“Come... non si diventa coreografi”. Cronache del debutto di Nives Poli come coreografa della “Danza di Agave”

Abstract

In the 1937-38 season, the Scala program featured the opera Proserpina with a libretto by Sem Benelli and music by Renzo Bianchi as an absolute novelty.

The opera featured a mute character, Agave, who had to comment on Proserpina's singing with a dizzying dance (a very successful musical page). The young Nives Poli (Isola d'Istria 1915 – Florence 1999) played the role of Agave, but on the same evening she also made her debut as a choreographer, although she remained anonymous. The success achieved was the beginning of a promising career.

This essay will bring to light some documents from the time that testify to Nives Poli's debut as a choreographer, an important piece that is added to her biography, and the main musical characteristics of La danza di Agave.