Roberto Bolle Commands the Ballet Stage

LONDON — Having traveled the world, dancer Roberto Bolle is returning to London, where he launched his career, for a one-off show at Sadler’s Wells Theatre with principal dancers from the Royal Ballet.

His show on Monday, “Roberto Bolle and Friends,” will feature fellow dancers Melissa Hamilton, Fumi Kaneko and Vadim Muntagirov. Bolle is the star and the artistic director of the show, which will feature ballet, classical and contemporary works including “Caravaggio,” “Grand Pas Classique,” “Opus 100,” “Esmeralda,” “Two” and “In Your Black Eyes.”

Bringing the show to London was important to the Italian dancer. “London is a very special place because I started dancing here when I was really young, and it was the first international stage in my career,” he says in an interview at the Royal Ballet and Opera in Covent Garden.

In 1997, he performed “Swan Lake” with the English National Ballet. He was originally a third cast member, but when the leading dancer was injured, Bolle was promoted to the role on opening night. That moment launched his career. The following year, Bolle was cast in “Romeo and Juliet” and in 1999, he joined the Royal Ballet as a guest dancer. He’s since performed on world stages such as the Mariinsky Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet.

Bolle is now a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre and an étoile, a star, at La Scala in Milan. He’s using “Roberto Bolle and Friends” to promote ballet and introduce the dance form to new audiences who might consider it too specialist, old-fashioned or stuffy.

The show has been 25 years in the making. He introduced it in 2000 in his hometown of Trino, a small town near Vercelli in Italy’s Piemonte region. Over the years, he’s brought it to small theatres and big outdoor stages in Italy such as the Piazza del Duomo in Milan, the Colosseum in Rome, the archeological site of Pompeii and the Temple of Concordia in Agrigento, Sicily. He’s also staged the performance in New York, China and Dubai.

“It’s a big part of my calendar and I have the freedom to choose different repertoires and choreography,” Bolle says.

What’s made “Roberto Bolle and Friends” so successful throughout the years is the variety of dance styles and the tempo of the performance.

“The majority of the public may not be used to a full-length ballet, and that’s why it works. The feeling of the performance is more like a pop concert than an evening at the ballet,” Bolle says.

Staging the performances outdoors has given him a new perspective as a dancer and attracted so much attention that it’s earned an annual slot on Italian television for the past nine years.

“Ballet can bring so much value to a young audience. It’s an important way to express and to discipline yourself, as well as creating a routine. Ballet helps the mental approach to everything one does in life,” Bolle says.

In his career of three decades, Bolle’s attitude to dance hasn’t changed. He still operates like an athlete with a statuesque stance and toned muscles. At the age of 50, he’s also hyperaware of his health. 

“It’s very hard because it requires a lot of discipline and sacrifice. You have to commit yourself with age, especially because it’s not the same as dancing as when I was 20. At 50, [it feels extra special] because I’m still able to do this,” Bolle says.

Bolle was introduced to the world of dance at the age of 7, when a friend was attending ballet school and, out of curiosity, Bolle joined him, attending classes twice a week. He later auditioned at the La Scala Theatre Ballet School and secured a spot at the age of 12.

“It became very clear to me that this was my future. I moved away from my family and I was alone in Milan,” Bolle says. “Everyone there shared the same passion and we were working toward the same goal. I was surrounded by beauty when I entered the theater every day and had the opportunity to be part of a production. Once you experience that beauty, it’s difficult to go back to anything else.”

The dancer reckons he’s spent more than 200,000 hours dancing, between rehearsals and stage performances. Along the way, he’s met several of his heroes, including Rudolf Nureyev, who at the time was staging his version of “The Nutcracker” at La Scala.

“I met him when I was 15, I was stretching and working out in the studio. When he came in to do his training, I was about to leave, but he said, ‘No, stay. You have to show me what you can do.’ He then made some corrections to my technique and made me do it all over again,” Bolle recalls.

Nureyev took a liking to him and decided to cast him in a ballet that he was working on in Verona, but the school wouldn’t allow it because Bolle was too young. The two dancers never met again.

Muntagirov, who will be dancing in “Roberto Bolle and Friends,” describes Bolle as a “legend.” “He is an inspiration, a hard worker,” Muntagirov says. “There are a few ballet legends and, of course, when Roberto invites you to share the stage with him it feels very special, even more special when he tells you how well you dance or gives you some tips.”

It’s not just Bolle’s peers who admire his work ethic and his good looks. He’s worked with Acqua di Parma and starred in fashion campaigns for Tod’s and Bottega Veneta.

Bolle isn’t planning to slow down anytime soon. His next project is taking “Caravaggio” on a tour across the globe next year, starting with Turin and Genoa before making a stop at the Hong Kong Arts Festival in March.