THE SCALA OPERA HOUSE IN MILAN
Work of the architect Giuseppe Piermarini in 1778, the Scala Opera House is the oldest of the so-called Italian theatres amongst today's renowned stages. Rebuilt in its own image after having been destroyed during an air raid in 1943, it was reopened on the 11th May 1946.
The Scala ballet revived its former glory with the introduction of Carla Fracci, the great Italian ballerina, and the arrival of Nureyev at the Scala Opera House at the beginning of the 1960's. Nureyev was often invited there during ballet festivals, and he restaged most of the ballets in the classical repertoire: "Sleeping Beauty" in 1966, "The Nutcracker" in 1969, "Don Quixote" and "Romeo and Juliet" in 1980, plus "Swan Lake" in 1990. The Scala added Nureyev's version of "Cinderella" to its repertoire in 1998.
During the 2002-2003 season, the Scala restaged "The Nutcracker" to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the dancer's death; this being the ballet danced most often by Nureyev at the Scala.
Nureyev appeared for the last time on stage at the Scala Opera House in "La Sylphide" with Carla Fracci in 1988.