Antea Parodi
Born in: Cagliari, Italy
State Ballet School Berlin: 2021-2024
Antea Parodi came to the State Ballet School Berlin in 2021. It was still the Corona period at the time, and not only were most ballet schools in her home town Cagliari closed, but auditions and entrance exams at most ballet schools in Europe were canceled or did not take place at all. All that was left was preparation at home or sometimes all alone in a studio, and sending in videos.
In June 2021, suddenly an email came from the State Ballet School Berlin saying that she had been accepted. Antea had already thought that her application might not have arrived at all, and then suddenly, just out of the blue, this great news.
Now it was time to pack her bags and quickly find a room in Berlin, as the school year at the ballet school in Berlin was due to start in the first week of August 2021.
When Antea Parodi looks back on her time at the State Ballet School Berlin today, there are three things in particular that were very special to her, in addition to the great teachers and her classmates.
There is the meeting and working with Arshak Ghalumyan. In her first year at the school, she won a special prize in the internal ballet competition and thus a private lesson with Arshak. Here she met him for the first time and encountered, above all, his unique and wonderful way of working with people. Through this mutual acquaintance, Antea was able to take part in Arshak’s piece Encounter in her second year, which was performed at the State Ballet School’s gala in the State Opera Unter den Linden in March 2023. Being able to work with him on this piece was a very special and unique experience for her. And in her third year at the Berlin Ballet School, she had the opportunity to work with him again and dance in his piece Mare Crisium.
Another unforgettable aspect of the Berlin Ballet School was the physiotherapy. In the beginning she had to deal with a few minor injuries due to the changes to an other way of training, and she had physiotherapy for the first time in her life. And it helped her to get back on her feet quickly. From the second year onwards, however, these injuries were overcome and from then on, once a week physiotherapy and especially the physiotherapist Regine Mohrling helped her to strengthen and develop her body in a way she had never experienced before. This work played a crucial role in her success at the school and in her expression in her dance.
Another special feature of the State Ballet School, which according to Antea could only be found in Berlin, was the many opportunities to perform in the city’s theatres and, last but not least, the special training in these places, for example with the dancers of the Staatsballett Berlin such as Polina Semionova and Dinu Tamazlacaru.