Manuel Legris to leave La Scala as ballet director, Frédéric Olivieri appointed again-media

"No, non sarà l’étoile Roberto Bolle a prendere in mano il Corpo di ballo del Teatro alla Scala, come si vociferava da mesi," the Italian FQ Magazine says.

Frédéric Olivieri has been appointed as the director of the Ballet of Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy, as of 1st March 2025 as the current director Manuel Legris will leave the position.

Fortunato Ortombina, the new CEO of the theater, made the announcement after the inaugural meeting of the new board of directors of the theater on 17th February 2025, according to media reports.

Legris, who took up the position in 2020, decided last year to leave at the end of the tenure of the previous CEO, Dominique Meyer, according to Gramilano.

The announcement says Olivieri, who is currently the director of the ballet school, is appointed for two seasons instead of the typical five seasons. In addition, it will be the third time for Olivieri to serve as the director of the ballet company.

Italian media's almost unanimous speculation is that this shorter-than-usual appointment is meant to give enough time for Roberto Bolle, who will turn 50 in March, to clear up the commitments of the popular Roberto Bolle and Friends gala before taking up the ballet director job at La Scala.

However, new CEO Ortombina insisted Olivieri's appointment was not a stopgap. According to Gramilano, the CEO said;

"Please stop asking Roberto Bolle when he will become director of the ballet at La Scala because that implies an unkind question, namely when he will stop dancing. Yet he is currently immersed in many projects, both with us and around the world.

He added:

Legris’ decision to leave is a recent one but the choice of Frédéric Olivieri is not a fallback as I feel lucky to have him. The ‘two years’ had to be put into this announcement because Olivieri remains head of the school at this time. Later we will see if adjustments are needed."

We will see! It is true that Bolle looks very fit and healthy.

I will keep an eye on Legri's next move. If you hear anything, please let me know.

(Correction: the fourth paragraph had wrongly stated last "month". Now it has been corrected to say last "year".)