History of Nervi International Ballet Festival

The Nervi International Ballet Festival, promoted by the Municipality of Genoa, with the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Liguria Region, and organized by the Carlo Felice Theatre Foundation of Genoa, which is responsible for its artistic and organizational direction, will reach its 5th edition in 2023.
The Festival is a testament to the attention that the Carlo Felice Theatre Foundation pays to the highest expressions of contemporary creativity in the fields of dance and music, and is particularly aimed at lovers of the great tradition of classical and contemporary ballet and the various genres of dance of our time, as well as lovers of great music. The Festival represents an important showcase of the genuine and powerful talent expressed by the ballet dancers and choreographers of every latitude, hosting since its first editions the étoiles Svetlana Zakharova with the violinist Vadim Repim, Lucia Lacara, the Spanish bailaor Sergio Bernal, the étoile of the New York City Ballet Ashley Bouder, the étoile of Bol’šoj Theatre and of guest étoile at Teatro alla Scala, the étoile of the Vienna Opera Davide Dato, the duo of Simone Repele – Sasha Riva from the Ballet du Grande Théâtre de Genève, the étoile of the Hamburg Ballet Jacopo Bellussi, the Ballet “Igor Moiseev” and the ballet stars of the Youth America Grand Prix gala, an exclusive Italian participation here in Nervi.
Nervi Music Ballet Festival is deeply rooted in the Festival Internazionale del Balletto di Nervi, an event that promoted cultural excellency and wrote pages of the Italian dance history at an international level. The historical Festival was founded in 1954 by Mario Porcile, who had directed it until 1982 and some further editions during the ’90s. Its last editions were held at the beginning of the new millennium, organized by the Teatro Carlo Felice, with the artistic consultancy of Maurice Béjart, and the last edition was held in 2004.
Mario Porcile, who had a doctorate in law but was also very passionate about dance, began organizing shows in Genoa after the war, and in 1953 he opened a dance school in the heart of the city with Ugo dell’Ara, then principal dancer at the Teatro alla Scala. In 1954, Porcile met the Marquess de Cuevas, founder and director of the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas, thanks to who he conceived the idea of a Festival in the marvellous frame of the Parks of Nervi with the aim of valorizing the important tradition of Italian ballet, with reference to Enrico Cecchetti, Maria Taglioni, Carlotta Grisi and other relevant names. He wished to found a company representing Italian ballet and to create a new context where to invite the best foreign companies in Genoa. Thanks to the synergy between Comune di Genova and the big local private companies, on July 8 luglio 1955 the first show of “Festival Internazionale del Balletto” premiered in the Parks of Nervi. The 140 dancers of the Croatian National Theatre of Zagreb was triumphally acclaimed by an audience of 2600 people. That first edition presented on stage many renowned protagonists of the contemporary ballet scene, such as the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas and Alicia Markova.
The third edition of the Festival represented a special, epic event: the program payed homage to the Italian XIX century, and the great English choreographer Anton Dolin recreated the famous Pas de quatre which, in 1845, riunited the four starts Maria Taglioni, Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Cerrito and Lucile Grahn. On stage, the three étoile of the moment: Alicia Markova, Yvette Chauviré and Margrethe Schanne, who were joined by a very young Carla Fracci, a recent graduate of the Teatro alla Scala.
In 1961 the Carlo Felice Theater hosted Rudolf Nureyev, who had recently joined the Marquis de Cuevas Company after having requested political asylum in France. He performed in Sleeping Beauty with Yvette Chauviré and Rosella Hightower. The following year Nureyev made his debut in Nervi with Margot Fonteyn and the Royal Ballet; the famous couple, who had recently moved to London, performed together for the first time in the ballet Swan Lake.
Over the years, the most important dance companies have performed at the Nervi Festival: Bol’šoj, Kirov, San Francisco Ballet, the corps de ballet of the Teatro alla Scala, Ballet du XXe Siècle, Nederlands Dans Theater, New York City Ballet, Frankfurt Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, and many others. From the very beginning, the Festival also hosted folk dance companies such as the Folkloric Ballet of Mexico, the Romanian Ballet, the Bulgarian Ballet and the National Company of Guinea.
For some editions, starting from 1980, Nervi was also an opportunity to study with great masters thanks to the “International Dance Stage”. From the beginning, the image of the Festival was inextricably linked to the name of Serge Lido, the event’s official photographer.
For the 2004 edition, the Municipality of Genoa and the Carlo Felice Theatre, with the aim of involving the whole city, entrusted Mario Porcile with the artistic direction of the Gala of the Festival in honor of the New European Union. The guests were the étoiles from all the new adherent countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary. The show took place the night of July 3 at Teatro della Corte di Genova. That edition of Festival Internazionale del Balletto di Nervi was the last one until 2019 when, after the renovtion of the Parks of Nervi, the municipality promoted the rebirth of a Festival rich in tradition and with an innovative outlook, presenting a new title from 2021: Nervi Music Ballet Festival.