Interview for the American Fascination-Glamour Magazine...
Meet Legendary Ballet Star Lorena Baricalla Fascination Glamour: High Point in Life Lorena Baricalla: I am thankful to have been able to realize many things until today. At the beginning of my career, I performed the leading roles at the Monte-Carlo Ballet: Sheherazade from the Russian Ballets repertoire– a role that marked my beginnings giving me a lot of recognition -, the Mermaid in The Prodigal Son by Balanchine, the Marquise in Marco Spada, the Gypsy in The Two Pigeons by Ahton, the Taming of the Shrew… In addition, I have often been the star of the National Day Galas in honour of the Prince of Monaco.When I left the Monte-Carlo Ballet with the aim of furthering my career, I performed in many shows for theatre and television. The most amazing moment is when, for the Mediterranean Games Gala, I danced my own choreography “The Symphony of the Sea†with my corps de ballet and a symphonic orchestra in front of a live audience of 20,000 and millions of Eurovision viewers. I had the feeling that the audience was seated till in the sky Then with my own international production company Promo Art Monte-Carlo Production, I had and I have now many great experiences: for example, when I performed dancing and singing in Carmen, a big show held in Sevilla, Spain, where the original story takes place; or when Garry Kasparov – the World Chess champion – presented my show “Checkmate†with the music of Abba. I also remember when I recently worked with Golden Globe winning actor Armand Assante, or when I performed in the preview of Origins with a cast of 100 artist on a stage built on a large swimming pool in Monte-Carlo. Furthermore, I can mention when I have been filmed on many different sets for presentations – as in the Monte-Carlo Opera House or in Qatar in a marvellous palace; for clips, as for my song “Reditus Deorumâ€; for my talk show “Sporting Stars†sharing conversations with the most renowned world champions, or when I acted on stage with my American partner Randy Diamond…In my career, I have had great moments in all the countries where I performed: in the USA, in Japan, in Russia, in all Europe, in the Emirates….but at the same time, I always have the impression that, each time, I am like at the beginnings! Fascination Glamour: Low Point in Life Lorena Baricalla: As in all careers in the entertainment sector there are always empty periods but it is in these moments that we have time to take care of new projects. In fact, when you are performing in a show or on the set, you can only concentrate on this. Lower points give you the opportunity to build new projects. Fascination Glamour: If not a Ballet Star You would have been …? Lorena Baricalla: For me, it was such an evidence to become a ballerina and be an artist. I cannot even say it has been a choice but a destiny. I didn’t know another way to me and I made this choice when I was 12. But for me a real artist is a person able to transform herself, to evolve and be eclectic. I never have been afraid to give me new challenges. That’s why I also became a singer and an actress. Moreover, as I wanted to create my own shows, I also became a choreographer, a writer and a producer founding my own production company. I followed the American model as this is quite current in the USA but totally unusual in Europe. So I am happy to have been able to reunite what for other people are different jobs. That’s why, I guess, I never had the time to imagine what I could have been if I wouldn’t be in the entertainment sector! Fascination Glamour: How supportive is your family and friends in your Ballet Star/acting Career, How do you cope up with your family life and Ballet Star career both? Lorena Baricalla: I have the strong support of my management team, that are also the closest persons to me. I think this is very important. My family life is conditioned by my work, this is obvious. I don’t have the regular life that usually people have. My days are very different one from the other one. I never miss my daily training, then I can have rehearsals or meetings, or to attend events, or to go abroad…. Fascination Glamour: High street Shopping or designer boutique …? why Lorena Baricalla: I love fashion and as an international artist, I am lucky enough to be sought after as an Ambassadress and Endorser by fashion and jewelry brands for international events and shootings. This year on the Cannes Film Festival’s red carpet I wore a marvelous gown with a train created expressly for me by Genesia Walle. It took 2 months of work to realize it! In the last period, I have worn numerous international and glamorous brands as Versace, Eles Italia, Didimara, Uel Camilo, Sveta, Gaetano Navarra… I also had unique shoes by Duccio Venturi, Urak Buyan and Joshua Fenu. About the jewels, I wore, for example, the “Princess Grace†Collection by Montblanc. Princess Grace of Monaco, after being an Oscar winning actress, became an unforgettable icon. May be this is why I love since always glamour and fashion! Fascination Glamour: If stranded on an island you would be wearing… ? Lorena Baricalla: Why should I wear something on a desert island? Fascination Glamour: Three things in a guy that turns you on. Lorena Baricalla: Intelligence, sensitiveness, charms ….and solidity. Ok, there are not anymore 3 things! Fascination Glamour: A perfect date would be. Lorena Baricalla: Romantic, interesting and surprising, in an unusual venue …. Fascination Glamour: First Ballet Star break.. ( how you entered into Entertainment industry, what compelled you to be Ballet Star ). Lorena Baricalla: I think that a career has to be built thanks to years of training, discipline, perseverance. I had my first contract when I was 10. Then step by step I moved on my way…. Fascination Glamour: Ever have a fear while starting your Ballet Star, if yes, how did you conquer that fear. Lorena Baricalla: I think that fear is not a good companion in life. Obviously, we all have fears and so do I, but I have more courage, self-confidence, and strength. I don’t want to limit my life because of fear. Fascination Glamour: One thing that can be found common in your creations. Lorena Baricalla: As an artist, I think that, first of all, it is our soul and our inner world which expresses who you are. Everything arises from an emotion, a thought that then becomes a gesture, a sound, a look, a spoken or a written word. This means that the starting point is always an emotion. This is the thing that is in common to every one of my creations. Fascination Glamour: One thing in Acting that took you by surprise. Lorena Baricalla: In acting, you have always to be taken by “surpriseâ€, this makes the dialogue more realistic. In real life, you are not supposed to know already what the others will say in a conversation. So that bit of surprise while acting makes everything more intense. Fascination Glamour: Your Most beautiful Childhood Memory. Lorena Baricalla: When I discovered dance. I was 4 years old. I still remember very well that day. I was at the Casino Garden in Monte-Carlo with my Mum when we met a little friend with her mother. They were going to the ballet class. My Mum decided to join them to greet the Russian teacher Marika Besobrasova, who had been also her teacher. I discovered a totally new world, with the music and all these little girls dancing around the ballet room. But I was shy and I refused to join them. Suddenly a young woman took my hand. I remember that I thought that she wanted to show me tutus. But in fact, she pulled me into the circle of the little dancers. That ring around the rosie of chassés has been fatal. Since that moment I didn’t stop anymore to dance! Fascination Glamour: One Thing about Lorena People might not know about. Lorena Baricalla: Sometimes because of my job I can appear a distant or unreachable person which lives only extraordinary situations that normal people can only dream. In fact, I am a very simple girl which loves simple things. I am very open to the people and always help who needs. Fascination Glamour: Any painful moment you had on your stage? Lorena Baricalla: Unfortunately, life always brings you painful moments, this is the scale of life. The worst for me has been the long sickness and death of my father years ago. Fascination Glamour: Hollywood Star you would like to choreograph. Lorena Baricalla: With who I would like to dance and choreograph…? This is a good question. Origins – the Live Movie Musical Show, would be the perfect project for this because there is a beautiful starring male role in it. I could imagine Ewan Mc Gregor which was fantastic in Moulin Rouge, Ryan Goslin which have been excellent in LaLa Land, or Gerard Butler an unforgettable Phantom of the Opera…. Fascination Glamour: Actors / Producers you have worked with and a favorite among them? Lorena Baricalla: As told I have worked with Armand Assante. He is such a great pro! We became close friends. He’s really a fantastic person and we would like to work together again…I hope that soon the opportunity will come out! I also worked with Roger Moore, such a nice gentlemen, and a superb actor. I have been very sad about his death. Speaking of singing I have shared the stage with José Carreras and Armando Ariostini, who also became a close friend after our performance in The Phantom of the Opera. I also danced with the great Rudolf Nureyev at the very beginning of my career, or Eric Vu An, Paris Opera principal dancer, which is still a friend. Both also acted in movies. Fascination Glamour: A Hollywood star you would like to work with. Lorena Baricalla: There are many! I appreciate the highly professional persons and I already could work with many stars in different sectors. I love to exchange and to establish good relationships based on respect, on stage or on the set. That’s why, often, we become friends. As an actress, I have just received two proposals to act in American movies in very interesting roles…. We will see who will also be in the cast! Fascination Glamour: Upcoming Projects. Lorena Baricalla: I am Ambassadress and Master of Ceremonies of the Monaco World Sports Legends Award, the Oscars of Sport, that I present in 5 languages. It’s produced by PromoArt Monte-Carlo Production and we are now preparing the next edition. At the 1° Edition in 2016 the WSLA awarded the sporting stars Mika Hakkinen, Giacomo Agostini, Carl Fogarty, Sir Tony Mc Coy, Jhong Uhk Kim, Pernilla Wiberg, Tia Hellebaut and Jean-Marie Pfaff. Amongs the guests we had Louis Ducruet, son of Princess Stephanie of Monaco, and the American movie producer Julius R.Nasso, etc. On this occasion, I am also the host of the Oscars of Sport’s talk show “Sporting Stars: the men or the woman behind the champion†that you can follow on the web channels of the Monaco World Sports Legends Award on You Tube, Vimeo, Daily Motion. Next month I will have to do the fittings for the 20 outfits of the designers that I will wear during this 2-days event. As well there are many other projects in motion! For example a Gala in Monte-Carlo with the attendance of Prince Albert of Monaco. I should dance again Scheherazade, in my new choreographic version. Fascination Glamour:. Expectations from your Ballet Star / Acting career. Lorena Baricalla: I have obviously many expectations about all the projects I have and about the proposals I receive! An expectation very dear to my heart is to realize the whole project of “Origins, the Answer†as a prima ballerina, actress, and singer. It took 5 years of work to myself and to our production company to complete the concept, the visuals, the showreels, the design. I also wrote the scripts and books that are the basis for the 3 movies and for the show for big arenas which uses a new concept that we have called Live Movie Musical Show: a new formula able to remain over time – as for example Cirque du Soleil. Our first step is now to produce the show. As a choreographer, I already realized a preview of it. Fascination Glamour: Any social welfare activities you are involved into? Lorena Baricalla: There are so many people in the world that need help in very different ways. I am Goodwill Ambassadress for the Organisation VEGB which helps African children. As well, during many years I have offered shows to the Red Cross and this year I offered a show to a Monaco association which helps sick children. I created the “Methode Russe de Monte-Carlo de Lorena Baricallaâ€, my new ballet method of teaching, to support young dancers and ballet schools. It is an innovative evaluation system on 14 levels. Every year our company PromoArt Monte-Carlo Production organizes an event which reunites international stars and young dancers. In that occasion, I offer 10/15 scholarships. With the Monaco World Sports Legends Award, we also give yearly an Award to a Foundation which helps people around the world through sport. All these are only drops in the sea, but we must not stop to fight and, first of all, to talk. It is through dialogue that we can change the world. The cause which interests me the most is the equality between women and men. Usually, people think that the problem exists only in foreign and far countries. In fact, in our modern society, women are daily killed by their husbands or boyfriends because of jealousy. The numbers are shocking. We are still far from an equal and advanced civilization. Mankind is still young and it takes time to evolve. Dinosaurs have been on the planet for millions of years, “man†since only some hundreds of thousands of years and we write since only 5000 years…. Fascination Glamour: Favorite Book. Lorena Baricalla: The Trilogy I just finished to write. I am now looking for an editor. Entitled “Origins†it is an adventurous and spiritual epic saga amidst past, present, and future which bring the Answer to the mystery of Man’s origins. 5000 pages of research and a deep personal exploration of the matter have been necessary to put together the basis of the Origins’ world. Although they are very different, the Origins trilogy books can be ranked in the same vein as The DaVinci Code or The Secret. The Books are part of a very big project, an innovative international undertaking featuring a new “world†which develops through an entertainment platform including the Live Movie Musical Show, the Movies, the Books, the Merchandising and the Interactive Website. ORIGINS has the potential to become a new internationally winning “worldâ€, taking over in the aftermath of “Lord of the Ringsâ€, “Stars Wars†and “Harry Potterâ€. We are now ready to start the production of the Live Live Movie Musical Show and our idea is to realize it in the USA… Fascination Glamour: Your Proud moment. Lorena Baricalla: When I founded Promo Art Monte-Carlo Production with my manager Tino Genovese, a Monte-Carlo based production company, which operates at international level in all Europe, Emirates, USA…. Promo Art Monte-Carlo Production produces me as an artist and is specialized in the conception and realization of new entertainment projects, big events, and shows. This has allowed me to extend my career by linking my capacities as ballerina and choreographer with those of singer and actress. Thanks to this I created and performed in number of shows for theatre, television and important events with casts of up to 100 supporting artists in Carmen, Thalassa, Time Machine, Matrix, Belle Epoque Cancan, The Canticle of Canticles, The Angel, The Trip of Ulysses, etc.. Thanks to my 3-octave voice range, I also became the only soprano who sings while dancing on point shoes. In my show “Musical Dreams†I have performed the best hits from The Phantom of the Opera, Moulin Rouge, West Side Story, Cats, Evita, New York New York, My Fair Lady, Victor Victoria, Beauty and the Beast, Jesus Christ Superstar, … As an actress, I speak 5 languages and I could perform in shows such as The Light of Memory, in roles as My Fair Lady and Victor Victoria. I could be filmed on the set for many videos, presentations, talk shows and I became a Master of Ceremonies for international events. For example, I presented Prince Albert of Monaco during the “Red and White Night†at the Cannes Film Festival, or now the Monaco World Sports Legends Award. Fascination Glamour: Title of your Biography would read …? Lorena Baricalla: “Living with intensity!†Fascination Glamour: Where do you see yourself after 5 years down the line. Lorena Baricalla: I see myself continuing what I am doing now. Expressing myself. I hope that in 5 years all the projects I am now working on will be already realized and that I will be working on new goals! Fascination Glamour: Your advice to budding Ballet Star. Lorena Baricalla. Passion, energy and daily discipline. Never give up! The world of ballet and of the entertainment sector give the opportunity to feel deep emotions, to act in very different roles, to live different stories. On stage, thanks to the energy that you transmit to the audience and that you receive from it, you can live moments of true perfection. This gives a lot of adrenaline!
