© Luciano Romano Earlier Interviews: November 2005 July 2004 Bolle in reviews www.robertobolle.com Roberto Bolle FanSpace recent ABT reviews Alan Helms reviews

Roberto Bolle first danced with American Ballet Theater in New York City two years ago when Alessandra Ferri invited him to partner her in her farewell appearances. I saw all four performances (three “Manon”s and one “Romeo and Juliet”), and the same amazing thing happened each time. Although Bolle is a big star in Europe, best-known as an étoile at La Scala (a rare honorary title) who also guests with the world’s leading companies, he was then unknown to American audiences. When he first appeared on stage there was no applause, but when he finished his first solo the audience screamed as if it had just witnessed the Second Coming. In less than two minutes he had created thousands of new fans, and he did the same thing three more times in the next few days.

Little wonder, for Bolle is one of the three best male dancers I’ve seen in over half a century of attending ballet, the others being Nureyev and Baryshnikov. Tall, strong, and handsome with a beautifully proportioned body, he’s a performer of extraordinary talent and charisma. He’s technically superb, has uncanny balance, and he fills the stage with animal vitality. Some claim he isn’t always engaged and sometimes obscures the choreography, but in my experience the opposite is true. Whenever I’ve seen him he’s been completely involved with his colleagues and he enjoys an exceptionally warm relationship with his partners. (The women are demonstrably grateful to him, expressing more genuine affection during curtain calls than I’ve ever seen.) Technically superior to Nureyev, he’s a dancer of such precision that he illuminates details which remain blurred or ignored in others’ performances. So I don’t understand such complaints, but then I’ve long thought that no art form elicits more contrary responses than ballet.

Bolle recently became a member of ABT, and this season he performed in “Giselle” with Paloma Herrera, “Swan Lake” with Veronika Part, “Sylvia” with Michele Wiles, and two “Romeo and Juliet”s with Irina Dvorovenko. I saw all five performances and also interviewed him after “Sylvia.” What follows is a chronology of those events.

June 11 - Giselle
Paloma Herrera is not my idea of a Giselle, for she’s strong and bold where one hopes for demure and sweet, but she nonetheless gave a fine performance. There was good chemistry between her and Bolle, especially throughout Act II, and Bolle’s superb line has never been more beautiful than in the series of floating arabesques when he carried Herrera back and forth across the rear of the stage. As she leaned far forward, he leaned precipitously back, and the swooping “U” joining their bodies was stunning.

June 26 - Swan Lake
Like all his partners this season, Victoria Part profited from dancing with Bolle; what Alastair Macaulay of the New York Times has called her “marmoreal grandeur” was considerably softened. Part does all the steps well but she often lacks feeling and nuance (her Odile was stubbornly one-dimensional), and she can be self-conscious, telegraphing how relieved she is to get the difficult steps out of the way. She’s spoken in print of her diffidence, which would be fine if it took the form of modesty but it usually registers as fear. It’s therefore hard to relax and enjoy a Part performance. Bolle’s size and strength serve him well as Siegfried; his lifts in Acts II and III were powerfully sustained and the smooth slowness with which he lowered Part was a marvel of control. The elegance of his overall performance helped mitigate ABT’s silly version of the ballet.

July 1 - Sylvia
This was my favorite Bolle performance so far because the role of the shepherd Aminta showed off the speed and precision of Bolle’s dancing. (Bolle should do more Balanchine.) It’s also one of Ashton’s most inventive ballets. The rapport between Bolle and Wiles was palpable, and in the final pas de deux when they turn heads sharply to look back at each other, they were clearly having fun. Their delight was the more remarkable since the role of Sylvia is dauntingly difficult for a ballerina and this was only the second time Bolle has performed the role, the first being in the 2005 Royal Ballet DVD with Darcey Bussell.

July 2:
The day after Bolle’s “Sylvia” performance, I interviewed him in the press room of the Metropolitan Opera. A relaxed and modest man, he’s also charming and has a lively sense of humor. He sat on the floor eating cherries while we talked.

AH: “You’ve said that appearing at the Metropolitan Opera is for you ‘the culmination of a dream.’ Why?”

RB:“Because Rudy, Baryshnikov, so many great dancers have performed with ABT. ABT is a company of great prestige, and it’s also international with dancers from so many different countries, not a closed company like the Bolshoi and Maryinsky. And the audience is international too.”

AH:“Have you been pleased with the audience?”

RB:“Very pleased. I have to say that the public is extraordinary here. There’s no other place in the world where I’ve received such a warm reception except in Italy. But in Italy I’m well-known, and of course Latin people are usually warmer, so I was very surprised with the American audience because I didn’t expect it. Two years ago with Alessandra [Ferri] the audience was warm, but she was the big star, it was her farewell, everyone knew she was retiring so the focus was on her. This time it’s different since I’m now a member of the company and much more on my own. I couldn’t be happier. The public has responded in a really great way.”

AH:“Any favorite choreographers?”

RB:“For me Kylian is a fantastic choreographer, and for narrative ballet nowadays I like John Neumeier. I’m looking forward to December when I’ll perform the ‘Orpheus’ he’s creating for me in Hamburg. I’ve also wanted to dance Béjart for a long time so I’m happy I’ll be performing ‘Songs of a Wayfarer’ in the Béjart evening at La Scala which is also in December.”

AH:“Are there any particular qualities you hope to find in your partners?”

RB:“It depends on the role. In ‘Romeo and Juliet’ you hope to have good feeling with your partner because it’s such an emotional ballet. In ‘Sylvia’ you want someone who is technically very strong and very precise but you don’t need lots of dramatic or emotional feeling. It’s also nice to have a partner with whom you can have fun, like last night with Michele. But really, I don’t have problems with partners.”

AH: “Alastair Macaulay has spoken in print of ‘the humility of the true artist’ and also quoted Danilova’s observation that ‘the most important virtue of a ballerina is modesty,’ adding that in his view ‘this is even more true of the male lead.’ Any comments?

RB:“Why the male more than the female? It’s true for everybody, because we all have to be conscious that it’s really hard work and we need to have this modest attitude toward our work and our art. We are artists but there’s a lot of work to do every day. Even after a big success on stage, the next day we go in the studio and start working again, and you face the reality of the body. You have to have a humility of soul and spirit and attitude. If you think you’re a star or a great artist, you don’t go anywhere in the end. A career is so brief and everything can stop in a second, so it’s really important to have modesty and humility.”

AH:“What has the experience of working here at ABT been like for you so far?”

RB:“Crazy, absolutely crazy. Normally I’m used to a couple weeks’ rehearsal for one ballet with the same ballerina, but here everything is constantly changing. The ballets change every week, and at ABT the ‘Giselle’ and ‘Swan Lake’ are new versions for me. Last night was only the second time I’ve ever performed ‘Sylvia.’ And my partners keep changing. Before the curtain last night, I was asking other dancers ‘What do we do here, and what comes after that?’ Once I thought ‘Oh my God: I’m not gonna survive this!’ This is maybe the hardest experience of my life. I’ve never experienced anything like it, and I hope I never do again.”

AH:“You wanted to dance with ABT, right?”

RB: (laughing heartily) “You’re right. So this is the price I have to pay.”

AH:“You’ve performed ‘Giselle’ a hundred times by now, ‘Swan Lake’ another hundred, and other ballets over and over again. How do you keep your roles fresh?”

RB:“It’s easy when you’re dancing masterpieces because you have so much helping you. The roles themselves are rich, and then you have beautiful music and stories, and you have great choreography, so you keep finding new layers of meaning you’d never thought of before. I’m always surprised when I see one of my old videos because I realize how much has changed since then—the way you are on stage, a different expression here, a new movement there. You keep learning and adding more. So in a way the roles keep themselves fresh simply by being so rich and rewarding.”

AH: “Do you care about the critics?”

RB: “Actually, yeah. I read them and I try to take everything in a positive way, even the negative. I respect a lot people’s opinions. I’m not someone who doesn’t care.”

AH:“What’s on your schedule for the near future?”

RB:“There’s the ‘Orpheus’ in Hamburg in December and the Béjart at La Scala the same month. Then next February in Naples I’m doing Mats Ek’s ‘Giselle,’ which is very modern and very strong, and in December next year I’ll dance my first ‘Onegin’ at La Scala.”

AH:“On a different note, what’s happening with your UNICEF work to improve life for the world’s children? I know that being a Goodwill Ambassador is a responsibility you take seriously and one that you’re justly proud of. You’ve said that you feel it’s a moral duty for you to defend children’s rights since you yourself were blessed with a happy childhood. Having been given lots, you feel an obligation to give back. Are you planning any return trips to Africa any time soon?”

RB:“Yes, I’m happy to say that I’ll be going again next year, though I don’t know where.”

AH:“Last time, you went to southern Sudan to deliver over half a million euros raised at the Torino Winter Olympics in 2006. What did that money go for?”

RB:“For vaccinations, HIV prevention, school supplies, things like that. African children have so many needs because they have really terrible problems, especially in war-torn countries like the Sudan.”

AH:“It must be very emotional.”

RB:“It is, emotional and also difficult because the living conditions are hard, travel is slow, you don’t even have a normal bed; you’re housed in a tent like a military camp. But it’s very important work so I’m eager to go again.”

AH:“Back to ballet. You’ve spoken of your hope to increase the audience for ballet, and you’ve done a lot to accomplish that goal though your DVD’s, your media appearances, the outdoor performances

Roberto Bolle at a Rizzoli booksigning © Meg Parsont

you arrange in Italy that draw up to 50,000 spectators, and even the modeling and commercial ads you do. You’re often in the public eye, and always in the role of a ballet dancer. Is it working? Do you think ballet is becoming more popular and its audience is growing?”

RB:“In Italy for sure. There’s been a big cultural change there, and you can see it in the different attitude toward boys who want to study ballet. When I first began, it was unusual for a boy to go to ballet school but that’s no longer true. The film and musical ‘Billy Elliott’ have also made a difference. I’m only one of many people who have helped, but in Italy until recently there was no male figurehead who could reach big audiences. All that has now changed.”

AH:“Finally, a question that because of your early and abiding passion for ballet will be difficult to answer. If you weren’t a ballet dancer, what do you think you would be?”

RB: (a very long pause) “An athlete probably, maybe a swimmer because I love to swim, or perhaps a swimming coach. I’ve always liked to work with my body. I think of myself as an athlete in a way, an athlete of art, but of course ballet is different from sports. I like the physical part, but the artistic part is for me the most important part of our job. I’m very conscious that my body is a gift, and I’ve worked very hard to train and develop it, but if you don’t have the talent it doesn’t matter. It’s the art of ballet that really matters and that’s why it’s so much more interesting to dance roles like Armand or Romeo or des Grieux, characters that have such a strong artistic and emotional side. They’re really big characters and therefore much more interesting.”

And with that, it was time for Bolle to get back to rehearsal.

July 7 - Romeo and Juliet
Irina Dvorovenko began badly tonight by miming youthfulness with coy mannerisms that were painful to see. I saw Ulanova perform Juliet with the Bolshoi in New York in 1959, and despite her age (49), within seconds of her entrance you were convinced you were watching a 14-year-old girl. The secret I think isn’t in gesture or expression but attitude. In any case, Dvorovenko recovered by the ball scene and her first pas de deux with Bolle was magical, she dazed with new feeling and he mesmerized with desire. During the first intermission, my neighbor remarked on another striking feature of Bolle’s dancing—the fact that whereas other men prepare for difficult passages, Bolle just moves into them, seamlessly and with apparent ease.

July 11 - Romeo and Juliet
Tonight’s performance was one of the best “Romeo and Juliet”s I’ve ever seen. Something charged the entire company (their pleasure in a final performance? their awareness of a brilliant season?), so principals, soloists, corps, character dancers—everybody was in top form. I’ve never seen Dvorovenko dance better. From her innocent joy in Act I to her passionate abandon at the end, she was inspired. As for Bolle, he’s said that Romeo is his favorite role, and you can see why because the part gives scope to the entire range of his abilities.

At the end, preparing to drink the poison, Bolle took Dvorovenko’s limp hand in his so it appeared he was enlisting her aid in helping him drink. The lovers thus became united in dying as well as in death, the ultimate Romantic climax and a moment of pure magic. Bolle in fact created lots of magic during his ABT performances this season, and it’s our great good fortune that he’ll be returning again next year.