The Corpo di ballo del Teatro alla Scala is the resident ballet company of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. It is one of the best known Italian ballet companies, and many of its dancers have achieved international fame, such as Mara Galeazzi, Alessandra Ferri, Roberto Bolle, Massimo Murru, and in the recent past, Carla Fracci.

Other personalities of the history of classical ballet associated with the corpo di ballo have been the teachers and choreographers Carlo Blasis and Enrico Cecchetti, the ballerinas Carlotta Grisi, Caterina Beretta, Carlotta Brianza and the prima ballerina assoluta Pierina Legnani, among many others.

Although the company was only founded officially after the inauguration of the Teatro alla Scala in 1778, its history can be traced back to Renaissance courts of Italy, notably in the Sforza family’s splendid palace in Milan, where the classical ballet itself was born as an art form to be later refined at the French court of Louis XIV. The first nucleus of the company was brought to Milan by the choreographer Gasparo Angiolini between 1779 and 1789, as part of his reform of serious opera. Milan was also home to Salvatore Viganò, who experimented his personal interpretation of ballet d’action (which he called “coreodramma”); this in turn later inspired Carlo Blasis and other choreographers.

Many modern choreographers have collaborated with the corpo di ballo, such as George Balanchine and Roland Petit, often to create unique ballets for the company and its étoiles (equivalent of primi ballerini assoluti).
The company's repertoire includes both classical ballets and more modern pieces; among them: Giselle, the Swan lake, Excelsior, the Taming of the Shrew, Carmen, Onegin, Theme and Variations, and many more.
Many of the company members come from the Scuola di Ballo del Teatro alla Scala.

Members of the Ballet - 2007-2008 Season

Ballet Company Director

Elisabetta Terabust

Coordinator

Marco Berrichillo

Maîtres and Teachers

Laura Contardi - Patrick Armand - Biagio Tambone

Guest Teachers

Piotr Nardelli - Loipa Araujo - Johnny Eliasen - Jean-Philippe Halnaut - Grigore Vintila - Philip Beamish - Marco Pierin - Clarissa Mucci

Étoiles

Svetlana Zakharova - Roberto Bolle - Massimo Murru

Guest Artists

Alina Cojocaru - Julie Kent - Lucia Lacarra - Nadja Saidakova - Polina Semionova - Guillaume Côté - Denis Matvienko - Ronald Savkovic

First Artist

Isabel Seabra

Principals

Sabrina Brazzo - Gilda Gelati - Marta Romagna - Vittorio D'Amato - Alessandro Grillo - Francisco Sedeño - Biagio Tambone - Maurizio Vanadia - Michele Villanova - Mick Zeni

Soloists

Laura Caccialanza - Beatrice Carbone - Sabina Galasso - Deborah Gismondi - Emanuela Montanari - Piera Pedretti - Sophie Sarrote - Silvia Scrivano - Flavia Vallone - Matteo Buongiorno - Matthew Endicott - Gianni Ghisleni - Bryan Hewison - Maurizio Licitra - Riccardo Massimi - Antonino Sutera

Corps de Ballet

Lara Agnolotti - Alessia Bandiera - Raffaella Benaglia - Catherine Beresford - Brigida Bossoni - Daniela Cavalleri - Simona Chiesa - Maddalena Cicogna - Claudia Collodel - Serena Colombi - Sonia De Cillis - Lorella Ferraro - Maria Francesca Garritano - Antonella Luongo - Patrizia Milani - Lara Montanaro - Roberta Nebulone - Katia Pianucci - Silvia Rinaldi - Luana Saullo - Daniela Siegrist - Adeline Souletie - Monica Vaglietti - Caroline Westcombe - Corinna Zambon - Stefano Benedini - Andrea Boi - Giuseppe Conte - Massimo Dalla Mora - Michel Gogat - Salvatore Perdichizzi - Andrea Piermattei - Antonio Ruggiero - Luigi Saruggia - Gianluca Schiavoni - Maurizio Tamellini - Danilo Tapiletti - Francesco Ventriglia - Massimiliano Volpini - Andrea Volpintesta

Supplementary Corps de Ballet

Antonella Albano - Stefania Ballone - Chiara Borgia - Scilla Cattafesta - Christelle Cenerelli - Azzurra Esposito - Licia Ferrigato - Chiara Fiandra - Emilie Fouilloux - Elena Marzano - Alessia Passaro - Roberta Pedretti - Francesca Podini - Jennifer Renaux -Giulia Schembri - Serena Sarnataro - Alessandra Vottariello - Giuseppina Zeverino - Akos Barat - Gabriele Corrado - Christian Fagetti - Massimo Garon - Matteo Gavazzi - Daniele Lucchetti - Simone Maier - Julien Meillat - Marco Messina - Andrea Pujatti - Francesco Pio Ricci - Fabio Saglibene - Michele Vegis

References

• Official web site of the Corpo di ballo
• Balletto.net, Italian web-based ballet magazine
• Piotr Nardelli