About Me
Valentino Zucchetti was born in Calcinate and
began training locally aged four. Aged 11 he
moved to Milan to study at La Scala Ballet
School. Aged 16 he was offered a scholarship
to study at The Royal Ballet Upper School and
while there won the 2006 Genée International
Ballet Competition and the 2007 Solo Seal
award. In his final year he created a role in
Christopher Hampson’s Three Dialogues for
the School’s annual matinee. He subsequently
joined Zürich Ballet and moved to Norwegian
National Ballet in 2009. His repertory in Zürich
and Oslo included Gurn (La Sylphide) and
Prince (The Nutcracker). Zucchetti’s repertory
with The Royal Ballet includes Colas (La Fille
mal gardée), Rhapsody, blue boy (Les
Patineurs), Lescaut (Manon), Brother Clown
(The Winter’s Tale), Gypsy Girl’s Lover (The
Two Pigeons), Lensky (Onegin), Espada (Don
Quixote), Hilarion (Giselle), Puck (The Dream),
Hans-Peter and Prince (The Nutcracker),
Mercutio (Romeo andJuliet), Bronze Idol (La Bayadère), Lead Hungarian Officer (Mayerling), Bluebird (The Sleeping Beauty), Fool (The Prince of the Pagodas) and roles in The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, Tarantella, Jewels, The Human Seasons, Scènes de ballet, Symphonic Variations, DGV: Danse à grande vitesse, Within the Golden Hour, Dances at a Gathering and Voices of Spring. He has created roles for Carlos Acosta, Kim Brandstrup, David Dawson, Alastair Marriott, Liam Scarlett, Heinz Spoerli and Christopher Wheeldon, among others.
Zucchetti won the Royal Ballet School’s Ursula Moreton Choreographic Award in2005. He choreographed Sonata for Six for the School’s 2013 matinee and regularly creates pieces for The Royal Ballet’s Draft Works. In 2013 he choreographed Orbital Motion for New English Ballet Theatre. His 2020 ballet Scherzo for The Royal Ballet received the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Dance. His ballet Anemoi created for the main stage of the Royal Opera House received its world premiere in June 2021 and won the Critic’s Circle National Dance Award for Best Classical Choreography in 2022.