La Scala Theatre Ballet School La Scala Theatre Ballet School La Scala Theatre Ballet School () is one of the leading classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of La Scala Theatre Ballet, an international ballet company based at La Scala in Milan, Italy. The school forms part of the theatre's Academy for Performing Arts. The ballet school was founded in 1813 by Benedetto Ricci, as the "Accademia di ballo" (dance academy) of the "Teatro alla Scala". Following the defeat of Napoleon, the school's name was changed to "Imperial Regia Accademia di Ballo del Teatro alla Scala" (Royal Imperial Dance Academy
La Scala on 25 May 1874 and he announced in 1886 that La Scala would host the premiere of what was to become his penultimate opera, "Otello". The premiere of his last opera, "Falstaff" was also given in the theatre. In 1982, the Filarmonica della Scala was established, drawing its members from the larger pool of musicians that comprise the Orchestra della Scala. The theatre underwent a major renovation from early 2002 to late 2004. The theatre closed following the traditional 7 December 2001 season opening performances of "Otello", which ran through December. From 19 January 2002 to November 2004, the opera