Julio Bocca
Encyclopedia
Julio Bocca is one of the most important ballet dancers of the later part of the 20th century and arguably the most important Argentine
dancer of all time.
Born in the Munro
neighborhood of the Greater Buenos Aires
, he started ballet lessons at the age of four, and at the age of seven entered the National School of Dance from where he progressed to the Teatro Colón's Advanced Arts Institute a year later.
. In 1985, aged just 18, he won the Gold Medal at the International Ballet Competition in Moscow
and was invited to join the American Ballet Theatre
by Mikhail Baryshnikov
. Though Bocca was a principal dancer with ABT, he enjoyed a lenient contract that allowed him to perform as a guest artists with other companies.
He was much in demand and thrilled audiences at La Scala
in Milan, the Paris Opera, the Kirov
of Saint Petersburg, the Royal Danish Ballet
, the Cuban National Ballet and the National Ballet of Madrid. A performance with the Royal Ballet in London prompted a reviewer with Dance Magazine to rave about "his irresistible combination of passion and gallantry." He even fulfilled his teenage dream by dancing a season with the Bolshoi Ballet.
Since his spectacular win at the 1985 International Ballet Competition, Julio Bocca has established himself as one of the twentieth century's most renowned dancers. "There's something about his very person that attracts you," a ballet director told Dance Magazine, "not only his great technique and talent, but he dances as if his soul depended on it." He has danced with almost every major ballet company, including nearly two decades with the American Ballet Theatre in New York City. Fans say that he can defy gravity, effortlessly fly across the stage, and spin an impossible number of pirouettes all with exacting precision and unbridled passion. "Julio has a magnetism," his artistic director in New York told Dance Magazine. "He's this combination of totally controlled and on the edge." Though the ballet world may adore him, his native Argentina worships him. There he is a superstar easily selling out auditoriums normally reserved for sporting events. His company, Ballet Argentino, is considered a national treasure. Yet for Bocca, fame and fortune is not the point—the dance is. "A good dancer learns to be a dancer," the artistic director of Ballet Argentino told Harper's Bazaar, "but Julio Bocca was born to dance."
In 1990 he fulfilled his dream of creating his own ballet company; the Ballet Argentino, of which he is, as of 2005, the artistic director, and which performs regularly in theatres around the globe. Bocca often dances with the Argentine dancer Eleonora Cassano
. In the year 2000 he participated in the international Millennium Day event, dancing in Ushuaia
with Cassano and the Ballet Argentino in a performance broadcast to the whole world.
Julio Bocca has also mixed ballet dancing with Tango
; a combination that has been very well-received by the public. In 1998 he appeared in the film Tango, no me dejes nunca (English title:Tango), which gained him a new audience. In combining ballet with tango, he has often worked with the tango choreographer Ana Maria Stekelman
. Bocca's reperoir with Ballet Argentino also includes contemporary, jazz, ballroom and modern styles of dancing.
Bocca danced his farewell performance in the American Ballet Theatre
's production of Manon
on June 22 and 23, 2006. Though he will continue to dance with his Ballet Argentino, he has announced that he will finally retire from dancing at the end of 2007.
His biography, Julio Bocca, La Vida en Danza, by the French journalist Angeline Montoya, was published in Argentina in March 2007 by the Spanish publisher Aguilar.
He was named director of the Ballet Nacional SODRE
by Uruguay's president José Mujica in March 2010.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
dancer of all time.
Born in the Munro
Munro, Buenos Aires
Munro is a quarter of the Vicente López Partido in northern Greater Buenos Aires, best known for its jeans and apparel stores and outlets, located some 18 km from the city of Buenos Aires and approximately 3 km from Avenida General Paz....
neighborhood of the Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires is the generic denomination to refer to the megalopolis comprising the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and the conurbation around it, over the province of Buenos Aires—namely the adjacent 24 partidos or municipalities—which nonetheless do not constitute a single administrative...
, he started ballet lessons at the age of four, and at the age of seven entered the National School of Dance from where he progressed to the Teatro Colón's Advanced Arts Institute a year later.
Career
A prodigiously gifted youngster, he joined the Chamber Ballet Company at the Colón Theatre in 1981, and a year later had already performed as soloist at the Colón in a production directed by Flemming FlindtFlemming Flindt
Flemming Flindt was a Danish choreographer born in Copenhagen. He studied at the Royal Danish Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet schools, joined the Royal Danish Ballet and was promoted to soloist in 1955...
. In 1985, aged just 18, he won the Gold Medal at the International Ballet Competition in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and was invited to join the American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre , based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today...
by Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov is a Soviet and American dancer, choreographer, and actor, often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev as one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century. After a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he defected to Canada in 1974...
. Though Bocca was a principal dancer with ABT, he enjoyed a lenient contract that allowed him to perform as a guest artists with other companies.
He was much in demand and thrilled audiences at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
in Milan, the Paris Opera, the Kirov
Mariinsky Ballet
The Mariinsky Ballet is a classical ballet company based at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's leading ballet companies...
of Saint Petersburg, the Royal Danish Ballet
Royal Danish Ballet
The Royal Danish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, it originates from 1748, when the Royal Danish Theatre was founded, and was finally organized in 1771 in response to the great popularity of French and Italian styles of dance...
, the Cuban National Ballet and the National Ballet of Madrid. A performance with the Royal Ballet in London prompted a reviewer with Dance Magazine to rave about "his irresistible combination of passion and gallantry." He even fulfilled his teenage dream by dancing a season with the Bolshoi Ballet.
Since his spectacular win at the 1985 International Ballet Competition, Julio Bocca has established himself as one of the twentieth century's most renowned dancers. "There's something about his very person that attracts you," a ballet director told Dance Magazine, "not only his great technique and talent, but he dances as if his soul depended on it." He has danced with almost every major ballet company, including nearly two decades with the American Ballet Theatre in New York City. Fans say that he can defy gravity, effortlessly fly across the stage, and spin an impossible number of pirouettes all with exacting precision and unbridled passion. "Julio has a magnetism," his artistic director in New York told Dance Magazine. "He's this combination of totally controlled and on the edge." Though the ballet world may adore him, his native Argentina worships him. There he is a superstar easily selling out auditoriums normally reserved for sporting events. His company, Ballet Argentino, is considered a national treasure. Yet for Bocca, fame and fortune is not the point—the dance is. "A good dancer learns to be a dancer," the artistic director of Ballet Argentino told Harper's Bazaar, "but Julio Bocca was born to dance."
In 1990 he fulfilled his dream of creating his own ballet company; the Ballet Argentino, of which he is, as of 2005, the artistic director, and which performs regularly in theatres around the globe. Bocca often dances with the Argentine dancer Eleonora Cassano
Eleonora Cassano
Eleonora Cassano is an Argentine ballet dancer. She's known for being the dancing partner of Julio Bocca since 1989....
. In the year 2000 he participated in the international Millennium Day event, dancing in Ushuaia
Ushuaia
Ushuaia may refer to the following:*Ushuaia, a city in Argentina.**Ushuaia Department, an administrative division**Ushuaia River**Ushuaia International Airport**Colegio Nacional de Ushuaia, National School of Ushuaia....
with Cassano and the Ballet Argentino in a performance broadcast to the whole world.
Julio Bocca has also mixed ballet dancing with Tango
Tango (dance)
Tango dance originated in the area of the Rio de la Plata , and spread to the rest of the world soon after....
; a combination that has been very well-received by the public. In 1998 he appeared in the film Tango, no me dejes nunca (English title:Tango), which gained him a new audience. In combining ballet with tango, he has often worked with the tango choreographer Ana Maria Stekelman
Ana Maria Stekelman
Ana María Stekelman is one of Argentina’s leading choreographers and is the founder of the Tangokinesis dance troupe.Stekelman studied modern dance in Buenos Aires with Paulina Ossona and Renate Schottelius and then traveled to New York, where she studied at the Martha Graham Dance School.In 1968...
. Bocca's reperoir with Ballet Argentino also includes contemporary, jazz, ballroom and modern styles of dancing.
Bocca danced his farewell performance in the American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre , based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today...
's production of Manon
L'histoire de Manon
L'histoire de Manon is a ballet comprising the music of Jules Massenet, arranged and partially orchestrated by British composer Leighton Lucas, re-orchestrated entirely by conductor Martin Yates in 2011...
on June 22 and 23, 2006. Though he will continue to dance with his Ballet Argentino, he has announced that he will finally retire from dancing at the end of 2007.
His biography, Julio Bocca, La Vida en Danza, by the French journalist Angeline Montoya, was published in Argentina in March 2007 by the Spanish publisher Aguilar.
He was named director of the Ballet Nacional SODRE
by Uruguay's president José Mujica in March 2010.
Awards
The awards Julio Bocca has received include:- 1985 - Golden Medal 1985 (International Contest) in Moscow.
- 1986 - Primus Inter Pares in Buenos AiresBuenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
- 1987 - Dancer of the year 1987 (New York Times), in New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
- 1990 - Acquidanza in Acqui-Terme, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
- 1990 - Gino Tani Award, in RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
- 1990 - Best International Classic Dancer (Iberoamerican Dancing Association) in BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
- 1991 - Léonide Massine in PositanoPositanoPositano is a village and comune on the Amalfi Coast , in Campania, Italy. The main part of the city sits in an enclave in the hills leading down to the coast.-History:...
, Italy - 1992 - Benois (International Coreografers Association) at the Bolshoi TheatreBolshoi TheatreThe Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
- 1999 - Platinum KonexKonex AwardKonex Foundation awards, or simple Konex awards are cultural awards from the Konex Foundation to Argentine cultural personalities.Created in 1980, where conceived as a way to reward the Argentine personalities and institutions of different fields, as well as to stimulate the beginners.Even though...
for Male Ballet Dancer (Konex FoundationKonex FoundationKonex Foundation is an Argentine cultural non-profit organization created in 1980 to promote, stimulate, help, and participate in any form of cultural, educational, intellectual, artistic, social, philanthropic, scientific or sports initiative, work, and enterprise, in their most relevant aspects,...
) in Buenos AiresBuenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...