Roberto Bolle and Friends
© Like Nobody’s Watching
Roberto Bolle is THE international ballet star of this generation.
Not only has he been a Principal dancer at the prestigious La Scala Theatre Ballet in Milan since he was 20, but he is a regular guest artist at the world’s biggest ballet companies, including The Royal Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and the Bolshoi Ballet. He is also one of the few dancers to transcend the ballet world into popular culture. He is a UN Goodwill Ambassador and a regular feature on Italian TV, specifically in his New Year’s dance programme Danza con me. And if that wasn’t enough, for the past 25 years he has been touring his own gala-style dance show: Roberto Bolle and Friends. However the show has never made its way to London…until now.
I have commented previously that creating the perfect gala programme is a difficult task. So many get the balance between pieces wrong, leaving the audience overwhelmed or bored from one too many grand pas de deux (duets) or mellow contemporary numbers. But with 25 years behind him, Bolle proved he is a pro at this game. The night alternated between classical ballet works and contemporary pieces, with Bolle performing in every other work (not to harp on about his age but he has the stamina of someone half of it!). Accompanying him was a stellar cast of gala regulars from across Europe, setting us up for a night of ballet excellence.
This is the final time I’ll mention his age, but it goes without saying that at 50 any dancer would start to face limits, and so it was that Bolle tended to stick to the more contemporary numbers. Duets such as the humorous Les Indomptes with Toon Lobach (choreo: Claude Brumachon) and reminiscent Opus 100 - Für Marice with Oleksandr Ryabko (choreo: John Neumeier), focussed on expressive travel across the stage and sweeping armography. Indeed, Russell Maliphant’s solo Two was 90% sweeping arms under a striking spotlight. However, it was Patrick De Bana’s solo, In Your Black Eyes, that stayed with me for its poignant reflection on a body struggling to keep up, as Bolle was forced to move his limbs with increasing effort and assistance.
Royal Ballet Principal Melissa Hamilton is a long-time performer at these galas and so it was that she performed with Bolle to open and close the show. Marco Bigonzetti’s Caravaggio was performed by the pair at the Ballet Icons gala earlier this year and did little to move me then as it did now. As a reflection on the famous artist’s life it doesn’t translate and choreographically it is middle of the road. Equally, the viral pas de deux from Le Parc (famous for its continuous kiss sequence where the woman is spun, lock-lipped, by her male partner with only her arms wrapped around his neck for support) was disappointing. The dancing, yes, was good, but the wider choreography lacked the interest of the central kiss, even if it did successfully convey the emotions of a woman trying to seduce a disinterested lover.
Curtain Call for Le Parc, Roberto Bolle and Melissa Hamilton © Like Nobody’s Watching
The four dances where Bolle was catching his breath (he danced in six!) were equally thrilling. Paris Opera Ballet rising stars Inès McIntosh and Shale Wagman were on good form for the thrilling Le Corsaire grand pas de deux, however some hesitancy (likely around the unfamiliar stage) held them back from giving this piece the welly it needs during its most show stopping leaps and turns.
I by Philippe Kratz was an unexpected contemporary work, which featured some of the meltiest choreography I have ever witnessed. Dancers Mikaela Kella and Toon Lobach danced around a single line of light in a near-continuous moonwalk, their bodies slipping snake-like up and down making you question if they even had a skeleton.
While watching engaged Royal Ballet couple Fumi Kaneko and Vadim Muntagirov perform the Grand Pas Classique I mused that there is nothing more in sync than a couple in love. This showy, grand yet understated work was danced with the precision that only dancers at the top of their game could produce. They were constantly on the music, every small movement hitting just when it should.
Curtain call for Diana and Actaeon, Margarita Fernandes and António Casalinho © Silvia Zacchia
But it was another couple, Margarita Fernandes and António Casalinho, who stole the show. Since their previous performance of Vaganova’s Diana and Actaeon at this year’s Ballet Icons Gala, they have moved to Vienna to join the Wiener Staatsballett under new director, and another Italian ballet legend, Alessandra Ferri. Ferri’s expert tutelage was evident in every step they took, as they performed the same work seven months later. Fernandes’ smile never left her face as she leapt through the air, her arms crisply accented and details such as her head’s tilt expertly thought through. Meanwhile, 22-year-old Principal dancer Casalinho powerfully soared through the air while still giving in-between steps time and thought. His dancing was so unmissable, so awe inspiring that my friend slapped me mid-writing so I wouldn’t miss a particularly awe-inspiring leap. You don’t get higher praise than that.
★★★★
Roberto Bolle and Friends
Sadler’s Wells, London / 11 November 2025
Ticket bought with my own money
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