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 citing "hostility" from staff members. In May 2005, Stéphane Lissner, formerly head of the Aix-en-Provence Festival, was appointed General Manager and Artistic Director of La Scala, becoming the first non-Italian in its history to hold the office. On 15 May 2006, Daniel Barenboim was named "Maestro Scaligero", or "de facto" principal guest conductor, of the company. In October 2011, Barenboim was appointed the next music director of La Scala, effective December 2011, with an initial contract of 5 years. In December 2013, management named Riccardo Chailly the next music director of La Scala, effective 1 January 2015. Stéphane Lissner left