The first time I became aware of Roberto, he was dancing Romeo with Tamara Rojo when she was still at ENB. I was knocked for six by every facet of his dancing: his technical ability, his prowess, his stage presence, his gorgeous looks and last but certainly not least, his never-ending arms and legs, producing gazelle-like leaps across the stage and perfectly centred turns of all kinds.
I wanted to find out more, so here is a brief summation of what I’ve seen for myself and read in the past couple of years: he started his ballet career at La Scala Milan…what a good pedigree in which to start! He was quickly noticed by Nureyev, who subsequently cast him in many of his productions, including Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.
His international guesting career started at only 21 years old, and since then he has been in constant demand from ballet companies all over the world. His beautiful, lyrical classicism and grace make him a desirable prince, and he is a noble, God-like Apollo. He has partnered many of the world’s best ballerinas including Sylvie Guillem, Tamara Rojo, Lucia Lacarra, Alessandra Ferri, Darcey Bussell, Altynai Asylmuratova and Carla Fracci. He is a considerate partner to his ballerinas and because of his height and strength gets some wonderful lifts out of them. Of the dancers mentioned above, perhaps his two most successful partnerships are with Bussell and Ferri. He is a perfect partner for Darcey, for she is like a female version of him, all long-limbed grace, with dark good looks. They look great together, and they complement each other’s dancing perfectly. Roberto has been criticised in the past for his wooden acting, but when I saw him dance Romeo to Ferri’s Juliet at the ROH a couple of months ago, this certainly was not the case. The passion running between these two Italians was deep and real; they really coaxed the best from each other both physically and emotionally…something which comes with a partnership that has been going intermittently for years.
In 1999, at the age of only 24, Roberto was invited to be a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, something which has made him very proud indeed. With the inbuilt love for children that all Italians have, I know that he will be very effective in highlighting areas of problems with children, and doing his best to contribute to solving those problems. As he says, “I have been able to achieve what I have because of a serene, happy childhood, and would like to help those less fortunate.”
Roberto is returning to the ROH next season to partner Darcey in Giselle and Sleeping Beauty, and will also dance La Bayadere. I eagerly await seeing him dance again.
In the meantime…..GIVE THAT MAN HIS SWOON T-SHIRT!!
Simonetta
London, July 2003 |
