La Strada

La Strada is Federico Fellini’s 1954 Oscar-winner, the haunting tale of Gelsomina, a childlike young woman sold by her mother to a travelling strongman, who still manages to find hope and wonder in a hardscrabble life.

From 1952 to 1979, the celebrated Italian director worked closely with the composer Nino Rota. Rota’s score for La Strada masterfully conveys moods ranging from energy to poignancy, and it demonstrates his deft handling of music to portray quirky characters. A dozen years after the film was released, Milan’s La Scala, one of the world’s principal opera houses, asked Rota to write a ballet version of La Strada; it premiered in 1966.

In this production, the moving story is told through the language of ballet by one of today’s leading choreographers Marco Goecke.