Compañía Nacional de Danza

If we had to describe our lead principal dancer with one word that’d be passion. A passion for dance, work and his colleagues, Alessandro Riga lets us rediscover him from a personal point of view.

WHEN DID YOU REALISE YOU WANTED TO BE A DANCER?
I started young, with 6 years old, and everything was like a game. I thin I understood that this would be my future the day I left home and moved to Rome.

WHAT WORDS HAVE HELPED YOU OVERCOME DIFFICULT MOMENTS IN YOUR CAREER?
“Keep calm Ale, it’s just dancing” a friend of mine always repeated this phrase to me when tiredness and nerves became a burden. So, from now and then, I keep remind myself this phrase to calm the nerves.

WHO’S YOUR BIGGEST INSPIRATION?
My biggest inspiration comes from my colleagues, when you share every minute, every efforts and every success with them you realize of how much passion each of us have for dancing and that is very inspiring.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU DANCE?
Once I hit the stage, the only thing that matters is to be present, tell a story and connect with the audience.

WHAT ARE THE KEY ASPECTS FOR A GOOD PAS DE DEUX?
To connect with your partner, when everything falls into place and seems light and weightless, that’s when you know it’s a good pas de deux.

WHAT DO YOU THING IS, OR SHOULD BE, THE BIGGEST STRENGTH FOR A DANCER?
Probably intelligence, to know your body and be 100% present in every rehearsal and every show.

SOME WORDS OF ADVICE FOR YOUNG ASPIRING DANCERS?
There’ll be good and bad moments in your career so, my advice is to keep going with all the passion one has.

DO YOU TACKLE SUCH A CHARACTERISTIC ROLES AS THE NUTCRACKER?
With good physical preparation to tackle so many shows, and with excitement to make the audience dream with such a magical performance this time of the year.

THE NUTCRACKER OR THE PRINCE?
Both are wonderful roles, with The Nutcracker you have the possibility of telling the story among Clara. With the Prince, you can enjoy dance in its purest form.

ALLEGRO OR ADAGIO?
Probably allegro, I love to jump, move through the space and to move fast.

WHAT DANCE STYLE DO YOU ENJOY THE MOST?
I think neoclassical is the style I like to dance the most. Ballanchine, Forsythe, Quillens, are choreographers I enjoy very much on stage.

FOUR THINS THAT YOU ALWAYS CARRY IN YOUR DANCE BAG?
It depends on the time of year, right now I have some elastic bands to warm up arms and back, others to stretch the feet and legs, and a roll to release the tiredness from the body.

HOW DO YOU FIND A BALNCE BETWEEN YOUR ARTISTIC LIFE AND PERSONAL LIFE?
If you seek for a balance that’s because both thing belong to opposite sides. I think it’s best to mix both, because, as much as we’d like to disconnect, we are dancers also off the stage, so you never really get to separate both things completely.