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Ballet in Milan

The ballet company of the Teatro alla Scala is as old as the theatre itself — dance has been part of the house since it opened in 1778, and for long stretches of the nineteenth century Milan was the centre of gravity for the whole European ballet world.

This page collects the ballet performances currently scheduled in Milan. Pick a production to see its full run of dates.

The company and the school

The Corpo di Ballo del Teatro alla Scala is the resident company, performing a repertoire that runs from the nineteenth-century classics — Giselle, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, The Nutcracker — through to twentieth-century and contemporary choreography by Balanchine, Béjart, Forsythe and Pina Bausch.

Behind it sits one of the oldest ballet schools in the world. Founded in 1813 as the Imperial Regia Accademia di ballo and now part of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala, it has trained dancers for two centuries. Carla Fracci, the most celebrated Italian ballerina of the twentieth century, came through it, as did Roberto Bolle, who became an étoile of the house.

Where and when

Most performances take place at the Teatro alla Scala itself, in Via Filodrammatici on Piazza della Scala. Larger touring productions are sometimes staged at the Teatro degli Arcimboldi in the Bicocca district, north of the centre, which was built as the company's temporary home during the restoration of La Scala in the early 2000s.

Ballet appears throughout the La Scala season, which opens on 7 December — the feast of Sant'Ambrogio, patron saint of Milan — and runs into the following autumn. The Nutcracker is traditionally programmed around the Christmas period.

Ballet in Milan — Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a ballet performance last? Full-length classical ballets usually run between two and three hours including one or two intervals. Mixed programmes of shorter works tend to be closer to two hours.

How do I reach Teatro alla Scala? The theatre is a two-minute walk from the Duomo, served by metro lines M1 and M3; line M3 also stops at Montenapoleone. The Teatro degli Arcimboldi is on metro line M5 at Bicocca.

What time do performances start? Evening performances in Milan generally begin around 20:00, with afternoon matinees on some dates. Check the start time shown on your ticket.

Do I need to know ballet to enjoy it? No. The classical story ballets are built around plots that are easy to follow, and most programmes include a synopsis.

Also in Milan: opera in Milan · concerts in Milan.