Antonia Franceschi

Last updated
Antonia Franceschi
ANTONIA FRANCESCHI.jpg
Born (1960-03-30) March 30, 1960 (age 65)
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Education Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School
High School of Performing Arts
Alma mater American Ballet Theatre
Occupations
Known for Fame
New York City Ballet
Website antoniafranceschi.com

Antonia Franceschi (born March 30, 1960) is an American dancer, choreographer and actress.

Contents

Franceschi was one of the last generations selected by George Balanchine to join The New York City Ballet. She is a Time Out Award winner for Outstanding Achievement In Dance.

She is also known for her dance performances in the film musicals Fame and Grease . She subsequently danced under George Balanchine in New York. She recently choreographed Dr Semmelweis to five star critical acclaim and sold-out audiences at London’s Harold Pinter Theatre directed by Tom Morris starring Mark Rylance. “The use of ballet dancers is equally moving: they dance as a young woman dies in childbirth – and this is not sentimental, it ambushes you (the fabulous choreography is by Antonia Franceschi)” [1]

She choreographed Othello directed by Claire van Kampen for The Globe Theatre as well as Idaspe for Pittsburgh's Byham Theater, Quantum Theater and Chatham Baroque, and was movement director at The Park Theatre, again with director van Kampen.

Franceschi created and produced New York Ballet Stars performing at both The Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Festival Hall, touring both The Harrogate and Sintra Festivals. She was an advisor for The South Bank Center for five years, programming.

She has choreographed extensively for British and American companies.

Franceschi has been a judge on BBC's Young Dancer competition. She was invited by Boris Charmatz to dance in Musée De La Dance at the Tate Modern.

Franceschi has taught and teaches The Royal Ballet, The New York City Ballet, Rambert Dance, DV8, Juilliard, Alvin Ailey, Joffrey and Rambert Schools, among others.

The Soho Theatre performed her autobiographical play Up From The Waste directed by Nancy Meckler (London’s West End Four Stars, Telegraph). She received a grant for POP8 for The Lion and Unicorn Theatre where she collaborated with Mark Baldwin, Zoe Martlew, and Ballet Black. Franceschi was interviewed for the book Balanchine, Then and Now, and has been a guest on Woman's Hour.

Works have been created for her by Balanchine, Robbins, Martins, Lubovitch, Baldwin, McGregor, Clarke, Armitage, Phillips, and van Laast. Before joining NYCB Franceschi danced in Makarova and Company and was partnered by Sir Anthony Dowell.

Franceschi was rehearsal director for The Royal Opera Houses’ Other Stories with Wendy Whelan and Edward Watson, as well as associate choreographer for Arlene Philips duet for Candoco. and now works as a choreographer and dance company director, dividing her time between the United Kingdom and the USA. [2] [3]

Franceschi performed The Vagina Monologues as well as several BBC films "Pointe Blank" and "Frankenstien" choreographed by Mark Baldwin OBE. She danced in Jess and Morgs film “An Evening With Taglioni”, as Taglioni, and finished filming "GRRL" for Karole Armitage.

Early life

Franceschi grew up in the American Midwest. Her parents divorced when she was eight years old, and she moved with her mother to New York City. She joined a gang for protection; she also studied ballet and began working in the theater by the age of nine for The Metropolitan Opera. She studied under Margaret Craske and attended the High School of Performing Arts in Manhattan. [2]

Career

Early Career in the US

Franceschi was cast as a dancer in the 1978 film Grease . She was too young to work legally, so her Mother made her a falsified birth certificate. She was expelled from the High School of Performing Arts where she was in the Drama department, because students were not allowed to work professionally, so using her earnings she attended PCS with a half scholarship, which allowed her to attend School Of American Ballet on a full scholarship.

She went on to play Hilary van Doren, a ballet student from a wealthy background in the 1980 film Fame , set at the same High School of Performing Arts that Franceschi had attended in real life. [2] [3] Following this brief film career, she focused on more traditional ballet performance, working under George Balanchine at the New York City Ballet for eleven years. She has performed in about 85 of Balanchine's works. [4]

She had works created for her by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Lar Lubovitch, Peter Martins, Sir Wayne McGregor, Mark Baldwin, Michael Clark, Arlene Phillips, Karole Armitage, Anthony Van Laast among others. [2]

Expanding to the UK

She moved to London in 1995, where she has continued to work as a Guest Artist, Producer, Teacher, Writer, Choregrapher and Advisor, collaborating with many Organizations, Composers and Artists. [2] [3]

She is a producer of the New York Ballet Stars , collaborating with Sir Alistair Spalding Tom Ades, Karole Armitage, (The Royal Festival Hall, The Queen Elizabeth Hall), and toured Harrogate and the Sintra Festival, with dancers from The New York City Ballet and American Bllet Theater.

In 2002, Franceschi developed Up From the Waste, a semi-autobiographical account of her difficult childhood, addressing gangs, drugs, harassment, rape, murder, obsession and anorexia. It shows her eventual escape through dance, but reflects earlier traumas in the dance world's demanding environment, including disordered eating, emotional abuse and sexual predation. [5] The Soho Theatre [6] staged it, directed by Nancy Meckeler. In 2005, Ballet Black premiered Franceschi's piece Shift, Trip, Catch. [7] She has described the theme of the work as "You can shift if you're in a relationship, and hopefully they’ll catch you." [4] Reviewers noted the work for "[flexing] its emotional muscle, with a crackle of combative dance" [8] and its "bold all-American punch." [9] Her 2009 piece Kinderszenen is set to the musical work “Childhood Scenes” by composer Allen Shawn; reviewers noted its "lively moments" [10] and "clever transitions, the fluid relationship between classical steps and the score." [11] Also in 2009 was the launch of her multimedia work Pop8, for the Lion and Unicorn Theatre where she collaborated with Mark Baldwin, Zoe Martlew and Ballet Black which encompassed music, film, and dance to portray the rhythms of urban life on a small stage. [12] [13]

Franceschi has choreographed for both British and American companies, and has her own Company 'AFD Just Dance', which premiered in July 2015, performing at The Valletta Opera House, The Royal Winchester Theatre, London, and recently The MMA Center, NYC, and most recently she had two NY premiers, Uncaged, She Holds Out Her Hand with The New York Theater Ballet collaborating with Claire van Kampen and Say My Name, Barnard/Columbia Dancers with Composers Karen Le Frak and Allen Shawn. .

Franceschi choreographed for theatre in the UK for Dr. Semmelweis [14] , directed by Tom Morris, co-written by Sir Mark Rylance and Stephen Brown which starred Sir Rylance at London's Harold Pinter Theatre, to rave reviews: "Under the direction of Tom Morris, the production is almost as much a dance as it is a play, with expressionist movement (choreography by Antonia Franceschi) and music (by Adrian Sutton) that take us inside Semmelweis’s mind, from his bursts of anger to his final unravelling. A chorus of ghostly dancers – the women he has been unable to save – enact anguish while violins and the cello weep. These elements together run the risk of an overwrought atmosphere but the production steers clear of that. Instead there is intensity, and the drama feels drawn out in its pain" - The Guardian [15] .. Franceschi also choreographed Othello [16] at The Globe Theater in London, directed by Claire van Kampen [17] and was Movement Director for The Other Place at The Park Theatre. [18] She was the Associate Choreographer for Arlene Philips' duet for Candoco and the Rehearsal Director for The Royal Opera House production of Other Stories with Wendy Whelan and Edward Watson. She has choreographed for The Rambert School and Joffrey School.

In April 2019 Franceschi presented Shift [19] for The Emerging ChoreographersProgram at the 92stY, New York , Liberandum for Joaquín De Luz for Theatre Real Madrid and Skirball in June 2019.

Ms. Franceschi has been interviewed for the book, Balanchine, Then and Now and has been a guest on Women's Hour, BBC Radio 4.

Franceschi is an established dance teacher, she shares her love and knowledge of dance guest teaching for some of the world's most renowned companies and institutions; The Royal Ballet, The New York City Ballet, Rambert, Richard Alston Dance Company, Wayne McGregor Dance (formerly Random), DV8, The New York Theatre Ballet, Alvin Ailey, Joffrey School, and, Juilliard.

Works

As choreographer

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1978 Grease Dancer [23]
1980 Fame Hilary van Doren [24]
1986 The Karate Kid Part II The Dancer on the Television Set
2000 The Golden Bowl ,The Ballet: First Queen [25]

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2015 BBC Young Dancer Self - Ballet Second Round Judge [26]

References

  1. ↑ The Guardian
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Winship, Lyndsey (2009-07-02). "The kid from 'Fame'; Antonia Franceschi might never have learned how to fly, but after her early days in 'Fame' she's found contentment in Camden". TimeOut. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  3. 1 2 3 Apter, Kelly (2004-11-21). "A real taste of Fame for classical ballet". Sunday Times. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  4. 1 2 Hutera, Donald (2015-07-12). "Just Dance – Hitting the Moment". The Winchester Guide. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  5. ↑ Roy, Sanjay (Spring 2003). "Up from the Waste". Dance Now. 12 (1): 80–82 – via International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text.
  6. ↑ "Soho Theatre". Soho Theatre. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  7. ↑ Newman, Barbara (2005-10-11). "Daft energy that makes our heads spin". The Daily Telegraph.
  8. ↑ Mackrell, Judith (2007-02-07). "Ballet Black Linbury, London 3/5". Guardian. p. 42 [Review Pages].
  9. ↑ Robertson, Allen (2007-02-07). "Ballet Black". The Times . p. 22.
  10. 1 2 Anderson, Zoe (2009-02-26). "First Night: Ballet Black, Linbury Studio Theatre, London" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-07. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  11. 1 2 Seibert, Brian (2014-04-16). "Ballet NY at Ailey Citigroup Theater". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  12. 1 2 Mackrell, Judith (2009-07-24). "Dance preview: Pop8, London". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  13. ↑ "Antonia Franceschi Q&A". LondonDance. 2009-12-08. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  14. 1 2 Akbar, Arifa (2022-01-27). "Dr Semmelweis review – Mark Rylance's riveting tale of medical hygiene pioneer". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  15. ↑ Akbar, Arifa (2022-01-27). "Dr Semmelweis review – Mark Rylance's riveting tale of medical hygiene pioneer". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  16. 1 2 Bano, Tim. "Othello starring Andre Holland and Mark Rylance – review". The Stage. Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  17. 1 2 Treneman, Ann (2018-08-02). "Theatre review: Othello at Shakespeare's Globe, SE1". The Times . ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  18. 1 2 "Park Theatre". www.parktheatre.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  19. 1 2 Roebuck, Gavin. "Ballet Black review at Linbury Studio Royal Opera House London | Review | Dance". The Stage. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  20. ↑ Kampen, Claire van. "Idaspe". Quantum Theatre. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  21. ↑ Billington, Michael (2018-08-02). "Othello review – Mark Rylance and André Holland get to heart of the play". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2025-08-28.
  22. ↑ Craine, Debra (2002-11-30). "Up From The Waste". The Times . p. 23.
  23. ↑ "Grease (1978) - IMDb". IMDb . Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  24. ↑ "Fame (1980) - IMDb". IMDb . Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  25. ↑ "The Golden Bowl (2000) - IMDb". IMDb . Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  26. ↑ "BBC Four - BBC Young Dancer, 2015 - 2015 Judges". BBC. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.