Letizia Austoni

When she was very young, Letizia was enthralled by gymnastics: for this sport she needed to work on her ‘extension’ (height and looseness of legwork) and so aged 10 yrs, she started ballet. It soon replaced gymnastics as her true passion and since then this 19 yr old from Bergamo, Italy has been determined to make ballet her career. She was fortunate to have a good grounding locally in the Danza Studio Chiari where her teacher noticed her particular qualities. This was followed by six intense years of professional training at the Academia Teatro alla Scala of Milan. (It’s interesting to note that several of JBA’s graduates emerged from this world-famous school).Why did Letizia choose then to come to JBA? She answered the question most enthousiastically:

Letizia: “Although my reasons initially were because of the large repertoire JBA offers, as well as the chance to work with so many choreographers and coaches, in the short space of time I have spent in Antwerp I fully appreciate JBA’s healthy work environment. It is safe here to learn from my mistakes and not be judged on them. Moreover I feel the JBA teachers get to know the talents (and faults) of all their dancers and to work with each one of them in an individual fashion. I hope during my period here to become ‘an aware dancer with a mature way of moving’, to pick up and assimilate new styles very quickly and also to release tension ‘to let go‘ and express my enjoyment in dancing.”

Letizia has many hobbies aside from dance: in particular she loves reading, writing and is momentarily following an online university course in ‘communication’, all of which marks her as an intelligent and open-minded young woman.
As for the future, she has a list of many companies she admires, however topping them all are Munich’s Bayerische Staatsballet and Dutch National Ballet. Choreographers she would love to work with are Wayne McGregor, David Dawson and Crystal Pite while her favourite ballet is John Cranko’s Onegin. She sees it as a perfect combination of technique and emotion when danced by Marianela Nuñez and Roberto Bolle.
She ends with her goal in life: ‘To live life to the full and to be a sensitive and grateful person’.

©Filip Van Roe