Pompea Santoro began her study of classical dance at a private school in Turin. In 1978, at just sixteen years old, Birgit Cullberg offered her a job to join her Swedish company. Simultaneously, she passed the entrance exams for the sixth course at the Accademia del Teatro Alla Scala, but chose to go to Sweden. She remained faithful to the Cullberg Ballet for 25 years, under the direction of Mats Ek from 1980 onwards. In addition to performing leading roles in Cullberg’s choreographies, such as Clara in “Miss Julie” alongside Rudolf Nureyev and Juliet in Romeo & Juliet, she performed all of Mats Ek’s ballets created from 1978 to 1998. Among the principal roles were Giselle, Carmen, and Aurora. For her, Mats Ek created several roles, the most significant being M… in Carmen, which, in its television version, won the prestigious Emmy Award. She danced in the most important theaters worldwide, on five continents, and featured in more than 30 countries. After her career as a dancer, she became one of Mats Ek’s most trusted assistants. In 1993, she received the prestigious Swedish award “Karina Ari” as the best dancer of the year. Following a performance by Jiri Kylian, she also received many Italian awards, the most important being “Le Muse” in 2018. In 2000, her image represented the Cullberg Ballet on a postage stamp. In 1997, she staged Mats Ek’s Giselle at La Scala in Milan, where, in addition to directing, she also danced the leading role as a guest artist alongside Massimo Murru. In 2002, she staged Carmen at the Royal Opera House as Mats Ek’s assistant, teaching the leading role to Sylvie Guillem and Tamara Rojo. From 2002 to 2005, she became an Artistic Consultant at the Teatro Nuovo in Turin. She also danced at the Venice Biennale with a ballet created especially for her by Jacopo Godani. She left the stage in 2005 with a pas de deux by Johan Inger at the Vignale Danza Festival. In 2010, she staged and performed Mats Ek’s Giselle at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, with Roberto Bolle as Albrecht. Driven by her passion for teaching and coaching, she teaches classical dance and conducts choreographic workshops on Mats Ek’s works at prestigious academies and private schools. In October 2012, she created the Eko Dance Project in Turin to help young dancers embark on a path of artistic and professional growth. In September 2017, she was appointed Artistic Director of Aterballetto, but resigned after two months to dedicate herself fully to her project.
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