S.ipario. Alice Mariani, new Prima ballerina della Scala from 4 July, lived thirty years accompanying in every moment the search for her own greatness. «I have always felt this theater as my home and now my heart is full of joy».
Alice Mariani’s childhood in Massa Carrara
“It starts in Massa Carrara, my city, at the age of five.” There is no prima ballerina to define that it is complete, exclusive, aggressive devotion that makes certain great dreams come true, even when, at first, she does not recognize them.
“At first I didn’t exactly want to be a dancer. But it isI was lively, I never stood still, so my mother enrolled me in a dance school, in Massa Carrara. A little later I said to her: Mom, I want to come here every day! I had a great time. At 13, real dance was already my life: in the morning I went to middle school, at 2.30 pm I did the first lesson, at 7.00 pm the second. One good moment the teacher said to my mother: why don’t you let her audition at La Scala? “
In Milan, at the Scala dance school
So Alice Mariani arrives in Milan, to try to enter the La Scala dance school, one of the most prestigious in the world. The dream of many little girls. “Already. At 13 I arrive in this city that I now adore and where I now live a hundred meters from my brother. And I land, yes, at the Scala school, which for me immediately turns out to be very hard. My mother left me at the Academy boarding school, where I would be followed by older girls, because, after the audition, I had to do the trial month.
I had a very, very strict teacher, to whom I now know I owe a lot, but whom I hated then because she was beating me all the time., also due to the fact that one enters the Academy at 11 and therefore I, who arrived late, found myself with a piece of road to recover. But I also passed the month of probation, so I stopped at La Scala. And it all began ».
Life in the Academy, between rules and sacrifices
Life in the Academy, in via Campo Lodigiano, near Corso Italia, «is a bubble. It is a difficult life, dictated by rules and sacrifices that do not make you live adolescence. THEor I took lessons from nine in the morning to four in the afternoon, then at five I went to the linguistic high school in the evening. The only day off you could do girls ‘things was Sunday.’
It is not easy as a teenager to realize if what you are doing is worth it. Alice Mariani explains: «Let’s say that we were a group of girls and boys – eleven females, nine males – who, in the sacrifice, lived a strong friendship and an incredible solidarity. As soon as one, one of us gave in, all the others came into play to give him strength. What if my daughter wanted to make the same choice? I wouldn’t deprive you of the opportunity if you wanted to. ‘
Diploma with 29/30. And Alice Mariani flies to Dresden
In 2011 Alice Mariani finished the Academy as a champion: she graduated in classical and contemporary dance with a score of 29 out of thirty. So she left immediately for Germany. “Before school ended, I had auditioned in Munich, Dresden and Vienna, as well as at La Scala. The director of the Semperoper Ballett in Dresden, Aaron S. Watkin, came personally to Milan and convinced me to accept her proposal. After all, Dresden, giving space to contemporary as well as classic, had a season that was perfect for me. At the end of May 2011 I graduated, in August I was in Dresden. I said to myself: I’ll stay two, three years, then I’ll change ».
She stayed there for ten years and in 2019, in Dresden, she became Prima ballerina. She has received the Danza e Danza award as the best Italian dancer abroad and has worked with renowned teachers and choreographers, from William Forsythe to David Dawson, to many of George Balanchine’s assistants. She ended up realizing her talent abroad, like thousands of other guys.
In Germany, 50 dance companies. In Italy? 4
«With us, dance is not adequately valued and supported, which is the reason why many dancers go to Berlin, Munich, Paris, San Francisco…» says Alice Mariani. «And in fact in Italy there are just four dance companies: in Germany there are fifty! Fifty for real. D.Having said that, I have always aimed to return to Italy. I have traveled the world, but the quantity of beauty and the quality of relationship that exists here does not exist anywhere else on the planet ».
Let’s say that in Italy artistic work is not perceived as a full-fledged profession. “Very true. When they ask me what job I do and I answer “the dancer”, they look at me in a perplexed way, having a hard time contemplating that we dancers work every day, that we receive a salary or that at 47 we are forced to quit in order to retire ».
Ballerina, a full-fledged profession
Alessandra Ferri, who is 59, continues to dance. “True. Alessandra is extraordinary. She was one of my myths when I was a child and if today I am Prima ballerina della Scala I owe it to her too. To face the audition I chose to prepare with her the variation of Esmeralda del Notre Dame de Paris, a role in which she was renowned for her splendid performance, strong and seductive. It was a gesture of great generosity towards me ».
The first person to whom Alice Mariani announced that she had become Prima ballerina della Scala? “My father, because my mother, who works as an accountant, is never found on her cell phone the first time around. I tell my father everything, in detail. My dad is a former footballer, so he lived in a world parallel to mine. We have in common, for example, the knowledge of the climate that is created in the locker room for the players and in the dressing room for us dancers. It is the space where comments are made after the match and the show, where judgments are expressed and, therefore, where the harmony of the group is played out ».
The men in her life
Father, brother, a boyfriend of eleven years. Powerful, masculine ties. “Yes, but I had to deal with the melancholy of the distance. For 12 years, Federico, my boyfriend, and I have been chasing each other without ever being able to be together in the same place. Before, when I was at the Academy, I was in Milan and he was in Tuscany. Then he graduated in Industrial Chemistry in Pisa and, since I was in Dresden, he chose to do a PhD at the University of Groningen, also to be able to be closer to me. And, instead, the appointment of La Scala arrived, and I returned to Milan. In a year he should be back in Italy too, I really hope so ».
More or less what happened with his brother, Massimiliano, who is a lawyer, says Alice Mariani. «As soon as he arrived in Milan, I left Milan for Dresden. Luckily he is here now, and we live a few meters from each other ».
Roberto Bolle? «We train together. Roberto is of unrivaled elegance, he is princely. He deserves the enormous credit for having built a character to bring great dance to everyone. Beautiful? I would say, more ».
Kitri from Don Quixote, Alice Mariani’s most loved character
Alice Mariani ranges from classic to contemporary. You have danced in the most important theaters in the world, from the Opera Garnier in Paris to the Esplanade in Singapore, to the New York City Center. She has played many main roles: Gamzatti in Bayadère, Silvya and Myrtha in Giselle and on her Wayne McGregor has built a ballet called Lore. But the character who most resembles her is “Kitri, in Don Quixote, the first I did after my return to Italy with the Compagnia della Scala. She is a strong, feminine, sensual woman, but ballet is a lot of fun. There I was able to prove the dancer that I am. And it was beautiful ».
Too much breast for a dancer
Alice Mariani has an important physicality: a muscular, strong, sensual body. «Which helps me a lot in the roles of strength and power, which gives me resistance and protects me from injuries, which I’ve never had. I admit that I have a obsession with having breasts that are a little big, however unusual for a dancer and sometimes I feel a little uncomfortable with costumes that highlight it. For the future, I don’t want my body to nail me to strong roles: I’d like to explore more interpretative and lyrical roles too ».
Alice Mariani: rites, toes, feet and double step
Rituals on the day of the show: «In the morning I go to the theater, then for lunch I have a white pasta. In the afternoon rest, coffee, then to the theater. I warm every muscle in my body, I always try certain sequences ».
The tips he consumes every month. «If I prepare a show even ten pairs a month. With sweat, the tips become softer and therefore break down, deform. In a short time the foot no longer fits us ».
Condition of the feet: «They are not very damaged. I have calluses everywhere but, fortunately, few blisters, few black nails “
Solo or two-way? «Basically, while I’m dancing I like to share the emotions I’m feeling with a partner, because on the stage, looking into the eyes, you create very strong connections. And I don’t deny that sharing responsibilities on stage helps ».
Why is she the best? «When a dancer is chosen it is first of all for the body and its physical qualities: the proportions, the lines, the instep, the elasticity, the good jump. But the crucial lever is the head: she means the ability to see far, stubbornness, resistance. And then you have to be hard workers. Because it is not easy to do a great job every day of your life ».
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