La Scala’s Second Contract Strike Cancels 18 November Ballet

A second day of industrial action at La Scala is set to cancel the ballet performance scheduled for 18 November, as employees press for renewal of their collective contract.

An assembly backed the full-day strike proposed by the CGIL, CISL, UIL and FIALS unions. The affected ballet programme combines choreography by George Balanchine and Pina Bausch to music by Stravinsky, with Roberto Bolle among the featured dancers.

The stoppage will also interrupt rehearsals for Verdi’s Otello, the production opening the theatre’s season on 7 December. Its effect therefore extends beyond the loss of a single public performance to the preparation of one of the most prominent dates in the Italian operatic calendar.

The dispute follows an earlier strike on 24 October, when the scheduled opening of Faust under conductor Daniele Rustioni was cancelled. The November action indicates that the contract issue remains unresolved after that first disruption.

The latest decision concerns a specified day of action. It should not be expanded into a claim that the entire ballet run or the December opening has been cancelled. The announced consequence for Otello is a break in rehearsals, while the cancellation relates to the 18 November ballet performance.

For ticket holders, the theatre’s own communications will govern the practical arrangements for the affected event. The strike announcement does not supply a new performance date or establish a negotiated settlement between the parties.

The dispute illustrates how labour negotiations at a repertory theatre can affect overlapping productions. A ballet ready for performance and an opera still being rehearsed depend on many of the same institutional systems and staff. A full-day stoppage reaches both, even when only one appears on that evening’s public schedule. The next development will turn on contract talks and the theatre’s response to the unions’ renewed action.