From the 20^th of January to the 10^th of February, we will be able to enjoy “Excelsior” at the Teatro La Scala in Milan. The show “Excelsior” returns again to the Lombard capital to inaugurate the ballet season.

In 1881, this unique, historical and allegorical choreographic composition was presented for the first time. The show is divided into six acts, composed by eleven scenes, which celebrate the triumph of light and civilization over obscurantism. They recall great feats of humanity and technological achievements of the time, as important as the telegraph, the battery, the steam engine or the Suez Canal.

“Excelsior” was a success at its premiere. It presented more than 100 performances during its first season in Italy, as well as an extensive international tour, through which it obtained a passage through the symbolism embodied the spirit of the time.

The current show produced in 1974 and is a lighter version than the original, both in its scenery, music and dancers, which in its original version, were more than 500 extras. However, the show does not lose anything of creativity and nostalgic flavor of the Italian ballet spirit.The main figure of “Excelsior” is the famous dancer Roberto Bolle, étoile at La Scala in Milan. Bolle has been part of the most prestigious dance companies in the world, the London Royal Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, The Ballet of Stockholm, Tokyo and New York. In this last one, he was appointed principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre in 2003. The show also features the special participation of the Russian dancer Alina Somova, during the 20^th, 22^nd and 25^th of January. Alina was chosen as the Mariinsky Theatre in 2003 and comes from the prestigious Vaganova Academy of the Russian ballet.

Teatro La Scala in Milan is one of the most important places in the world of its kind. The present building dates from 1778, since the first, located at Teatro Ducale was burned in 1776. Salieri opened the new theater with his play “L’Europe riconosciuta”. The first reform of its facade dates from 1907 and later after the damage suffered during the bombing of World War II, had to be renovated again. For some years this magnificent hall was also a casino as was the custom in the nineteenth century.

Tickets to attend this wonderful show are already available in the Internet, in different web ticket sites, including http://www.viagogo.es/Milano/Teatro-alla-Scala-Entradas/_V-1381/Excelsior-Ballet-Entradas, the price of available seats is between € 99 and € 125. Hurry up, because the high expectations created by “Excelsior” has made some sessions, totally booked by now.

Fernando Paterna

Holiday apartments in Milan are the best way to visit the city and get to know each and every one of its charms. The Lombard cuisine, its customs and historic buildings are just some of the attractions that this great city has prepared for you. Do not forget to pay a visit to its big shops avenues and cozy cafes.

Translated by: Hans
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With the arrival of the nineties, the world changed again. Nirvana was the beginning and end of the new problem. Thousands of bands around the world were fighting for the title of being the new Nirvana. The recording industry knew about it and did nothing, but trying to hire any new “alternative” project that appeared. With this, the record companies made and lost a lot of money. Some bands survived, while others fell to the deepest of radial forgetfulness. Perhaps, those were the last days when radio really opened its doors to alternative rock. Today, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Jessie J. with his “Price Tag” dominate the world.

Among the bands that surfaced in the early nineties, Spin Doctors was one of the most loved and remembered, that to date, is still causing smiles with songs like “Little Miss Can not Be Wrong” and “Two Princes”. This band started somewhere in the late eighties in New York. Its original training dates were back to 1989 exactly, and after being signed by Epic Records, they edited their debut hit “Up for Grabs … Live”, recorded live in Manhattan. In the beginning, even though no one believe it, the Spin Doctors was almost a “jam band”, making mischief on stage in a very deep and psychedelic-hippie way, the Manhattan style. Its melodic chords and happy strumming of its songs, used to make everyone dance for long and intense jams. Some of these improvisations are on the network in various “bootlegs” and rarities compiled.

The success came with the release of “Pocket Full of Kryptonite” in the summer of 1991, their debut album certainly, and probably most remembered for its hit singles mentioned above, as well as the classical “Jimmy Olsen’s Blues”. No obsession is clearer in this first release of Superman and the immense metropolis that he defends from evil. Without thinking, in two years consecutive to the album’s release, it received a platinum record for sales, Saturday Night Live appearances, extensive touring and fixed radio transmissions at the time.

The subsequent history of Spin Doctors is the same as of any band with a successful first album, the second release was not so successful, and the ups and downs, typical of Rock N Roll. However, in August 2011 marked the 20th anniversary of the release of the classic “Pocket Full of Kryptonite” and the boys are back in the ring with their joyful and rock sounds. The event will be in Milan on the 29^th of January at the Bloom Club. For more information on the Spin Doctors, visit their official website by clicking here: http://www.spindoctors.com/

Alexa Ray

Get  apartments in Milan and enjoy the sounds and joy of Spin Doctors, one of the most iconic bands of the nineties. Milan and its diverse music scene will be at your fingertips.

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Translated by: Hans
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If you like Italian football you’re in luck. On the 15th of January you have an unmissable appointment between two eternal rivals. Both teams of the city of Milan come across each other again in the most important football competition in Italy, the Serie A.

Rossoneros and interistas are at odds and have a rivalry which dates since the foundation of both clubs. The Milanese population is divided between fans of Inter and Milan.

Both teams share their stadium, the Giuseppe Meazza, also known as San Siro due to its location in the namesake district of the city. It has a capacity for 80,000 spectators and it has seen two World Cups and three European competition finals played on its grass. The teams alternate the stadium and every week one or the other plays its match there.

The origin of all the rivalry comes from a distance. At the beggining, the Milan Cricket and Football Club (original name of the currently named AC Milan) was the only team of the city but, in 1908, a disagreement emerged on the subject if it was convenient to allow foreigners to participate in the team. 43 directors and members of the club decided to turn away from the club and founded a new team, Internazionale di Milano. After this divison, the rossonero (red and black) team was quickly considered as the middle and lower classes team of the city, with its fans mainly being trade unionists and workers. However Inter was considered the club of the rich, but this fact has been forgotten in present times.

Inter has 18 Scudetti (league titles) in its cabinets, 7 Italian Cups, 3 UEFA Cups, 3 European Cups, 2 Interncontinental Cups and 1 World Club Championship. Milan, meanwhile, has 18 Scudetti, 5 Italian Cups, 2 European Cup Winners Cup, 7 European Cups, 3 Intercontinental Cups and 1 World Club Championship.

These are two of the biggest clubs in world football who have faced each other in over 200 occasions and the statistics show a very balanced outcome in their head to head. Regarding the fans, Inter is the second most popular club in Italy behind Juventus from the city of Turin, while Milan occupies third place. During the days previous to the match, the city atmosphere is quite frankly intense and their fans proudly show their colours and flags on the balconies of their houses.

Both teams arrive to the match in very different situations. Inter is having an irregular season while Milan is presented as title contender.

The show which awaits us at the San Siro will be frankly intense, thrilling and vibrant, you can’t miss it! You can still buy tickets for the match in the main websites of sporting events.

Fernando Paterna

Milan is the second most important city in Italy, one of the world’s most important commercial and financial centres, as well as being the fourth most important city in Europe in terms of economy and the capital of fashion. Renting apartments in Milan is an easy, comfortable and affordable option to visit the city.

Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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This is a controversial character of Italian modern art, probably one of the best cartoonists of all times. His name was Andrea Pazienza, and his life was very short (32 years) but incredibly intense, not only by events that encouraged her, but also due to the way he lived his life: in a totalizing, absolute and extreme way. Andrea Pazienza was defined several times as “the greatest living artist,” a claim which is a bit presumptuous, especially if his work is not known. Then, when you open and read one of his comics , one realizes that the level of his drawings allows this presumption without fear: the strength of the colors he uses and his incredible ability to create stories that the – literally – jumps out of the pages and become true moments that we live in our daily life.

Andrea Pazienza was born in San Benedetto del Tronto on May 23, 1956. His father, an art education professor conveyed in him from an early age, his love for art, teaching him to look. From a very young age, Andrea left traces of his genius, creating set designs for a few shows at the Teatro Verdi in San Severo and, since 1973, performing solo and in group exhibitions. He achieved great success thanks to the first comic book he published, “The Extraordinary Adventures of Penthotal” a story inspired by his years at the University of Bologna (where he studied at the DAMS – Disciplines of Art, Music and entertainment, a career he left when he was only two assignments away from his degree). He was also devoted to painting, another art that he developed from an early age, creating a symbolic picture representing his suicide when he was only 15 years. In 1984, the darker side of his artistic production is revealed publicly: the relationship with heroin and a drug dependence. It was those that led him to his death: June 16, 1988, at his home in Montepulciano (Tuscany), Andrea Pazienza died of a heroin overdose. It was never clear whether it was suicide or an overdose taken without the will to die.

Nonetheless, Pazienza leaves an unparalleled legacy in the world of Italian comics. The exhibition “Pazienza un corno!” Organized by the Gallery Ca ‘di Fra’ in collaboration with the Little Nemo Art Gallery of Turin aims to bring together a number of very significant works of the artist. During the entire month of January you can visit the exhibition in the ??Via Carlo Farini 2 (Milan) space . The opening hours of the Space is between 10 and 15 to 13hs 19hs, Monday to Saturday. Until January 28, 2012 (closed for Christmas Holidays until January 9).

For more information: http://sbamcomics.it/eventi/eventi-pazienza-un-corno-alla-ca-di-fra.

menschauser

So do not miss the chance to know this artist. We recommend you rent apartments in Milan and learn more about the art of comics, from the hand of one of its most renowned authors.

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Translated by: Marc
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