The Teatro Comunale sold out, the Ravel reinterpretation wins over the audience.

Bologna, October 29, 2025 – The tribute to Maurice Ravel has sold out for two nights at the Comunale Nouveau. "Boléro - Ravel" premiered this evening, starring Luciana Savignano, a shining star of dance, and Spanish ballet star Sergio Bernal.

For the final performance of the dance season (repeated tonight at 8:30 pm), the theater has chosen one of the French composer's most celebrated works, presented in Daniele Cipriani's new production, based on a text by Vittorio Sabadin and directed by Anna Maria Bruzzese. Savignano, an iconic interpreter of Bolero, now 81, evokes the genesis of the masterpiece in Maurice Béjart's celebrated version, intertwining dance steps and fragments of choreographic memory. "I'm approaching this premiere with a reckless spirit," she told Il Carlino. " If I'm still on stage, it's because I still enjoy taking on interesting proposals like this. They're like little challenges I set myself and that I like to see through to the end."

The choreography is by Simone Repele and Sasha Riva, as well as Sergio Bernal, Rafael Aguilar, and Sofia Nappi. Ravel's own transcriptions for two pianos of Rhapsodies espagnole, La Valse, and Boléro, chosen to create a refined dialogue between music and dance, are performed live by pianists Marcos Madrigal and Alessandro Stella.

The performers also included dancers from the Sergio Bernal Dance Company and Sofia Nappi's Komoko Company, as well as two "newsboys"—actors Alessandro Ambrosi and Marco Guglielmi—who, using imaginary newspaper headlines, opened the show by recalling anecdotes related to the French musician, an extraordinary innovator of musical language and ballet.

Vittoria Cappelli , a lady of dance who grew up among the ranks of the Teatro Comunale, welcomed the audience and numerous friends in the foyer of the Nouveau. For the debut of Boléro-Ravel, Bologna hosts, as Cappelli emphasizes , "one of the greatest personalities that Italy can boast: Luciana Savignano . A protagonist not out of vanity, but for the profound emotion that dance arouses in her and for the love with which she transmits the beauty of a sublime art to others."

Mayor Matteo Lepore was also present at the closing of "a great dance season, a wonderful opportunity for the public, especially the younger ones." The audience, in fact, was sold out: a thousand spectators of varying ages and styles. The more daring ones bare their shoulders, some dare to wear animal prints—zebra or leopard —while the younger ones toned down their pinstriped outfits with a pair of combat boots.

In terms of elegance, Cecilia Matteucci , a haute couture collector, stands out in a white Dior ensemble: "It came from the 80th anniversary party of Ratti Boutique in Pesaro," she says. "The 1950s crocodile bag, on the other hand, was my mother's."

For Elisabetta Riva , superintendent of the Teatro Comunale, "it's an evening of celebration: with Savignano, tradition seamlessly transforms into the present, projecting itself towards the future." While Pierangelo Conte, artistic director of the theater, emphasizes: "The value of the work done with Cappelli: next year we will have a rich program, with five shows, three of which will be accompanied by our orchestra."

Also in the audience was Marco Checchi , CEO of Pelliconi and vice president of the Comunale board of directors, with his wife Claudia Gnudi , in an elegant long dress: "This evening celebrates not only a magnificent ballet with Sergio Bernal. The presence of Savignano, which gives the event a touch of class and a hint of nostalgia."

Also present was Francesca Vispi , teacher of the first editions of Dancing with the Stars: "I'm here to admire a dancer who made history, a source of inspiration for every genre of dance."