Milwaukee Ballet Premieres “Casanova” in the Midwest

Photo courtesy of Northern Ballet.

Milwaukee, WI – October 8, 2024 – Milwaukee Ballet is primed to open its 2024/25 Season of Love & Lust with the sensual Casanova, which has been staged only once in the United States and never before in the Midwest. This original ballet is based on the shocking true story of Casanova, an 18th-century Venetian priest turned Parisian socialite best known for his sexual encounters and multifarious scandals.

Choreographed by prolific British artist Kenneth Tindall, Casanova was inspired by the biography of Giacomo Casanova written by Ian Kelly. In turn, Kelly was inspired by Casanova’s original 3,700-page long autobiography, which recorded over 120 love affairs alongside philosophical musings and unbelievable tales of prison breaks, duels, spy work, and much more.

“I went through [Casanova’s autobiography] and tried to work out what could be told well on stage,” says Tindall. “Ian Kelly and I decided what the key parts of his story were and how we could create a narrative arc from those. They try to make fiction now as exciting as Casanova’s real life was!”

Artistic Director Michael Pink selected Tindall’s work as part of this season’s repertoire in part based on Tindall’s past relationship with the Company. In 2019, Tindall won “Audience Favorite” at Milwaukee Ballet’s biennial Genesis International Choreographic Competition.

“I think Kenny is a remarkable talent, and I’m thrilled to welcome him back for a full-length production,” says Pink. “I know our Milwaukee audience quite well, which is why I feel certain that they will be as enamored with Casanova as I was upon first viewing.”

Several of the dancers who performed in Tindall’s Genesis piece will now work with him again in Casanova.

Casanova premiered at Northern Ballet in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England in spring 2017. Other members of the production staff included Kerry Muzzey, composer of the cinematic original score; Christopher Oram, designer of the opulent sets and costumes; and Alastair West, curator of the dynamic lighting design.
 
Synopsis
 
In 1740s Paris, the aspiring priest Casanova is stripped of his church career due to his love of modern philosophy… and his seduction by two of his female pupils. Defrocked, he is left only with his violin and a science book banned by the Venetian Inquisition. Adopted by a Senator—who believes his life to have been saved by their shared interest in science—Casanova begins an affair with an aristocratic nun, but the Inquisition discovers his forbidden book and has him imprisoned.

In Paris a year later, Casanova narrates his dare-devil prison escape to the enraptured salon of Madame de Pompadour. He wins fame and fortune but remains desperate to be taken seriously as a philosopher. He becomes besotted with a singer who is obliged to masquerade as a castrato and with a married woman whom he believes to be the love of his life. When the latter returns to her husband and child, Casanova falls into a suicidal depression. His memories both haunt and save him: he writes his autobiography The History of My Life. 
 
Performance Information