Dancer
Luigi Cifone, born in Naples, Italy. Studied at the English National Ballet School. Has performed with Birmingham Royal Ballet and English National Ballet. Since 2019 member of the NRW Junior Ballet.
Where are you from? Tell us about your home town or your family…
I’m from Naples, the south of Italy. I really love my city because it is famous for the sea and sun but it also is famous because of its pizza, which is the best in the world, and of course coffee.
When did you start to train ballet? What was your motivation to start ballet? Is there any story behind?
I started ballet when I was 4 years old and I didn’t really have any motivation in the beginning because I used to do it as a hobby and didn’t think of it as a life work. There is actually a story behind it: when I was a child I didn’t really want to do ballet because all of my friends were playing football but because my cousin was attending ballet class I also took my first one and since then I never left ballet.
What has been your most special moment in your dance career? Is there any moment you don’t want to miss?
One special moment of my career so far was when I got accepted at English National Ballet School because it was an experience I was going to have far away from home.
How would you describe yourself? Where do you see yourself? In private and as an artist…
I’m a really open-minded person, I would consider myself as really friendly and sincere because I don’t like to have problems with people. I honestly don’t think about where I see myself in the future because I always try to live day by day, putting 100% of myself in everything I do in order to improve every day, both as an artist and as a human being.
What has been your first experience in Dortmund? Why did you choose to come to Germany?
My first day in Dortmund was amazing. I loved the city but the company and the studio where the audition took place was even more incredible. I will never forget that day because I learnt a lot and I had a lot of beautiful moments.
I chose Germany to work in because in my opinion it is the best place as a ballet dancer where you can train and work, but I also wanted to work in Germany because Dortmund made such a great impression on me and I was dreaming of going to be accepted here.
What is your dream? Any role or piece you would love to dance ones in your life?
My dream is to become a famous ballet dancer to help this beautiful art to grow and be followed by many people.
Beside Dance – what are you interested in? Which profession would be interesting for you, if you haven’t become a professional dancer?
Besides dancing, I really like to discover new places and travel, in my free time I always try organising trips because they help me to relax my mind and to grow! If I wasn’t becoming a ballet dancer, I would have loved to be a physiotherapist.