LIVE PROJECTS
WORLD PREMIERE
SADLER’S WELLS THEATRE,
25 - 28 JANUARY 2024
A full-length Ballet by Natália Horečná with music by Nino Rota, commissioned by Alina Cojocaru and Acworkroom Ltd.
La Strada
Choreography – Natália Horečná
Set & Costume design – Otto Bubeníček
Lighting by Andrea Giretti
Music – Nino Rota
An Acworkroom Ltd production.
Funded by The Alina Cojocaru Foundation
With the support of ORSOLINA28
“I am incredibly excited to be bringing La Strada to life and truly honoured and grateful to be joined by such world class artists for this unique project. It has been a dream of mine for a long time to create a ballet on this most touching story. Much like our heroine Gelsomina, our own journeys in life and individual creative paths, have brought us together for this moment, to use and share these experiences and bring new artistic life to the creation of this world premiere ballet and dance production."
— Alina Cojocaru OBE
“Everything has a purpose, even this pebble”, Il Matto declares to heroine Gelsomina in Federico Fellini’s 1954 film La Strada. World-famous ballerina Alina Cojocaru’s first original commission as a producer of dance is a heartbreaking, but life-affirming look in to people’s souls, even if they do unspeakable things.
Internationally renowned choreographer Natália Horečná’s physically arresting movement alongside designer Otto Bubeniček’s evocative designs illustrate the story of childlike Gelsomina, thrust away from the safety of her home to live an itinerant life alongside the brutish circus performer Zampanò. Exposed to a harsh reality, Gelsomina’s unconscious goodness is her solace as she finds a kindred spirit in benevolent Il Matto, only to bear witness to his callous demise. In Cojocaru’s words, it is Gelsomina’s “choice of what glasses to wear to see the world that is what breaks her heart”.
Set to the poignantly timeless music of Nino Rota’s film scores, this major new dance work muses on how we choose to perceive the world and our place within it. Life, represented by the road of Fellini’s title, is full of complexities: hope, terror, the sacred, the profane, dirt, joy and curiosity. How we navigate through all this is a matter for our spirit - our essence - to contend with.
– Daniel Pratt
World famous ballerina Alina Cojocaru will take to the stage in the leading role of a brand-new production inspired by Fellini’s La Strada, created by the renowned choreographer Natália Horečná with an innovative set and costume design by Otto Bubeníček and evocative lighting by Andrea Giretti.
La Strada, set to Nino Rota’s haunting scores, tells the story of Gelsomina, sold by her mother to the strongman Zampanò, and forced to follow him into a life of hardship and suffering living on the road. In this innovative project and collaboration, the first ever full-length ballet commissioned by Cojocaru, Natália Horečná will bring this most dramatic and touching story to life using classical ballet and contemporary dance at its core.
As a dancer, Alina Cojocaru is known for her profound acting as well as her wonderful, breath-taking line. As The New York Times said, “… her beautiful extensions and airy jumps, her wraithlike, weightless quality are all gorgeous. This is technique rendered invisible by artistry”.
For La Strada, Cojocaru will be joined on stage by former star of the La Scala Ballet Mick Zeni in the role of Zampanò and in the role of Il Matto, former Royal Ballet star and now freelance dancer and choreographer Johan Kobborg.
Prominent artists Marc Jubete and David Rodriques will take on some of the production’s other leading roles.
International guest artists Yaiza Coll, Winnie Dias, Maria Tolstunova, Lukas Hunt, Robert Weithas and Giulio Galimberti will complete the cast of 11 onstage performers.
The production is presented in two acts with a running time of approx. 1 hour and 45 minutes (excluding intermission).
This unique production, which is produced by AC Workroom Ltd, with support from The Alina Cojocaru Foundation, is using pre-recorded music from a variety of Nino Rota’s compositions.
We believe this will be a world class production that will generate a great deal of excitement in the dance community and its audiences. Alina is one of the world’s best loved dancers and with this beautiful yet rarely told story, the ballet world will have an exciting new production that should prove a great addition to the artform.
La Strada - Production design images by Otto Bubenice
AC Workroom Ltd is a London based independent Ballet & Dance production company, founded in 2019 by its director Alina Cojocaru. With a primary focus dedicated to live performances, the company strives to develop and commission ambitious new original ballet and contemporary dance works for the stage that will inspire, entertain, and captivate audiences in the UK and Internationally.
Commissions to date include creations by Juliano Nunes, Tim Rushton, Kim Brandstrup and Natália Horečná.
Acworkroom is also passionate about developing dance and movement based cinematic work and has so far produced and premiered KIEV, a short-film directed and choreographed by Kim Brandstrup.
The company’s inaugural performances were at London’s Sadlers Wells Theatre in February 2020.
The company recently toured China with “Alina and Friends”, with successful performances in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Xian.
REHEARSALS
AT ORSOLINA28
THE TEAM/CAST
Alina Cojocaru OBE is a former Principal of The Royal Ballet and English National Ballet. After studying at the Royal Ballet School on a Prix de Lausanne scholarship she joined the Kiev Ballet in Ukraine as a principal dancer. Following one season with Kiev, she entered the corps of the Royal Ballet in 1999, was promoted to Soloist at the end of her first season and in April 2001 was promoted to Principal at the age of 19. With Royal Ballet Principal Johan Kobborg, she forged an iconic dance partnership, celebrated in their performances with The Royal Ballet and as guest artists around the world.
Alina left The Royal Ballet at the end of the 2012/13 season to join English National Ballet, where she performed lead roles in ballets including Akram Khan’s acclaimed reimagining of “Giselle”. Among her numerous awards are Best Female Dancer at the 2002 Critic’s Circle Awards and the 2004 and 2012 Benois de la Danse awards. Alina is a permanent Guest Artist with John Neumeier’s Hamburg Ballet and continues to dance as a Guest Artist with the world’s foremost ballet companies.
In 2019 she founded her production company Acworkroom Ltd and in 2022 The Alina Cojocaru Foundation.
Natalia Horecna is a former dancer with the Hamburg Ballet, the Nederland’s Dance Theatre and Scapino Ballet Rotterdam.
Natalia has since 2012 worked as a freelance choreographer, creating exciting works for some of the world’s foremost ballet and dance companies and has created commissioned pieces for some of ballets most illustrious artists and personalities.
Companies for which Natália has created work include - Vienna State Ballet, La Scala Ballet, Monte Carlo Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Nederland’s Dance Theatre, National Ballet of China and many more.
Natália’s creative back catalogue consists of more than 40 ballets worldwide.
Mick Zeni is a former Principal Dancer of La Scala Ballet in Milan. He has performed in the repertoire of some of the world’s most prominent classical and contemporary choreographers. These works include George Balanchine’s Apollo, Roland Petit’s Jeunne homme et la Mort, Coppelia and L’Arlesiénne, Rudolf Nureyev’s Don Quixote, Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet and many other works by John Cranko, Frederick Ashton, William Forsythe, Maurice Bejart, Jiri Kylián, John Neumeier and Alexei Ratmansky.
His numerous guest appearances include performances at the Teatro San Carlo, Arena di Verona, the Bolshoi Theatre, the Mariinsky Theatre, the NCPA in Beijing and the Paris Opera.
He is the recipient of the Italian Danza&Danza “Dancer of the Year” Award.
Johan Kobborg has enjoyed a distinguished career as a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet and as a Guest Artist with most major companies around the world.
He has simultaneously distinguished himself as a choreographer, creating major works for companies such as The Royal Ballet, The Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Ballett Zürich, National Ballet of Canada, San Francisco Ballet, Lithuanian National Ballet, Leonid Yakobson Ballet of St Petersburg, NBA Ballet Tokyo, Atlanta Ballet, Sarasota Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet and more.
Johan Kobborg has won numerous awards as both dancer and choreographer.
Otto Bubeníček studied at the Conservatory for Dance and Music in Prague. In 1993 he was invited to join the Hamburg Ballet by John Neumeier where he quickly advanced to Principal Dancer. Throughout his ballet career he has been a sought-after guest artist, performing with many renowned companies worldwide and featured in many gala performances. In 2015, he retired as a ballet dancer. Otto composes music, creates short films and graphics, and has created stage and costume designs for opera houses such as: War Memorial Opera House San Francisco, David H. Koch Theater New York, Vienna State Opera, Zürich Opera House, Royal Swedish Opera, Semperoper Dresden, Hamburg State Opera and others. In 2020 he completed a master’s degree in scenography at the HFBK University of Fine Arts Hamburg.
Andrea Giretti started working as a lighting technician for "La Compagnia Della Rancia", a company specialized in the production of musical shows as well as the Macerata Opera Festival. He collaborated with the "Teatro Sociale di Como" and held the position of both chief electrician and Lighting Designer, creating designs for "Don Giovanni", "Elisir D'Amore" and "Falstaff" and " Tosca” by Hugo De Ana.
In 2008 he started collaborating with the Teatro Alla Scala as Lighting Manager and since 2021 been its resident Lighting Designer. He has collaborated with many opera directors including Robert Carsen, Damiano Michieletto, Mario Martone, Bartlett Sher and many others creating the lighting designs for the operas "Don Giovanni" "Falstaff" "Andrea Chenier" "Romeo et Juliett".
Designs for ballets include “Nutcracker” and “Swan Lake” with choreography by R. Nureyev, and “Le Corsaire” by M. Legris, “La Fille Mal Gardèe” by F.Olivieri and “Birds Walking on Water” by N.Horečná and “Symphony in C” by Balanchine. I also collaborated on the lighting for many shows with choreographers such as Bejart, Preliocaj, Bigonzetti, Coralli, Petipa, Forsythe, Pistoni and many others.
Andrea is the main teacher of the "Lighting Designer" course organized by the Accademia del Teatro Alla Scala.
Giovanni Rota Rinaldi (Nino Rota) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor and academic who is best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti. He also composed the music for two of Franco Zeffirelli's Shakespeare films, and for the first two films of Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather trilogy, earning the Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Godfather Part II. Alongside this great body of film work, he composed ten operas, five ballets and dozens of other orchestral, choral and chamber works, the best known being his string concerto. Rota wrote more than 150 scores for Italian and international productions from the 1930s until his death in 1979.
Federico Fellini was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time.
For La Dolce Vita Fellini won the Palme d’Or; additionally, he was nominated for twelve Academy Awards, and won four in the category of Best Foreign Language Film, the most for any director in the history of the Academy. He received an honorary award for Lifetime Achievement at the 65th Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
His other well-known films include La Strada, Nights of Cabiria, Juliet of the Spirits, the "Toby Dammit" segment of Spirits of the Dead, Fellini Satyricon, Roma, Amarcord and Fellini’s Casanova.
Fellini directed La Strada based on a script completed in 1952 with Pinelli and Flaiano.
This production is produced by Acworkroom Ltd, with support from The Alina Cojocaru Foundation (reg. 1199056)
For all enquiries, contact Raluca Popa at Acworkroom Ltd.
acworkroom@yahoo.com
DONATIONS
Donations are welcome from private individuals, Trusts and Foundations.
Bank: CAFBank
Account: The Alina Cojocaru Foundation
Sort code: 40-52-40
Account number: 00034959
Donations from private individuals may be made under Gift Aid.
GIFT AID
The Foundation is registered with HMRC for Gift Aid:
HMRC Charities Reference Number: ZD17578