11 March: Francesco Ventriglia has taken up his appointment as the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s Artistic Director in November. He talks about his career from dance to choreography and artistic direction, from La Scala to the Bolshoi and Maggio Danza in Florence. The NZRB is presenting its season of Don Quixote at the Isaac Theatre Royal, 11 to 14 March, with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. It’s a good occasion to check the dome canvas painting, restored by Carolina Izzo and her Italian team
25 March: Andrea di Robilant, a Rome-based writer and researcher who gave a talk in Christchurch on 25 February about the Venetian brothers and navigators Nicolo & Antonio Zen who discovered America before Columbus, tells about his life and his books, based on authentic documents, that take the readers from a love affair in Baroque Venice to the search for a mysterious rose, plus a musical spin-off.
