Massimiliano Volpini

Massimiliano Volpini began studying ballet at a young age and quickly became a professional dancer.
He worked for Venice Ballet, Arena di Verona, Teatro Comunale in Florence, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Ljubljana Opera and Teatro alla Scala, where he remained until 2014.
He began choreographing in 1995, creating the show Buster, dedicated to Buster Keaton, with a group of dancers from La Scala.
Since then, he has created at least one hundred choreographies for theater, television, opera, and musicals.

He has choreographed for Teatro alla Scala, Tulsa Ballet, Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, New York Choreographic Institute, Balletto di Roma, Teatro Regio in Turin, Teatro dell'Opera di Rome and Kiel Opera.

In 2000, he began a long and intense collaboration with Roberto Bolle, for whom he created numerous choreographies, which have been performed around the world and featured on his television programs.
Together with Bolle he pursued an experimental path based on technology and interaction, leading to the creation of highly successful ballets such as Prototype, Dorian Gray and Waves.

He is the main choreographer for all editions of Danza con me, Bolle's television show and of OnDance, the dance festival organized by the celebrated dancer.
He is also the artistic coordinator of the OnDance Festival and part of the creative team.

For RaiUno, the main italian national tv channel, he created the dances for the New Year's Eve concerts at La Fenice in Venice in 2015 and 2016, and in 2018 he choreographed the mega-concert Notte della Taranta.

In 2017 he began his collaboration with director Valentina Carrasco, creating the choreography for the operas Carmen (Rome Opera), La Muta di Portici (Kiel Theater), I Vespri Siciliani (Rome Opera), Aida (Macerata Opera Festival) and La Favorite (Donizetti Festival Bergamo and Bordeaux Opera). He also curated the video content for the operas La Battaglia di Legnano (Verdi Festival, Parma), Gianni Schicchi (Puccini Festival, Viareggio) and La forza del destino (Zurich Opera).

He choreographed the musical La Divina Commedia, which has been on tour throughout Italy since 2017.

He has also collaborated with Marco Bellocchio (Andrea Chenier at the Rome Opera) and Peter Stein (Aida and Don Carlos at La Scala).

In 2019 he created a unique version of Nutcracker for Balletto di Roma, which toured throughout Italy and Switzerland.

In 2022, he directed, choreographed, and created video projections for the show DINCANTO, performed at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, with Roberto Molinelli conducting and the participation of Div4s – Italian Sopranos.

In addition to his work as a choreographer, he has also developed experience in directing, videomaking, and artistic direction of dance and music events.

From 2023 to 2026, he was the Director of the Ballet of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.