News clipping: Alessandra Ferri and Nikisha Fogo in Pointe, reviews of Mary, Queen of Scots, Fortnite sued (again)

All dates are 2025 unless otherwise noted.

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THE POINTE magazine published an interview with Alessandra Ferri, who has just become the Artistic Director of Wiener Staatsballett (the Vienna State Ballet), on 27th August. It was two years ago when the bombshell appointment was announced. Apparently, the Italian prima ballerina assoluta was asked to apply for the position while she had no connection with the company before. She told the magazine that she decided to do so as she reached the point where she was ready to utilise her rich experiences as a leader. As a background, she declined a similar offer from La Scala Ballet in 2007.

Regarding her headhunting a group of big artists, such as Victor Caixeta, to Vienna, Ferri said, "To quote Balanchine, I really love dancers who need to dance, who are not afraid to let themselves go and open their souls. On the other hand, they need to have a huge range of technical ability in order to be able to dance all of these works." At the same time, she said that she did not plan to bring much changes to the company as a whole because she believed in classical ballet.

Ferri also touched upon introducing new choreographers, likes of Justin Peck, to Vienna, the title change of Alexei Ratmansky's Kallirhoe. For the full article, click here.

NIKISHA FOGO also spoke with the Pointe magazine. The San Francisco Ballet Principal Dancer revealed her pre-show ritual and her hidden talents in the interview on 20th August. She also talked about what her favorite roles were, how she was excited about finally working on Kitri in Don Quixote, and how she found it tough to make friends as an adult after relocating from the Vienna State Ballet to the San Francisco Ballet during the pandemic in 2020.

For the full article, click here. Subscription is required. (Personal note: but she never opens up about why she left the Vienna State Ballet, along with her best friend Natascha Mair, when then- artistic director Manuel Legris left, does she?)

MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, the much anticipated ballet by the Scottish Ballet, world-premiered in mid-August at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh during the Edinburgh International Festival. Reviewers with Bachtrack gave it five stars, The Times four stars and The Guardian three stars. The consensus seemed to be that it was a bold and stylish production by the company's choreographer-in-residence Sophie Laplane and co-creator James Bonas (The Crucibles, Lady MacBeth), and that it was a great showcase of the company's dance talents. On the other hand, criticisms were that the choreography and the theatrical design were at times out of context and with too much metapher, that the first act would have been nicer with a little more clarity, and that second act was much better.

But Bachtrack's Kathy Elgin summarised, "You have to have your wits about you for this production and I’m already dying to see it again. Complex, riveting, baffling at times but never less than stunning, it’s a great addition to the company’s repertoire."

EPIC GAMES, the studio which makes the popular Fortnite game, was sued again last month for a potential copyright infringement, according to this The New York Times article published on 30th August. The article said, "the choreographer Felix Burgos accused the company of using the dance routine he created for Rauw Alejandro’s “Touching the Sky” music video without his authorization or consent. The Fortnite emote in question is also called “Touching the Sky.”" The studio has been sued at least eight times, the article said.

Here is the link to a YouTube clip comparing one another.