Milan To Create a Via Versace

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Cool!

Godfrey Deeny
June 19th, 2007 @ 00:27 AM - Paris

Ten years after his tragic death, Gianni Versace is getting a street named after him in Milan.

Milan’s Mayor Letizia Brichetto-Arnaboldi Moratti and the Teatro della Scala will stage a series of special events next month to pay tribute to Versace on the 10th anniversary of his death.

The high point of the commemoration will be the debut of Maurice Bejart a new ballet entitled, ‘Grazie Gianni con Amore’- ‘Thank You Gianni With Love’ – to be staged in La Scala on Sunday July 15.

The two-act ballet will feature costumes exclusively designed by Donatella Versace in its first act. The second act will be a medley of Bejart’s most celebrated ballets for which Gianni created costumes. It includes excerpts and original costumes from such works as Dionysos, Malaux, ou la métamorphose des dieux, Souvenir de Leningrad, Chaka Zulu, Elegie pour ell and Pyramid.

Versace and Bejart were close friends who frequently collaborated together.

Also on July 15th, the City of Milan will honour Gianni Versace’s memory by naming a public square after him. And a Gala dinner will be staged in his honor after the ballet performance in Milan’s Sala delle Cariatidi at Palazzo Reale.

Versace's work for the theatre, one of his greatest passions, will also be honoured by the city of Milan with a display 64 artistic installations of his most celebrated theatre designs on large panels distributed throughout the city in strategic locations.

This open-air exhibition will be run from June 22nd for approximately a month, allowing the city and its citizens to participate in the tribute and celebration of the legendary designer.

Versace was murdered by disturbed fan Andrew Cunanan outside his home in Miami, Casa Casuarina on July 15, 1997.