attitude / dance-platform: The End of a wonderful Season: Ballett-Gala, Vienna State Ballet (Wiener Staatsballett), June 29th, 2026
To be quite open with you, I adored Alessandra Ferri’s idea of „changing“ the concept of the „old Nureyev Gala“ into a closer dedication to choreographers and Ballet Personalities, which in the last 5 years had just little to do with Nureyev and his work – to which, I must admit, I am not a „fan“. This was just due to the former ballet director’s complete lack of knowledge, interest and understanding of how a repertoire company works.
This year’s Gala was a dedication to (my adored and very respected) Sir Frederick Ashton.
We will close an eye and not write about the intricacies and (perhaps) misunderstandings that led us to the final „product“ yesterday evening and not discuss its subjectivities in terms of „connections“ from other choreographers’ work to the body of Ashton’s work.
For all of you who know my work, the sentence „Rules are made to be broken and, especially, mine by me“ is nearly commonplace. This time, as with every Gala, I must contradict this statement and be quite strict with my „own“ rules.
attitude/ dance-platform. Ricardo Leitner