Guido Lauri (23 November 1922 – 27 October 2019) was an Italian dancer, actor, choreographer, ballet master, company director. Born in Rome, he entered the ballet school of then Royal

Rome Opera House The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Rome Opera House) is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat ''Costanzi Theatre'', it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements. The pres ...

at 6 years-old and in 1939, after a graduation with full marks, he joined the ballet company with the title of ''primo ballerino étoile''. A very handsome man, an eclectic artist, a ''danseur noble'' with hot-blooded temperament, he excelled in all the classics partnering famous ballerinas such as French

Yvette Chauviré Yvette Chauviré (; 22 April 1917 – 19 October 2016) was a French prima ballerina assoluta and actress. She is often described as France's greatest ballerina, and was the mentor of another pair of well-known prima ballerinas named, Sylvie Guill ...

Marina Svetlova Marina Svetlova (born Yvette von Hartmann; 3 May 1922 – 11 February 2009) was a French and American ballerina and ballet instructor. Biography Svetlova was born in Paris, France, with the name Yvette von Hartmann to Russian parents. She b ...

, Liane Daydée and Jacqueline Moreau, French/Russian

Ludmilla Tchérina Ludmilla Tchérina (born Monique Tchemerzine; 10 October 1924 – 21 March 2004) was a French prima ballerina and actress. Biography She studied with Blanche d'Alessandri, Olga Preobrajenska and Clustine. She started dancing at 16 and danced ...

, Norwegian

Vera Zorina Vera Zorina (January 2, 1917 – April 9, 2003), born Eva Brigitta Hartwig, was a German-Norwegian ballerina, theatre and film actress, and choreographer, chiefly remembered for her films choreographed by her husband George Balanchine. They ...

and Italian

Attilia Radice Attilia Radice (1914–1980) was an Italian ballerina at La Scala in Milan. She is remembered above all for the roles she created at the Rome Opera. Biography Radice studied ballet at the La Scala Theatre Ballet School under Enrico Cecchetti unt ...

, often danced in neoclassical titles by

Mikhail Fokin Michael Fokine ( – 22 August 1942) was a Russian choreographer and dancer. Career Early years Fokine was born in Saint Petersburg to a prosperous merchant and at the age of 9 was accepted into the Saint Petersburg Imperial Ballet Sch ...

Vaslav Nijinsky Vaslav or Vatslav Nijinsky (12 March 1889/18908 April 1950) was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish ancestry. He is regarded as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century. Nijinsky was celebrated for his virtuosity and f ...

Léonide Massine Leonid Fyodorovich Myasin (), better known in the West by the French transliteration as Léonide Massine (15 March 1979), was a Russian choreographer and ballet dancer. Massine created the world's first symphonic ballet, ''Les Présages'', and ...

and created numerous roles for choreographer Aurel Milloss. As a guest star, soon after the Second World War and during the 50s, he was very much in demand in Italy (

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

in Milan, Teatro Regio in Turin,

La Fenice Teatro La Fenice (; "The Phoenix Theatre") is a historic opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th cen ...

in Venice, Teatro Comunale in Bologna,

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Teatro di San Carlo The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is a historic opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and ...

in Naples,

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in Palermo) and abroad ( Metropolitan Opera House in New York and

Teatro Colon Teatro may refer to: * Theatre * Teatro (band) Teatro, Italian for "theatre", is a vocal group signed to the Sony BMG music label. The members of Teatro are Jeremiah James, Andrew Alexander, Simon Bailey and Stephen Rahman-Hughes. Band membe ...

in Buenos Aires as well as in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal and Spain). GUIDO LAURI danzatore

As a ballet master and choreographer, he directed the Rome Opera Ballet between 1965 and 1983 collaborating with

Anton Dolin (ballet dancer) Sir Anton Dolin (27 July 190425 November 1983) was an English ballet dancer and choreographer. Biography Dolin was born in Slinfold in Sussex as Sydney Francis Patrick Chippendall Healey-Kay (generally known as Patrick or Pat Kay to his friend ...

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev (17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet-born ballet dancer and choreographer. Nureyev is widely regarded as the preeminent male ballet dancer of his generation as well as one of the greatest ballet dancers of all ...

Roland Petit Roland Petit (13 January 192410 July 2011) was a French ballet company director, choreographer and dancer. He trained at the Paris Opera Ballet school, and became well known for his creative ballets. Life and work The son of shoe designer Ro ...

Ninette De Valois Dame Ninette de Valois (born Edris Stannus; 6 June 1898 – 8 March 2001) was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Most notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russ ...

Patricia Neary Patricia Neary (born October 27, 1942) is an American ballerina, choreographer and ballet director, who has been particularly active in Switzerland. She has also been an ambassador for the Balanchine Trust, bringing George Balanchine's ballets to ...

Pierre Lacotte Pierre Lacotte (4 April 1932 – 10 April 2023) was a French ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher, and company director. He specialised in the reconstruction of lost choreographies of romantic ballets. Early life Lacotte was born on 4 April 19 ...

; as a member of jury, he was invited by close friend

Yuri Grigorovich Yury Nikolayevich Grigorovich (; 2 January 1927 – 19 May 2025) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer, ballet master, choreographer, and pedagogue who dominated the Russian ballet for 30 years, especially as artistic director of the Bolshoi B ...

in world-class dance competitions like those of Varna, Tokyo and Osaka. GLAURI AMPAGANINI film

He worked for theatre with

Luchino Visconti Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo (; 2 November 1906 – 17 March 1976) was an Italian filmmaker, theatre and opera director, and screenwriter. He was one of the fathers of Italian neorealism, cinematic neorealism, but later ...

, for television with

Vittorio Gassman Vittorio Gassman (; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as , was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important producti ...

, for cinema with

Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci ( ; ; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved inte ...

and he was invited in Hollywood by

Margarete Wallmann Margarete Wallmann or Wallman (aka Margarethe Wallmann, Margherita Wallman or Margarita Wallmann) (22 June or July 1901 or 1904 – 2 May 1992) was a ballerina, choreographer, stage designer, and opera director. Life and career Born probably ...

. Some of most talented artists of the time such as

De Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( ; ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the art movement, which profoundly influenced the surrealists. His ...

, Guttuso,

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

and prince Enrico D'Assia designed costumes and scene-painting for him. He was awarded the Berlin's '' Golden Bear prize'' in 1941, the Rome's ''Tiber's twins'' in 1964, the Florence's ''Michelangelo's David'' in 1978. In 1957 the ''Accademia Mondiale degli Artisti e Professionisti'' chaired by prince Ernesto Baranger awarded him an

Honorary Degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

, and in 1982 American ''Who's Who'' choose him as one of the greatest prides of the Italian ballet of the 20th century. He was married to Anna Maria Paganini, the ballet dancer for whom

Erik Bruhn Erik Belton Evers Bruhn (3 October 1928 – 1 April 1986) was a Danish ballet dancer, choreographer, artistic director, actor, and author. Early life Erik Bruhn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the fourth child and first son of Ellen (née Eve ...

created the role of the Spirit of the Lake in his 1965 version of ''Swan Lake act2'': they had a daughter, Tiziana Lauri, an acclaimed ballerina herself. He also counted among his relatives a large number of dancers, athlete Eliseo Paganini and celebrated operatic bass

Giulio Neri Giulio Neri (21 May 1909, in Torrita di Siena – 21 April 1958, in Rome) was an Italian operatic bass, particularly associated with the Italian repertory. Neri studied first in Florence with Ferraresi, and completed his studies in Rome. He made ...

.Tiziana Lauri, Rome Opera Ballet's talented ''première danseuse'' – DANCE MAGAZINE, April 1987.

References

Sources

*''Premio Guido Lauri per la danza''
Morfoedro
*''Enciclopedia dello Spettacolo'', founded by

Silvio D'Amico Silvio D'Amico (3 February 1887 – 1 April 1955) was an Italian theatre critic, journalist, and theorist of Italian theatre. Not a Fascist himself, D'Amico was the major theatre critic during the ''ventennio'', i.e. the twenty years (1922–19 ...

– Le Maschere, Roma (p. 1281). *''Enciclopedia dello spettacolo'', Garzanti (p. 366). *''Cinquant'anni del Teatro dell'Opera 1928–1978'', Bestetti editore 1979. *Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
Archivio Storico
*''Who's Who in the World'', Sixth Edition 1982–83 – Marquis

Who's Who A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...

, Inc. U.S.A (p. 630). *''Who's Who in Italy'', 1987 (p. 710). *''Guido Lauri: "La danza per me è una preghiera, una missione... dobbiamo essere sacerdoti di questa passione!"'', intervie
Il Giornale della Danza
(February 2, 2011). *''Tiziana Lauri: "Noi tutti dobbiamo imparare a corporizzare lo spirito e a spiritualizzare il corpo"'', intervie

(September 23, 2011). *''Guido Lauri, la voce di un secolo di danza'', intervie
GB Opera Magazine
August 22, 2015). {{DEFAULTSORT:Lauri, Guido 1922 births 2019 deaths Dancers from Rome Italian male ballet dancers Ballet masters Ballet teachers 20th-century Italian educators