Voyage of Discovery

Medora, Juliet, Swanilda, Odette-Odile, Kitri, Marguerite, Giselle, Aurora, Clara, Manon, Sylvia, Nikya, Tatiana. There’s hardly a lead role in the grand repertoire that Nicoletta Manni has not yet performed with her sterling technique and utterly natural style. The radiant star in the firmament of La Scala Theatre Ballet, she was made Étoile last October, a title which very few can boast at La Scala.

Sparingly bestowed on dancers at the Milanese theatre (the last to receive the honour were Roberto Bolle and Massimo Murru in 2004), the title is a recognition of outstanding artistic merit and splendour. The thirty-two-year-old dancer from Puglia was awarded it in a surprise on-stage ceremony at the end of a heartrending performance of Tatiana in John Cranko’s Onegin, alongside Roberto Bolle. The superintendent Dominique Meyer made the announcement, accompanied by the ballet director Manuel Legris. Manni’s overwhelming emotion and bewilderment were palpable. She remembers, “An étoile nomination hadn’t happened for so many years that it seemed impossible. I was utterly shocked when I saw the superintendent take the microphone on stage. I only realised that he and director Legris were there for me when they mentioned Roberto (Bolle, Ed.) before me during their thank-you speech; that would never have happened unless there was some special reason. I cannot describe my emotion and joy at that moment”.

This much-deserved recognition crowns a non-stop career path that has been chiselled to perfection with total discipline, since she began studying ballet as a child at her mother’s dance school in a small town near Lecce, in Italy’s deep south. At thirteen, she passed the audition and joined the fourth year of the La Scala Academy Ballet School. In Milan, a whole new world was her oyster: it came with sacrifices, but plenty of gifts too. She often felt lonely, as she described in her autobiography which came out in late 2023, published in Italy by Garzanti: “Initially, it was a case of getting used to the big city and my new routine: alarm at seven, taking the metro to the Ballet School, training, then nights at the all-girls’ Catholic boarding school that my parents had chosen as a safe place where I’d be looked after”. When she finished the academy, one year ahead of her peers, at just seventeen she was ready to become a professional dancer; but Italian labour laws prevented her from beginning her career while still a minor. With no intention of taking a year off, she tried auditioning in Germany at the Staatsballett Berlin, directed back then by Vladmir Malakhov, who chose her. “An amazing experience, three seasons of real hard graft”, Manni recalls, “during which I took part in all the productions at the Berlin company, mostly in the corps de ballet, with a few solo parts”.

She had the chance to return to Milan in 2013, when she got the call from Makhar Vaziev. Unbeknownst to Nicoletta, the Russian director of La Scala Theatre Ballet had been following her progress from afar, asking for information from his friend, the Berlin’s Principal Polina Semionova. At the first chance he had to expand the company, he invited Manni to Milan. She was made principal in 2014 and has never missed an opportunity to give original performances of every title presented by the company, proving to herself first and foremost, and to her director, that this was not her end destination, but only the beginning. “I knew I would have to work harder than before, have the humility to put myself to the test, leave aside rivalry and competition: I had to constantly measure up to the roles I was performing, make them my own, and never be the same Odette, Clara or Tatiana twice. I wanted to evolve and grow with each of them”.

Now that she has become Étoile, her attitude hasn’t changed. “This has crowned a special 2023, on the personal front too [she married her colleague at La Scala, the principal Timofej Andrijashenko]; ten years since being made principal I feel that now new paths have opened up, which I must approach with a huge sense of responsibility”. And while Tatiana helped her make this dream come true, it should not be forgotten how tough it was for Manni to conquer the role: “I first danced her in 2017 and it’s good that I’d never encountered her before, because I didn’t feel she was truly my own – despite months of training – until the premiere. Only during the performance did I realise I could abandon myself to the feelings and emotions of an inner life that I didn’t feel belonged to me. The title was revived repeatedly in the following seasons, which allowed me to develop the character. Tatiana surprised me and, above all, she taught me a lot”.

Tatiana is light years away from her most recent role at La Scala, Swanilda – which Manni has never danced before, and built in close contact with the choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, whose new Coppélia opened the 2023-24 ballet season at La Scala Theatre. “Working with Ratmansky is always special”, she enthuses, “and making my debut as Swanilda with his stunning version was a real gift. I feel I can ‘let myself go’ with him, from the first day of rehearsals; I have complete trust in him, which isn’t always the case when you’re working with a choreographer who is creating his score as you go along. We have rediscovered each other now and we’ve both changed, many years on from his philological reconstructions of Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty here at La Scala”. Ratmansky’s new version adds another layer of irony to the original libretto, and Manni draws it out on stage with authentic, captivating nonchalance. “It’s a frivolous, sometimes even banal tale”, she says, “but Ratmansky managed to make it all really truthful and current, whilst maintaining his love of 19^th century-style details such as the low rétirés or turns with the cou de pied. This version it’s non-stop dancing, and the choreography has been added to with modern-day gestures. If I have to tell Franz to “come here”, I make a gesture straight out of real life. It’s been fun creating and dancing this Coppélia”.

Part of the production’s success is the brilliant, light-hearted performance of Franz given by Manni’s husband Timofej Andrijashenko. The pair have partnered together many times, not just at La Scala. “We both reached the point where being a couple in real life has helped us on stage. We met when performing together as partners, and when we developed feelings for each other, it wasn’t easy managing both things. We’re very different, and perhaps that difference is what has saved us: I helped him become more rigorous and exacting, he helped me be more spontaneous, and to seize the moment in life and on stage. Over time, those complementary differences have become our strong point; something we can’t replicate with anyone else, although we both enjoy experimenting. I often dance with Roberto (Bolle, Ed.) who is an exceptional partner; but when I go back to dancing with Tima I realise how it’s just ‘easier’ with him. That’s not the case for all couples; we know several who don’t like dancing together”.

Manni is full of praise for Manuel Legris, her current director and the creator of major revisitations of titles including Sylvia and Le Corsaire: “He taught me, transmitted his wonderful musicality to me. Being in the phrasing, managing all the transitions with musical breathing leads you to a new way of dancing. One of his characteristics is complete musical precision: so, the body changes, and becomes more expressive”.

Manni is the ultimate embodiment of the ballet dancer, with crystal-clear lines and rock solid technique; but over her career, she has shown she can move easily in the contemporary repertoire too, taking on the styles of the various choreographers who have come to La Scala, most notably perhaps Wayne McGregor, Philippe Kratz, William Forsythe and David Dawson. She says, “Contemporary dance is definitely an area I enjoy exploring. The style of a particular choreographer, the possibility of working in close contact with them, are priceless experiences that make you push yourself and your limits. Not having a story to tell immediately takes you into the physical aspect, the quality of the movement. When I go back to dancing grand repertoire after contemporary experiences, I feel enriched. Then, you meet incredible people like Wayne McGregor, who can create a two-minute solo in just one minute. He always takes your breath away”.

Among the dreams she’s yet to fulfil, there’s Raymonda, which she has never danced but is on the horizon in the near future; and the iconic solo La Luna by Maurice Béjart, which Nicoletta will be performing at La Scala on 19^th April. “I asked Maestro Legris if I could dance this solo, which Béjart created for Luciana Savignano to music by Bach; my dream will come true at the Gala Fracci. I’ve already begun rehearsals with the wonderful Luciana Savignano; in this case, the choreographer is no longer with us, but being able to work with his Muse is a truly special gift”.