On 27 July 2025, as part of the Mario Porcile Gala, the audience will have the opportunity to embark on a unique artistic journey through the history of dance. This exclusive event will feature two iconic choreographies from different historical periods: Pas de Quatre and Song of a Wayfarer. Both works have a special place in the history of the Festival and are masterpieces of the art of dance.
Pas de Quatre Signed by Jules Perrot in 1845, it was presented in Anton Dolin’s 1941 production. This legendary version of Perrot’s piece, originally created for four of the most famous ballerinas of his time (Marie Taglioni, Fanny Cerrito, Carlotta Grisi and Lucile Grahn), had already been a highlight of the Nervi Festival in 1957 and then, as now, helped to keep the tradition of romantic ballet alive while showcasing the individual virtuosity of each ballerina. In 1957, Margot Fonteyn, among others, shone in this ballet. At the gala on 27 July 2025, the Pas de Quatre will be performed by four leading ballerinas of today: Ida Praetorius, Cassandra Trenary, Aliya Tanikpaeva and Jessica Xuan. These extraordinary artists will bring technique and grace to the stage in this masterful creation to keep the legacy of the Pas de Quatre alive.
Song of a Wayfarer, Maurice Béjart’s 1971 choreography based on Gustav Mahler’s cycle of Lieder is another exceptional work of the evening that has a special connection with the history of the Festival. The choreography was created for the legendary dancer Rudolf Nureyev and the famous Genoese dancer Paolo Bortoluzzi, a pupil of Mario Porcile’s school. In 1973, it was presented to the public at the Nervi Festival. This moving and dramatic representation of the pain of the wandering soul will be performed by Matthew Ball and Jacopo Bellussi at this year’s closing gala of the Festival, taking the audience deep into Béjart’s emotional vision.
In addition to these masterpieces, guests will be treated to a series of excerpts from ballets from the great repertoire, including the so-called Black Pas de Deux from La signora delle camelie by John Neumeier and the acclaimed Balcony Pas de Deux from Romeo e Giulietta by Kenneth MacMillan.
The gala brings together dancers from world-renowned companies such as the Royal Ballet, the Hamburg Ballett, the Staatsballett Berlin, the Dutch National Ballet, the American Ballet Theatre and many others, reviving the glorious tradition of international ballet festivals.
CAST
MATTHEW BALL (Principal Dancer, Royal Ballet), JACOPO BELLUSSI (Principal Dancer, Hamburg Ballett and Étoile Ballet du Capitol Toulouse), JAKOB FEYFERLIK (Principal Dancer, Bayerisches Staatsballett), KSENIA OVSYANICK (Principal Dancer, Staatsballett Berlin), IDA PRAETORIUS (Principal Dancer, Hamburg Ballett and Royal Danish Ballet), ALIYA TANYKPAYEVA (Principal Dancer, Hungarian National Ballet), DMITRY TIMOFEV (Principal Dancer, Hungarian National Ballet), CASSANDRA TRENARY (Principal Dancer, American Ballet Theatre), JESSICA XUAN (Principal Dancer, Dutch National Ballet).
MAINA GIELGUD
Artistic Advisor to Jacopo Bellussi for the 2025 edition of the Nervi International Ballet Festival and Principal Coach of the Mario Porcile Gala
Trained by some of the most famous Russian dancers of the time, including Tamara Karsavina and Lubov Egorova, and later with Rosella Hightower, Maina Gielgud had an extensive career, creating works with Maurice Béjart’s XXth Century Ballet, dancing as principal dancer with the London Festival Ballet and the Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet, as an international guest artist, and partnering with Rudolf Nureyev and Jorge Donn.
She was Artistic Director of the Australian Ballet (1983-1997), the Royal Danish Ballet (1997-1999) and Principal Coach of the English National Ballet (2007-2012). In 2003 and 2008, she returned to the stage as a dancer and actress in Maurice Béjart’s L’Heure Equise.
A freelance professional since 1999, Maina Gielgud is a guest teacher and coach for leading companies and the world’s most prestigious schools, and is regularly invited to judge the most prestigious ballet competitions.
His staging of complete classical productions for major companies such as the Australian Ballet, Boston Ballet, Ballet du Rhin, Balletto dell’Opera di Roma, Hungarian National Ballet, Polish National Ballet, Houston Ballet, Jo’burg Ballet, Cape Town City Ballet and Junior Classical Ballet of Leiria have received enthusiastic reviews and public acclaim. These include: Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, La Sylphide, Don Chisciotte and Coppelia. His one-act ballet productions include Les Sylphides, Spectre de la Rose, Variations for 4 and Pas de Quatre by Anton Dolin, Song of a Wayfarer by Maurice Bejart, Webern opus V, Serait-ce la Mort, Bhakti. He also choreographed and staged his own version of Cinderella.
Some of his most recent projects include the reproduction of L’Heure Exquise for Alessandra Ferri, which was performed in Italy, at the Royal Opera House in London and continues to tour internationally, as well as performances of Song of a Wayfarer at the Joyce Theater in New York with David Hallberg and Joseph Gordon, and at the City Center with Germain Louvet and Hugo Marchand in 2023: the latter were also the first of seven casts to perform the same work for the Paris Opera Ballet. The 2023 productions of Giselle for the Polish National Ballet and Don Quixote for the Cape Town City Ballet received rave reviews and featured artists such as Vadim Muntagirov, Fumi Kaneko, Ksenia Ovsyanik and Antonio Casalinho. In the autumn of 2024, Maina returned to Cuba to prepare Swan Lake for the Biennial Festival and began working on Giselle for Debbie Turner’s new Cape Ballet Africa. Her first production of The Nutcracker premiered with the Ballet de Santiago in Chile at Christmas, completing the list of traditional ballets she stages, prepares and choreographs. In 2025, upcoming projects will include a staging of Maina Gielgud’s entire Giselle for Cape Ballet Africa in Cape Town (November 2025), and her own production of The Nutcracker for the same company, which will premiere in Johannesburg in December.
Maina Gielgud has been collaborating with Jacopo Bellussi as Artistic Advisor for some time now, and they also worked together on selecting the companies and repertoire for the 2025 Nervi International Festival. For the Festival’s closing gala, she is teaching and staging Anton Dolin’s Pas de Quatre and Maurice Béjart’s Song of a Wayfarer.
