
Roberto Bolle (born March 26, 1975 in
Casale Monferrato) is an Italian
danseur. He is currently a ''principal dancer'' with the
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...
and a principal dancer ''étoile'' at
La Scala Theatre Ballet. Bolle also dances regularly as a guest artist with the world’s leading companies, including
The Royal Ballet
The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...
, the
Mariinsky Ballet, the
Bolshoi Ballet and the
Paris Opera Ballet
The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded ...
.
Early life
Bolle was born in Casale Monferrato and lived during his youth in
Trino, in
Piemonte, a small town near
Vercelli. He began ballet studies at age seven at a local school and was accepted at the
La Scala theatre ballet school in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4  ...
at the age of twelve. In 1990, he was noted by
Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...
, who chose him to play the role of Tadzio in the opera ''Morte a Venezia'', but the Theater forbade him to accept the offer because he was too young.
Career
In 1996, following an appearance in ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...
'', twenty-year-old Bolle was promoted to principal dancer at La Scala. He left that position when he was 21 to pursue a freelance career. Since then he has starred in many ballets including ''
Sleeping Beauty'', ''
Swan Lake
''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...
'', ''
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
'', ''
The Nutcracker
''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...
'', ''
Giselle
''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance cano ...
'', ''
La Esmeralda'', and ''
In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated
''Impressing the Czar'' is a four-act, award-winning, postmodern dance, postmodern
Judith MackrelImpressing the Czar: Sadler's Wells, London The Guardian, 7 November 2008 ballet choreographed by William Forsythe (choreographer), William Forsythe t ...
''.
Bolle has danced for the
Royal Ballet, the
Tokyo Ballet, the
National Ballet of Canada, the
Stuttgart Ballet, the
Finnish National Ballet, the
Staatsoper in Berlin State Opera may refer to :
* Bavarian State Opera, Munich, Germany
* Berlin State Opera
* Hamburg State Opera
* Staatsoper Hannover
* Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden
* Hungarian State Opera House
* Vienna State Opera
* Prague State Opera
The Sta ...
, the
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August ...
, the Staatsoper in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
, the
Bavarian State Opera
The Bayerische Staatsoper is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bayerische Staatsorchester.
History
The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Ele ...
, the
Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden, the 8th and 9th International Ballet Festivals in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
, the
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, the
Teatro di San Carlo in
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, and the City Theatre in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
.

Derek Deane, the English National Ballet director, created two productions for him: ''Swan Lake'' and ''Romeo and Juliet'', both of them performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London. On the 10th anniversary of the Opera Theatre in Cairo, he performed in ''Aida'' at the pyramids of Giza and afterwards at the
Arena in Verona for a new version of the opera live worldwide.
In October 2000 he opened the season at
Covent Garden Opera House in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
performing ''Swan Lake'', and in November he was invited by the Bolshoi Ballet to celebrate
Maya Plisetskaya's 75th anniversary in the presence of President
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime m ...
.
In June 2002, on the occasion of
Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee, he danced the ''Swan Lake'' Act III ''pas de deux'' with Royal Ballet principal dancer
Zenaida Yanowsky in the ballroom at
Buckingham Palace in the presence of the Queen. The event was broadcast live by BBC and transmitted to all the Commonwealth countries.
During the 2003-2004 season he was promoted to ''Étoile'' of La Scala Theatre. On 1 April 2004 he danced in front of
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
in
St. Peter's Square to celebrate young people's day. On 7 December, to celebrate the re-opening of La Scala Theatre after its restoration, he danced ''Europa riconosciuta'' with
Alessandra Ferri
Alessandra Ferri OMRI (born 6 May 1963) is an Italian prima ballerina. She danced with the Royal Ballet (1980–1984), American Ballet Theatre (1985–2007) and La Scala Theatre Ballet (1992–2007) and as an international guest artist, befo ...
and three weeks later in the New Year’s Eve Star Gala.
In December 2005 at Covent Garden Opera House in London he performed
Frederick Ashton’s production of ''
Sylvia'', broadcast by the BBC on Christmas Day.
Bolle danced at the opening ceremony of the
2006 Winter Olympic Games
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...
in
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...
where he performed a solo created for him by Enzo Cosimi. The ceremony was broadcast worldwide and seen by 2.5 billion people.
In 2007 he performed for the first time with ABT
[
] as a guest artist, on the occasion of Alessandra Ferri’s farewell performance.
For the 2009 spring season at the
Metropolitan Opera House in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
, Bolle performed as a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre: the first time that a male Italian dancer joined the company as a principal. The "Dance Listings" in the ''New York Times'' on 26 June 2009 described Bolle as "utterly gorgeous (in both looks and dance)."
[
] Bolle’s Spring 2010 American Ballet Theatre performances include ''
The Lady of the Camellias'', ''Swan Lake'', ''
La Bayadère
''La Bayadère'' ("the temple dancer") (Russian language, ru. «Баядерка», ''Bayaderka'') is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. The ballet was ...
'', and ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...
''.
In June 2019, Roberto Bolle left the American Ballet Theatre. He took the stage for the final time with the company as Des Grieux, partnering
Hee Seo as the titular role in ''
Manon''.
[
]
Other work
Bolle has appeared in numerous fashion and style magazines and has been featured in advertising campaigns;
Ferragamo featured him in a 2008 promotion and he also was featured in
Vogue US 2009 alongside supermodel
Coco Rocha in an editorial spread. Bolle also has an agreement with
Giorgio Armani, who supplies him with clothes.
Since 1999 he has been a
Goodwill Ambassador for
UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid t ...
.
In 2006 he visited
Sudan, spending time at schools and hospitals. As of June 2007, he had raised over $655,000 for education and health projects in Sudan.
References
External links
*
Teatro alla Scala (La Scala) Official Website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolle, Roberto
1975 births
Living people
People from Casale Monferrato
Italian male ballet dancers
Dancers of The Royal Ballet
American Ballet Theatre principal dancers
La Scala Theatre Ballet dancers
21st-century Italian ballet dancers
People from Trino