[July 2026] During our summer holiday in Lecce—a historic town in the Apulia region of Southern Italy—we spent an evening watching a ballet performance at an open-air theatre set up in the Piazza del Duomo.
The event, a gala titled “La Gioia di Danzare” (“The Joy of Dancing”), was organized by ballerina Nicoletta Manni, who hails from this town.
I had discovered the event on Instagram just before our summer holiday began; because I booked rather late, our seats were in the 20th row—quite a distance from the stage.
Even so, being on the aisle meant the view was still reasonably good.
Nicoletta Manni is an *étoile* (principal dancer) with the La Scala Ballet in Milan and is world-renowned.
Her husband, Timofej Andrijashenko—also a principal dancer at La Scala—frequently performs alongside her.
While I did wonder if it was worth seeing them here as we could easily catch back home in Milan, such an opportunity is rare, so I jumped at the chance.
The programme featured 11 pieces, four of which were performed by this couple, while other artists presented a mix of classical and contemporary works.
Naturally, the performances by the star couple were flawless.
In the balcony scene from *Romeo and Juliet* in particular, their affection for one another was palpable—so much so that it almost felt like they were being a bit *too* lovey-dovey!
It happened to be a very windy day; while I imagined it must have been difficult for the dancers on an outdoor stage, the wind caught their costumes—making the skirts sway—which actually added a sense of realism to the balcony scene and made it all the more enchanting.
Other performers included fellow La Scala dancers, such as soloists Maria Celeste Losa, Camilla Cerulli, and Agnese Di Clemente.
Among the performances, Camilla Cerulli’s portrayal of Diana was truly wonderful—she is definitely a dancer I’ll be keeping an eye on from now on.
Agnese Di Clemente, while struggling in *Coppélia*, looked incredibly sharp and cool in the contemporary piece; it really goes to show how some dancers are simply better suited to certain types of repertoire than others.
There were five male dancers in total, all of whom were highly competent.
Most of the music was pre-recorded, though it was a nice touch to have some live accompaniment from a piano and violin.
Incidentally, while the performance was scheduled to begin at 9:00 PM, it didn’t actually get underway until around 9:30.
The locals, seemingly accustomed to this, drifted in quite late.
Even after 9:00 PM, people were still standing around chatting in various corners.
My husband worried that, given the nature of such local events, the opening remarks might drag on—but that turned out to be an unnecessary concern; the event began promptly and concluded just as efficiently.
All in all, it was a memorable and satisfying experience.
