MadonnaTribe is proud to present its readers the first ever interview dancer, director and choreographer Luca Tommassini gave to a Madonna News Site. We had the chance to chat with Luca about how he ended up involved in many amazing Madonna projects such as The Girlie Show, Evita, the Human Nature video and the Bedtime Story live performance at the 1995 Brit Awards.
But Luca did not share his talents with Madonna only, the list of international stars with whom he worked with in the past years is huge, counting Kylie Minogue, Geri Halliwell and Paola&Chiara just to name a few.
And now, Ladies & Gentlemen... MadonnaTribe meets Luca Tommassini!

MT: As Madonna was expecting Lola did the production take special precautions on the set or for dancing scenes? Was she calm in regard to the situation?

LT: No, she wasn't calm at all... and she could not even show it.

MT: Your appearance on Evita also brought you an Italian Music Award as best dancer, what did you feel when you found out you won that award?

LT: I remember I felt very emotional that night. I think it was one of the first prizes I won.

MT: Evita arrived in 1996 but your collaboration with Madonna started in 1993 with the Girlie Show. What do you remember about auditioning for the first time for Madonna?

LT: I was called at the audition by my agent in Los Angeles - back then I used to live there all the time.
There were a thousand people auditioning there and later all the dancers that were called back from the auditions in New York and Miami joined us as well.
I honestly didn't have the hope to be among the chosen ones but I put all my efforts in that audition. There's a dance prize given in Los Angeles for Best Audition and that year I won for my Madonna audition.For each audition I used to completely transform my image e I did a lot of them. I used to change my attitude and also the colour of my hair and hairstyle if necessary. In that occasion I turned myself into a Sex Boy Toy.
The SEX box was just out so I figured she was looking for something similar, SM look black leather, rivets and knee-long boots. Everything was fine until Madonna asked us to each tell a joke. This happened near the end, when there was twenty of us left and I HATE telling jokes. I was so desperate that in the end I had to admit I haven't got the talent to tell jokes. I was panicking and my mind was blank. In that moment I thought she hated me. Everybody telling jokes except me. But after a couple of hours we left the audition I received a phone call from the assistant choreographer informing me that I had been chosen as dance captain... I couldn't believe it... I remember the first person I called was my mother.

MT: We recently spoke with Italian singer Chiara Iezzi, who knows you well and who also is a huge Madonna fan, and she thinks you're the only one in Italy who has had such a unique experience with Madonna and the on the Girlie Tour stage the audience could feel she was very fond of you. What do you think about it?

LT: We started to love each other right from the very start, I don't know why but there was this great feeling right away with both her and her brother Christopher. I remember that year I spent the first Christmas with them, they are beautiful persons and we got along very well. Sometimes things are more simple than what they seem.

MT: Is there a number in the Girlie Show that you liked the most and you're most fond of?

LT: I loved La Isla Bonita, I adored the song and the choreography by Alex Magno, he is one of the most talented teachers I ever had... but most of all the song meant M and I each night... looking in each other's eyes and even if we were in front of thousands of people it was the most intimate moment of the show for me... that moment was pure love... such a powerful energy... her charisma. I will never forget those looks, those eyes.

MT: While speaking of Madonna tours I wanted to ask you if you had a chance to see two more recent shows, the re-Invention and Confessions tours.

LT: Yes of course, I always go to see her when she performs live. I think that the quality of production is always flawless. Sometimes I didn't agree on the setlist of songs, other times I found her a bit too cold, but I can only bow in front of Madonna, she is number one.

MT: In 1994 you were chosen as one of the two platinum blond "twins" for the famous Bedtime Story performance at the Brit Awards. Speaking with Jamie King a while ago he told us that he was the one that suggested your name because he thought you would have been the perfect choice for that performance.
What do you remember of that episode? It may not be one of the most well known Madonna television appearances but it definetly had something special.

LT: It was indeed a very unique performance. I love the fact I could use Thai Chi movements and that we were dancing in slow motion. Madonna was so beautiful and it was another great experience for me. I learned a lot from her. There's always a great research in the things she does, to bring novelty on stage. Things are analyzed and there's always a great courage and that's contageous. You always feel like a pioneer when you're next to her... Invincible!

MT: Then the next year you took part as a dancer to Human Nature, and you were also assistant choreographer in the video.
What do you remember about the creative process behind that amazing project?

LT: You you, everywhere I go in the world, that's something that comes up again and again. Everybody likes that video. It's the video that people love the most, but we lived it as a simple video. To tell the truth it was also a low budget video for Madonna at the time. But this only underlines the concept that when an idea is strong it does leave a mark. I was involved from the beginning and I followed it step by step.
Putting together the choreographies was a bit complicated but we also had a lot of fun. Using those ropes in rehearsals we ended up tied to each other a whole lot of times. Then while we were shooting a thousand things happened. That video was the turning point for all the videos that followed. There are some genious ideas there and still today it's being taken as a reference.

MT: And how was working with that huge talent that is Jean Baptiste Mondino?

LT: I was already a big fan of Mondino since Justify My Love. When Madonna told me that he was going to be the director of Human Nature I had shivers. It was like a dream to me. He's one among the greatest and always will be.

MT: Besides Madonna you worked with an amazing number of international artists and with most of the Italian talents that are particularly careful to the presentation of their image. I noticed that in many cases you accompanied these artists in their careers with repeated and constant collaborations. I think of Geri, Kylie, Paola&Chiara, just to name a few. Is there a reason why these people are so professionaly fond of you?

LT: I don't know why it happens, maybe you should ask them.
I'm a bit a workaholic, I love it and it's my air, my drug. If I decide to do something I go ahead untill my goal it's accomplished... I like to be a revolutionary, make people think, analysing to optimize, I'm in the middle of everything and I put everything in discussion.

MT: Your first musical, a new production of Sweet Charity, is a huge success in Italy and its star Lorella Cuccarini, the whole cast and yourself really deserve this. How does it feel to experience a series of incredible sold outs in a country where the musical is considered as a emerging genre?

LT: Working with Lorella has been a great pleasure. I always say she's the most "easy" one to work with.She's a huge talent. I'm so happy of the experience I've shared with a marvelous cast that each night conquers the public with their impressive energy.
Sweet Charity was the first musical by Bob Fosse and I'm a huge fan of his work and of him as a person...

And it is also my first musical and by the way my favourite one... Sweet Charity was a turning point in the art of coreography, Bob Fosse swept away all the classic stereotypes and created a style that is still inspiring nowadays... And this musical is also a turning point for myself, for many different reasons...

At the moment I am working on three different stage shows in Italy only, all having a huge success. There's Sweet Charity and also Sola Me Ne Vo with Mariangela Melato and Volevo Fare Il Ballerino with Fiorello and you can easily tell how lucky I am for working with these artists that besides being all number ones on their own they also are wonderful human beings.

MT: Which projects are you working on at the moment and what's coming up from you in the near future?

LT: I am working on another show that will debut at the Teatro Argentina in Rome this month with Gabriele Lavia, Shakespeare's Measure for Measure...

Then I have lots of videoclip directons on the way like Coolio with his song Dip It and the one for Francesco and Roby Facchinetti's song Vivere Normale that I just completed.
I will also be directing Emanuel Lo with Woofer, Yaya with Infiammabile, Peter Andre and Katie Price in A Whole New World.
I'm also working on the film Come Tu Mi Vuoi.

But one of the most important projects I have is Milano Rockin' Fashion with MTV.
We will be doing this in Milan on May 31st. I'm also putting together a marvelous Circus!

MT: Is there something in the show business you haven't tried yet and that you would like to approach in the near future?

LT: Yes, I hope I can soon direct a film. In September I will direct my first short movie based on the true story of a boy who had cancer when he was twenty.
His name is Fabio Salvatore and he's an actor so he will be re-acting his own story in the film along with other actors.

MT: Going back for a second to your Madonna collaborations, is there something in her that sets her apart from all the other artist you have collaborated with in all these years?

LT: Well we all know which are her good and bad sides. I can only say that what makes her the greatest is strangely her simplicity. I've always thought that among all the stars from the 80's she is the only one who succeded in staying close to the people. She kept communicating with them because she is a person and she doesn't live in her own myth, unlike many other stars from the 80's who started getting away from reality more and more.

MT: Is there something you learned from the time you worked with her that enriched you at a personal or professional level?

LT: A lot of things did, I learned a lot from her, but the main thing is that there's no limit to what you can do, if you want something you can achieve it.

MT: Luca, we often end our interviews by asking our guests what's the fondest memory of Madonna they have.
Can we ask the same thing to you?

LT: My fondest memory of Madonna goes right back to the time of Evita, when we went shopping one day and Madonna felt asleep in the car with her head on my shoulder... that was so sweet.

MT: Thank you so much for sharing this time with us Luca, and all the best for all the things you're working on!