano per la Scala balletto and Ms Hélène de Prittwitz Zaleski.
The Ballet School returns to perform La fille mal gardée, which debuted at La Scala in April 2023 with choreography by Frédéric Olivieri and music by Peter Ludwig Hertel. La fille mal gardée is one of the oldest ballets still in the repertoire, having been created during the French Revolution. Jean Bercher Dauberval was responsible for the ballet’s first choreography, entitled Le ballet de la paille, ou il n’est qu’un pas du mal au bien, which was staged at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux in 1789 on a medley of French folk themes and songs. Over time, the ballet underwent numerous editions and many changes to its title, the names of the characters, the choreography and the musical score. The ballet, which features several pantomime numbers in keeping with the tradition of 18th-century comic ballet and is set in a rural, peasant environment, tests the students of the La Scala Ballet School not only on a technical level. The choreography is designed to highlight their classical and academic skills, but also their interpretative abilities, as it requires considerable irony and gestural skills, especially for some of the characters, such as M.me Simone, played here by a student rather than a traditional dancer en travesti. Around sixty young dancers between the 2nd and 8th courses take to the stage.
FRÉDÉRIC OLIVIERI
Born in Nice, after graduating from the Conservatory, in 1977 he won First Prize at the Prix de Lausanne, thus gaining admission to the Paris Opera Ballet School. He then joined the Paris Opera Ballet under the direction of Violette Verdy, Rosella Highthower and Rudolf Nureyev. At the Paris Opera, as a solo dancer since 1981, he danced the most important roles in the classical repertoire and worked with numerous guest choreographers such as Maurice Béjart, John Neumeier, Kenneth MacMillan, Alwin Nikolais, Alvin Ailey, Paul Taylor, Glen Tetley and Roland Petit. In 1985, he joined the newly formed Ballets de Monte Carlo as principal dancer under the direction of Pierre Lacotte and Ghislaine Thesmar, quickly becoming an étoile. Until 1993, he danced the major roles of the classical repertoire and starred in works created especially for him by choreographers such as Uwe Scholz, Jean Christophe Maillot, John Neumeier and Roland Petit. In 1993, he became Principal of the Hamburg Ballett, directed by John Neumeier, with whom he ended his brilliant career as a dancer. Between 1996 and 2000, he was at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, first as Maître de Ballet of the MaggioDanza company and, from 2000, as Artistic Director, also taking on the role of Maître de Ballet and artistic consultant for the Zurich Opera Ballet directed by Heinz Spoerli in 1998. Also in 2000, he became principal ballet master of the Teatro alla Scala ballet company, becoming its artistic director in 2002, a position he held until 2007 and again between 2017 and 2020. During his tenure, he expanded and renewed the repertoire of the La Scala company with new productions of major ballets and new creations by artists of undisputed calibre. Since 2003, he has been Director of the Dance Department of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala and, since 2006, as Director of the historic La Scala Ballet School, he has given his students the opportunity to attend masterclasses with internationally renowned dancers and choreographers, enriching the repertoire with important titles. He has also choreographed new editions of famous ballets for the School, such as The Nutcracker to music by Tchaikovsky, Cinderella to music by Prokofiev and La fille mal gardée to the score by Peter Ludwig Hertel. Among the awards he has received are the Leonide Massine Prize (1986), the title of ‘Knight of the Order for Cultural Merit’ conferred on him by Prince Rainier of Monaco (1992) and that of ‘Knight of Arts and Letters’ awarded to him by the French Minister of Culture (2005). In 2025, he will return to conduct the Teatro alla Scala Ballet Company.
LA SCALA THEATRE ACADEMY FOUNDATION
The first traces of La Scala’s vocation for nurturing new generations can be traced back to the founding of the Ballet School in 1813, with the desire to pass on its invaluable wealth of knowledge, not only in terms of opera and dance tradition, but also in terms of creative and managerial skills. After the creation in 1946 of advanced courses for opera singers and, in the 1970s, a course for set designers, the training activities linked to the Milanese theatre have undergone constant development. The progressive diversification of the educational offerings led to the creation of an internal department (School Management, Training and Development) in 1991, under the supervision of Carlo Fontana, which became independent from the theatre as a foundation in 2001. Today, the Accademia Teatro alla Scala, chaired by Victor Massiah and directed by Luisa Vinci, offers over thirty courses in four departments – Music, Dance, Stage and Management – covering all professions in the performing arts. The teaching staff consists of artists and professionals from La Scala, alongside leading experts in the field. The teaching method guarantees comprehensive training thanks to a theoretical-practical approach that prioritises daily experience on stage and behind the scenes: concerts, performances, exhibitions and the ‘Progetto Accademia’, an opera included annually in La Scala’s season, are the testing grounds to which students are constantly called, not only in Italy but also abroad. In addition to La Scala, the founding members include the Lombardy Region, the Municipality of Milan, the Milan Chamber of Commerce, Intesa Sanpaolo, the Berti Onlus Foundation, the Bracco Foundation, the Fondazione Milano per la Scala and Techbau.
DANCE SCHOOL OF THE ACCADEMIA TEATRO ALLA SCALA
The heart of the Dance Department, directed since 2003 by Frédéric Olivieri, who currently also serves as Director of the La Scala Ballet Company, is the Ballet School, still one of the most prestigious institutions in the field of advanced dance training. Founded in 1813 by Francesco Benedetto Ricci as the ‘Imperial Royal Academy of Dance’, the La Scala School has seen a succession of famous dancers and prestigious teachers. The eight-year course (for students aged between 11 and 18) leads to a diploma with a double specialisation in classical-academic dance and modern-contemporary dance, in line with the requirements of major international companies, which demand that professional dancers master an increasingly broad and diverse repertoire. During their studies, students participate in various productions during the Teatro alla Scala season and perform on important stages in Italy and abroad. Fundamental to their artistic growth is the interpretation of the most famous choreographies by masters of yesterday and today, such as August de Bournonville, Marius Petipa, George Balanchine, Anton Dolin, José Limón, Roland Petit, Maurice Béjart, Mario Pistoni, Mats Ek, Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Angelin Preljocaj, Mauro Bigonzetti and Demis Volpi. In addition, Davide Bombana, Shantala Shivalingappa, Matteo Levaggi, Emanuela Tagliavia and Valentino Zucchetti have created works especially for the Davide Bombana Dance School. Finally, there are new choreographic versions of the great titles in the repertoire by Frédéric Olivieri, such as The Nutcracker, Cinderella and La fille mal gardée.
