A NEW PERFORMANCE OF “CARLOTTA GRISI – FROM VIŽINADA TO ETERNITY” ON MARCH 30 AT THE NATIONAL THEATER IN NIŠ

/ / News / 29. 03. 2023.

“Carlotta Grisi – from Vižinada to Eternity”, a play written and performed by Annamaria Serda, a PhD student under the mentorship of Prof. Vida Ognjenović, is the first dramatic piece about the renowned ballerina Carlotta Grisi, the first “Giselle” in the history of ballet. It reveals a lesser-known and intriguing story about her relationship with the choreographer Gilles Perrault, with whom she shared a love for ballet that repeatedly brought them together and separated them throughout their lives.

This piece is refreshing and holds your attention until the very end. Dosed musical units in which the actors demonstrate impressive vocal abilities, complemented by dialogues and monologues, create a unique atmosphere and evoke different emotions. The play “Carlotta Grisi – from Vižinada to Eternity” is not just an ordinary story about the life of a prima ballerina. It is a story about the relationship between love and freedom and about their limits. This piece asks us many questions, such as: Can love and freedom exist together or is it inevitable in the world of men that love means renouncing freedom and freedom of choice? Is it possible to be independent in a relationship? And at the very end, what remains as the strongest impression is certainly the question of to what extent we as individuals get lost through the various demands of the profession, the audience and the people close to us.

(Nedeljka Borojević, “Hoću u pozorište”, April 28, 2022)

The play premiered on October 2, 2021, in Rovinj at the “Antonio Gandusio” Theater as part of the Art Festival “Rovinj, Art & More”, whose artistic director is Mr Ronald Braus, an opera singer and actor, who portrays the character of Gilles Perrault in this play. Mario Chopor accompanies them on the piano. The play contains original songs composed by the Croatian composer and conductor Darijan Ivezić, with direction by the Croatian ballerina and choreographer Ljiljana Gvozdenović.

In late 2021, the play received the “St. Euphemia Award,” presented at the “Rovinj, Art & More” festival for the promotion and revitalization of Istrian cultural heritage.

Subsequent performances took place in Zagreb (Zagreb Puppet Theater, February 7, 2022), Belgrade (Bitef Theater, February 11, 2022), Novi Sad (Újvidéki Színház, April 27, 2022), Zaječar (Zoran Radmilović Theater), and recently in the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea (Chelsea Theatre, September 28, 2022), where it was performed to a full house.

On Thursday, March 30, at 8 p.m., the play will be presented at the National Theater in Niš, and performances are already scheduled for April in Pula (Istrian National Theater) and Trieste (Teatro Miela).


Andjela Petrovic author