Roberto BolleUfficiale OMRI (born March 26, 1975, inCasale Monferrato) is an Italiandanseur. He is currently aprincipal dancer with theAmerican Ballet Theatre and a principal dancerétoile atLa Scala Theatre Ballet. Bolle also dances regularly as a guest artist with the world’s leading companies, includingThe Royal Ballet, theMariinsky Ballet, theBolshoi Ballet and theParis Opera Ballet.
Bolle was born in Casale Monferrato, and lived during his youth inTrino, a small town nearVercelli inPiemonte. He began ballet studies at the age of seven at a local school and was accepted at theLa Scala theatre ballet school inMilan at the age of twelve. In 1990, he was noted byRudolf Nureyev, who chose him to play the role of Tadzio in the operaMorte a Venezia, but the Theater forbade him to accept the offer because he was too young.[1]
In 1996, following an appearance inRomeo and Juliet, 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 includingSleeping Beauty,Swan Lake,Cinderella,The Nutcracker,Giselle,La Esmeralda, andIn the Middle, Somewhat Elevated.
Bolle has danced for theRoyal Ballet, theTokyo Ballet, theNational Ballet of Canada, theStuttgart Ballet, theFinnish National Ballet, theStaatsoper in Berlin, theVienna State Opera, the Staatsoper inDresden, theBavarian State Opera, theInternationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden, the 8th and 9th International Ballet Festivals inTokyo, theTeatro dell'Opera di Roma, theTeatro di San Carlo inNaples, and the City Theatre inFlorence.
Derek Deane, the English National Ballet director, created two productions for him:Swan Lake andRomeo 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 inAida at the pyramids of Giza and afterwards at theArena in Verona for a new version of the opera live worldwide.
In October 2000 he opened the season atCovent Garden Opera House inLondon performingSwan Lake, and in November he was invited by the Bolshoi Ballet to celebrateMaya Plisetskaya's 75th anniversary in the presence of PresidentVladimir Putin.
In June 2002, on the occasion ofQueen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee, he danced theSwan Lake Act IIIpas de deux with Royal Ballet principal dancerZenaida Yanowsky in the ballroom atBuckingham 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 toÉtoile of La Scala Theatre. On 1 April 2004 he danced in front ofPope John Paul II inSt. 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 dancedEuropa riconosciuta withAlessandra Ferri and three weeks later in the New Year’s Eve Star Gala.
In December 2005 at Covent Garden Opera House in London he performedFrederick Ashton’s production ofSylvia, broadcast by the BBC on Christmas Day.
Bolle danced at the opening ceremony of the2006 Winter Olympic Games inTurin 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[2] as a guest artist, on the occasion of Alessandra Ferri’s farewell performance.
For the 2009 spring season at theMetropolitan Opera House inNew York City, 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 theNew York Times on 26 June 2009 described Bolle as "utterly gorgeous (in both looks and dance)."[3] Bolle’s Spring 2010 American Ballet Theatre performances includeThe Lady of the Camellias,Swan Lake,La Bayadère, andRomeo and Juliet.
In June 2019, Roberto Bolle left the American Ballet Theatre. He took the stage for the final time with the company as Des Grieux, partneringHee Seo as the titular role inManon.[4]
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 inVogue US 2009 alongside supermodelCoco Rocha in an editorial spread. Bolle also has an agreement withGiorgio Armani, who supplies him with clothes.
Since 1999 he has been aGoodwill Ambassador forUNICEF.[2] In 2006 he visitedSudan, spending time at schools and hospitals. As of June 2007, he had raised over $655,000 for education and health projects in Sudan.
