On pointe since childwood
Prima Ballerina of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan since March 2018, Virna Toppi is 28 years old and took her first dance steps at the age of 7 at a private school in Seveso, then landed at the age of 10 at the Scuola di Ballo dell'Accademia Teatro alla Scala.
We met with her for the Hall of Fame to inspire all future dancers reading us just days before the 2021 competition closes.
“Ever since I was a child I have loved dancing to music, without ever having taken a real lesson. When I realized that I wanted to be a dancer, I was 7 years old and asked my parents to take me to a dance school. Initially they were not very happy with my choice: none of them had ever cultivated the same passion as me and they would have preferred that I engage in a sport. Nevertheless, I began to study ballet seriously.
I liked it right away and, in fact, I never left it!
When I was 10 years old, I was pushed to audition for the Ballet School of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala and was admitted to the first class. I was very scared at first, as it was the first time I was leaving my small town of Brianza for a big reality like Milan.
But I worked tenaciously as I dreamed of becoming as good as Sylvie Guillem, Alessandra Ferri and all the Teatro alla Scala dancers whom I saw dancing during performances-or during visits organized by the School-but who for me were almost unattainable gods.
To improve myself more and more, I also attended many summer internships for further training: the first years with my teacher Vera Karpenko, in Civitanova Marche; later in London, to attend a two-week internship of the School of the Royal Ballet at White Lodge, and then many others. Summer is a good time to maintain training and approach new teaching methods.
The year I graduated from Ballet School, I had an injury: I had had a problem with my right foot and stayed put for six months, then prepared myself in just sixty days for the big moment. I couldn't give up at the very last and still found the strength to graduate with excellent grades, finishing the eight-year cycle of dance while at the same time getting my baccalaureate in linguistics.
My dream had become a reality!
I threw myself into auditions, at the Semperoper Ballet in Dresden and the Teatro alla Scala. I chose to expatriate, initially, because I felt like changing a bit and visiting new realities. After a year of a fantastic experience in Germany, I decided to return to Milan: the then director of the Ballet, Makhar Vaziev, wanted me at La Scala.
Thus began my La Scala phase. Two years after my return, director Vaziev promoted me to Soloist and, after another three seasons, Frédéric Olivieri - who took over the role of director on an interim basis - appointed me Prima Ballerina, making my lifelong ambition concrete.
To overcome any goal there is, for me, only one necessary ingredient: constant commitment. It's not an easy career, although it is fulfilling. The only thing that encourages me to move forward in times of difficulty or discouragement is remembering my initial motivation that pushed me towards this choice. I realize that I like what I do and I couldn't do without it.
I also really love the relationship I have with my virtual audience, who follows me through social media. Let me start by saying that I love photography and fashion and when I opened my Instagram account I did it for personal use. Then, however, I realized that social media, especially Instagram, could make both Virna the person and Virna the dancer known. I wanted to show myself for what I am: a very normal girl.
Before the lockdown, my days in the theater were very routine: breakfast, I arrive at the theater around 9 to get dressed, make up and do my hair; after a lesson lasting an hour and a quarter, the rehearsals begin around 11.30 am, which continue until 5.30 pm, with a short lunch break. In the evening I try to rest by watching a film at home, or by taking a walk in the park or having an aperitif with friends.
When the pandemic broke out I wasn't in Italy, I was working in Munich. I felt really bad on a psychological level, I didn't know what would happen and I was scared for my distant family. I wasn't worried about my job (I speak as a privileged person since I have a permanent contract), but I heard stories from friends and colleagues who didn't have the same luck and protection as me.
But you must never give up.
The advice I would like to give to those who dream of entering the prestigious La Scala school is to do so only if driven by personal passion. It is a very demanding path, which requires total dedication and which is also dotted with moments of discouragement, but the important thing is to never forget what drives us to dance.
Obviously there is not only the theater as the point of arrival for a dancer, but if the theater represents one's dream then one must work consistently every day, putting one hundred percent into it, to ensure that everything comes true.
Foto Brescia e Amisano © Teatro alla Scala.
