Viviana Durante (born 8 May 1967) is an Italian

ballet dancer A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...

, considered one of the great dramatic ballerinas of recent times. She was a principal dancer of

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

, American Ballet Theatre, Teatro alla Scala and

K-Ballet K-ballet is a Japanese ballet company. The company started in 1999 and has since held approximately 50 annual performances. K-Ballet's activity was first recognised internationally in July 2004, when the ballet group was invited to New York's Met ...

. She is the artistic director of

English National Ballet School English National Ballet School is a specialist classical ballet school based in London in the United Kingdom. The School was founded in 1988 by Peter Schaufuss as the official school of English National Ballet. The School's current Artistic D ...

and of the Viviana Durante Company.

Early career

Durante was born in Rome and started ballet there at the

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Rome Opera House) is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat ''Costanzi Theatre'', it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements. The pre ...

aged six. Spotted by ballerina

Galina Samsova Galina Samsova (born Galina Martynovna Samtsova, 14 March 1937 – 11 December 2021) was a Russian ballet dancer and company director. Early life and training Samsova was born as Galina Martynovna Samtsova (she later simplified the spelling of ...

, she joined the lower school of the

Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especially ...

at White Lodge in Richmond Park, London. A year later, she featured in a

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

documentary entitled ''I really want to dance''. Shortly after graduating to the upper school, aged 17, she joined the Royal Ballet Company. Two years later, she attracted national attention when she took over as Odette/Odile in mid-performance, never having been taught the role. At 21, she became the company's youngest principal dancer, and a year later, in 1990, she became the youngest artist to receive the Evening Standard Ballet Award.

Royal Ballet

At the Royal Ballet, Durante danced all the main roles in ballets by Sir

Kenneth MacMillan Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. E ...

('' Manon'', '' Romeo and Juliet'', ''

Mayerling Mayerling is a small village (pop. 200) in Lower Austria belonging to the municipality of Alland in the district of Baden. It is situated on the Schwechat river, in the Wienerwald (''Vienna woods''), southwest of Vienna. From 1550, it was in t ...

'', ''Different Drummer'', ''My Brother, My Sisters'', ''Requiem'', ''Elite Syncopations'', ''Gloria'', ''

The Prince of the Pagodas ''The Prince of the Pagodas'' is a ballet created for The Royal Ballet by choreographer John Cranko with music commissioned from Benjamin Britten. Its premiere took place on 1 January 1957 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, conducte ...

'' and ''Anastasia'', for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award), Sir Frederick Ashton (''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'', ''

La fille mal gardée LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

'', ''Rhapsody'', '' Ondine'', '' A Month in the Country'', '' A Midsummer Night's Dream'', ''Symphonic Variations'', '' Les Patineurs'', ''

Birthday Offering ''Birthday Offering'' is a pièce d'occasion in one scene choreographed by Frederick Ashton to music by Alexander Glazunov, arranged by Robert Irving. The ballet was created in 1956, to celebrate the Royal Ballet's 25th anniversary. The first p ...

'', '' Scènes de ballet'', ''Thaïs pas de deux'') and from the classical repertory ('' Swan Lake'', ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchai ...

'', '' Giselle'', '' The Sleeping Beauty'', ''

La Bayadere LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

'', ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...

'', ''

Les Biches ''Les biches'' () ("The Hinds" or "The Does", or "The Darlings") is a one-act ballet to music by Francis Poulenc, choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska and premiered by the Ballets Russes on 6 January 1924 at the Salle Garnier in Monte Carlo. Ni ...

'', ''

Raymonda ''Raymonda'' (russian: Раймонда) is a ballet in three acts, four scenes with an apotheosis, choreographed by Marius Petipa to music by Alexander Glazunov, his Opus 57. It was first presented by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Mariinsk ...

'', ''

Diana and Actaeon The myth of Diana and Actaeon can be found in Ovid’s ''Metamorphoses''. The tale recounts the unfortunate fate of a young hunter named Actaeon, who was a grandson of Cadmus, and his encounter with chaste Artemis, known to the Romans as Diana ...

'', ''Sylvia pas de deux''). She created roles in many new works including MacMillan's ''

The Judas Tree ''The Judas Tree'' is a 1961 novel by A. J. Cronin. It is considered one of the author's finest works and demonstrated a keen understanding of sin. Cronin described the book as "a complete dissection of a supreme Egotism, egoist - a well-inte ...

'' and '' Winter Dreams'' (based on Anton Chekhov's '' Three Sisters'');

Wayne McGregor Wayne McGregor, CBE (born 12 March 1970) is a multi award-winning British choreographer and director. He is the Artistic Director of Studio Wayne McGregor and Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet. McGregor was appointed Commander of the ...

's ''Fleur de Peux''; Ashley Page's ''Pursuit'', ''Piano'', ''Bloodlines'', ''...now languorous, now wild...'' and ''Cheating, Lying, Stealing''; Will Tuckett's ''Present Histories'';

David Bintley Sir David Julian Bintley (born 17 September 1957) is an English former ballet dancer, the artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, and co-artistic director of the New National Theatre Tokyo ballet company. Early life Bintley was born ...

's ''Tombeaux''; and

Amedeo Amodio Amedeo Amodio (born 1940) is an Italian choreographer and former ballet dancer. Trained at the Teatro alla Scala where he performed notably with Carla Fracci, he was appointed artistic director of the Reggio Emilia based modern ballet company ...

's ''

Cabiria ''Cabiria'' is a 1914 Italian epic silent film, directed by Giovanni Pastrone and shot in Turin. The film is set in ancient Sicily, Carthage, and Cirta during the period of the Second Punic War (218–202 BC). It follows a melodramatic mai ...

''. In 1992, Durante and her fellow principal

Darcey Bussell Dame Darcey Andrea Bussell, (born Marnie Mercedes Darcey Pemberton Crittle; 27 April 1969) is an English retired ballerina and a former judge on the BBC television dance contest ''Strictly Come Dancing''. Trained at the Arts Educational Sc ...

were the joint subjects of a ''

South Bank Show ''The South Bank Show'' is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of the series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts. Conceived, written, ...

'' documentary ''Two Ballerinas at the Royal Ballet'' (UK: ''Two Royal Ballet Dancers''), and the following year both were invited by the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...

for the Balanchine Celebration at the

New York State Theater The David H. Koch Theater is a theater for ballet, modern and other forms of dance, part of the Lincoln Center, at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and 63rd Street in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Originally ...

. In 1995, she appeared in the title role of a ninety-minute version of

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

's '' The Sleeping Beauty'', which was telecast on

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise theatrical performances such as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is p ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

during the Christmas season. In 1998, Durante made a return to the Rome stage as a guest artist in Prokovsky's production of the Tchaikovsky ballet, one of many international guest appearances. Durante appeared on the cover of ''Cosmopolitan'' and ''Harpers and Queen'' magazines and was profiled in many publications including ''Vogue'', ''Elle,'' and ''Hello''. She modelled for photographic shoots for

Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer. He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 ...

and Valentino and for catwalk shows by Maison Gattinoni, and featured in commercials for

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

. In 1999, a disagreement between Durante and The Royal Ballet, reportedly following her request for a cast change after she was dropped by a partner, blew up into a national media storm. After what the media called a 'dazzling 12-year career' as one of British ballet's major stars, Durante left the company in 2001 to pursue a freelance career.

Subsequent career

Durante joined American Ballet Theatre as a principal dancer for the 1999 spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City. She subsequently appeared as a guest artist with major international ballet companies including La Scala Milan, Tokyo Ballet and

Dresden Semperoper Ballett The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the ...

. From 2003 to 2012, she was the leading ballerina of Japan's

, founded by fellow Royal Ballet alumnus Tetsuya Kumakawa. Continuing to perform the classics, she also took roles in ballets including Bintley's ''

Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th cen ...

''; George Balanchine's ''

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

'', '' Ballet Imperial'', ''Stravinsky Violin Concerto'', '' Who Cares?'' and '' Symphony in C'';

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...

's ''

Laurentia Laurentia or the North American Craton is a large continental craton that forms the ancient geological core of North America. Many times in its past, Laurentia has been a separate continent, as it is now in the form of North America, althoug ...

'';

Tetley Tetley is an English beverage manufacturer founded in 1837 in Yorkshire. It is the largest tea company in the United Kingdom and Canada, and the second largest in the United States by volume. Since 2000, Tetley has been a wholly owned subsidiar ...

's ''

La Ronde La Ronde may refer to: Geography * La Ronde, Charente-Maritime, a commune in the Charente-Maritime ''département'', France * La Ronde River, on the Caribbean island of Dominica *La Ronde (amusement park), Montreal, Quebec, Canada * A La Ronde, an ...

''; Uwe Scholz's ''The Red and the Black'';

Roland Petit Roland Petit (13 January 192410 July 2011) was a French ballet company director, choreographer and dancer. He trained at the Paris Opera Ballet school, and became well known for his creative ballets. Life and work The son of shoe designer Ros ...

's '' Coppelia'', '' Carmen'' and ''Duke Ellington Ballet''; and André Prokovsky's ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writt ...

''. Durante is a patron of

The Hammond School The Hammond is a specialist performing arts offering training and education to students across school, college and degree courses. History In 1917, Irene Hammond, a dance teacher and performer from Cheltenham, moved to Chester where she began ...

and New English Ballet Theatre. She is a regular juror at competitions including the Prix de Lausanne and the Beijing International Ballet Competition. In 2010, a work choreographed by Durante premiered at Dance Base, Edinburgh, and the same year she collaborated with

Richard Eyre Sir Richard Charles Hastings Eyre (born 28 March 1943) is an English film, theatre, television and opera director. Biography Eyre was born in Barnstaple, Devon, England, the son of Richard Galfridus Hastings Giles Eyre and his wife, Minna Mar ...

on a dance adaptation of the film

Truly, Madly, Deeply ''Truly, Madly, Deeply'' is a 1990 British fantasy drama film made for the BBC's ''Screen Two'' series, by BBC Films, Lionheart and Winston Pictures. The film, written and directed by Anthony Minghella, stars Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman. ...

. Durante holds diplomas in dance education from the Royal Ballet School and Trinity College, London. In 2016, she returned to The Royal Ballet as a regular guest coach. In 2017, she founded Viviana Durante Company which debuted with Kenneth MacMillan: Steps Back in Time at the Barbican Centre. In 2020 the company premiered Isadora Now at the same venue. Durante was the consultant and wrote the foreword for the 2018 DK book Ballet: The Definitive Illustrated History. In 2019 she was appointed Director of Dance and in 2020 Artistic Director at

Critical reviews

Critics noted Durante's combination of immaculate technique and acting ability, often describing her as a blend of Latin passion and British coolness. Her ''Anastasia'' was widely appreciated, her ''Manon'' (with Russian dancer Irek Mukhamedov as Des Grieux, in particular) has been called the definitive interpretation, and the recording of her performance in ''The Sleeping Beauty'' has been perhaps most influential. Critics called her 'the most dramatic of dancers', and an 'unsurpassable actress' (''The Independent'').

Personal life

Durante married the British author and journalist Nigel Cliff in June 2009. They have a son, and live in London.

Awards and honours (selected)

*Awarded Dancer of the Year in the UK, Japan, Italy, Chile *1984 Prix de Lausanne *1989 '' Time Out'' Award *1989 ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' Award *1991 Premio Positano *1997 Premio Internazionale "Gino Tani" per le Arti dello Spettacolo, Rome *1997 Laurence Olivier Award – nominated for ''Anastasia'' *2002 Premio Positano *2003 Premio Vignale danza *2006 Premio Bucchi *2007 Premio Apulia *2018 Premio Eccellenze della Danza *2019 Premio Fabbrini, Florence

Theatre

*2008 ''Fram'' – new play by

Tony Harrison Tony Harrison (born 30 April 1937) is an English poet, translator and playwright. He was born in Beeston, Leeds and he received his education in Classics from Leeds Grammar School and Leeds University. He is one of Britain's foremost verse w ...

, Royal National Theatre, London *2007 ''Escaping Hamlet'' – play at

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

directed by Gianpiero Borgia

Films

*1990 ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original li ...

'' (

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

) *1991 '' Winter Dreams'' (

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

) *1993 '' George Balanchine Celebration'' (

) *1993 ''Gala Tribute To Tchaikovsky'' (Royal Opera House) *1994 '' The Sleeping Beauty'' (Royal Ballet) *1994 ''

'' (Royal Ballet) *2000 '' Carmen'' (

) *2000 ''Royal Opera House Opening Celebration'' *2002 '' Giselle'' (K-Ballet) *2002 ''Ogni 27 Agosto'' (film directed by Antonio Serrano) *2003 '' Swan Lake'' (K-Ballet) *2003 ''The Sleeping Beauty'' (K-Ballet)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durante, Viviana Prima ballerinas English ballerinas Italian ballerinas People educated at the Royal Ballet School Prix de Lausanne winners Principal dancers of The Royal Ballet American Ballet Theatre principal dancers 1967 births Living people 20th-century Italian ballet dancers Italian expatriates in England