Dale Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 JULIO BOCCA TO RETIRE AS PRINCIPAL DANCER WITH AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE Final Performance Set for June 22, 2006 After a 20-year career as Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre, Julio Bocca has announced he will retire from the company. He will dance his final performance in the role of Des Grieux in Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon on Thursday evening, June 22, 2006 at the Metropolitan Opera House. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Julio Bocca began his dance training with his mother at the age of four. He studied at the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón where his teachers included Gloria Kazda, Jose Pares, Ninel Jultyeva, Karemina Moreno and Luis Aguilar, improving his technique later on with Maggie Black, Lidia Segni and Wilhelm Burmann. His professional career began in 1982 when he joined the Ballet del Teatro Municipal de Rio de Janeiro as a principal dancer, as well as the Fundación Teresa Carreño de Venezuela. In May 1985, Bocca won the Gold Medal at the Fifth International Ballet Competition in Moscow and toured the former U.S.S.R., appearing with the ballet company in Novosibirsk, where he danced the Prince in The Nutcracker and Basilio in Don Quixote, and with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow and the Leningrad-Kirov Ballet, again dancing in Don Quixote. Bocca joined American Ballet Theatre as a Principal Dancer in 1986. His roles with the Company include the title role in Apollo, Solor in La Bayadèrethe pas de deuxfrom Roland Petit’s Carmen, a Stepsister in Cinderella, Franz in Coppélia, Conrad in Le Corsaire, Basilio in Don Quixote, Albrecht in Giselle, Des Grieux in Manon, Danilo in The Merry Widow, the pas de deux from Onegin, Act III, the pas de deux Other Dances, the title role in Petrouchka, Abderakhman in Raymonda, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Prince Désiré in The Sleeping Beauty, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, James in La Sylphide, Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, the fourth variation in Variations for Four and leading roles in Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes, Études and Theme and Variations. Bocca created the leading role in Twyla Tharp’s Brief Fling. His awards and nominations include: María Ruanova ¨Primus Inter Pares” (1986), ¨Gino Tanni Award to the Arts¨ (1990), ¨Personality of the Year¨ (1990) granted in France, ¨Benois De La Danse¨ (1991), ¨Martin Fierro¨ for the best performance in a music show in Argentina (1991), ¨King David Award” from the Argentine House of Jerusalem¨(1996), and ¨Barocco¨ award sponsored by the Italian network RAI, among others. Bocca is also a Cultural Ambassador of the Mercosur Cities and member of the International Dance Council, CID-UNESCO. In 1990, Bocca founded Ballet Argentino, a company of dancers showcasing the artistry of Argentina. Celebrating its 15th Anniversary this year, Ballet Argentino has toured the globe continuously. In addition, he has been a guest artist of the Covent Garden London, Paris Opera House, La Scala Milan and the Royal Danish Ballet, among other distinguished companies. In 2000, Bocca made his Broadway debut in Fosse, and, in 2001, he formed “BoccaTango en el Maipo,” with musicians, singers and dancers, choreographed by Ana María Stekelman. Bocca will continue performing with Ballet Argentino through December 2007. Link to comment
richard53dog Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 JULIO BOCCA TO RETIRE AS PRINCIPAL DANCER WITH AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE Final Performance Set for June 22, 2006 <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I had read he was going to retire "this year" but I had sort of convinced myself that it meant 2007. What a very vivid personality! I will miss him. Richard Link to comment
carbro Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 I had read he was going to retire "this year" but I had sort of convinced myself that it meant 2007.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Actually, Richard, take another look at the last line. He will be dancing with Ballet Argentino through 2007, just not with ABT after June 2006. Link to comment
richard53dog Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 Actually, Richard, take another look at the last line. He will be dancing with Ballet Argentino through 2007, just not with ABT after June 2006. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Carbro, You are right, of course. I'm not sure what chance I have of seeing Ballet Argentino though. But one can hope. Richard Link to comment
Giselle05 Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Well, Julio Bocca has always been my favorite dancer...no comment for now... If you visit his site, www.juliobocca.com and wait about a minute on the home page, in the section with the countdown to his retirement in Argentina in 2007 there will appear a very heartwrenching video clip of him with Ferri in the Manon bedroom pas de deux that announces his retirement (in Spanish)...make sure your volume is up. Link to comment
bart Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Boccatango will be here Wednesday. It's not Romeo and Juliet, but I can't wait despite that. Link to comment
richard53dog Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Boccatango will be here Wednesday. It's not Romeo and Juliet, but I can't wait despite that. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Boccatango will be up here in NJ next week. There is a performance in NJPAC in Newark on the 17th Richard Link to comment
sidwich Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 I had the pleasure of seeing Bocca's last performance as Romeo in R&J a couple of years ago, and it was quite an emotional experience, deeply moving (for me at least) as an audience member. If anywhere near NY during Manon, I will surely try to be there for his last performance with ABT. Link to comment
bart Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 I just saw Boccatango. It wasn't what I expected -- not so much a unified or thematic production as a collection of songs, dances, danced vignettes, with simple production values and simple but effective costumes. The contemporary choreography is fast (especially the footwork) but somewhat repetitive and not overly complex,. The dancers are -- all of them -- wonderful. Most of the music was by Astor Piazzolla. I wish there had been English summaries of the various numbers. As usual, I got most of the Spanish nouns, and a couple of the verbs, but missed just about every other grammatical form. Bocca was thrilling, especially in several pas de deux with Cecilia Figaredo (and with Esteban Riera), and in a moving solo, "Ballad for a Madman," in which he enacted the lyrics of a song. There were suggestions of Pierrot Lunaire and Petrouchka. Very lovely. Bocca was fast, precise, passionate and completely invested in every second he was on stage. Tiny bits reminded me of his ABT Romeo (1st act) especially -- since we were sitting quite close to the stage -- his facial expressions and passion. A solo on a step ladder at the end brought down the house but was a bit too cirque de soleil for me. The performance was a sell-out, so those who catch another stop on this tour should call the local box office quickly. Link to comment
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