Julio Bocca

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Julio Bocca (b. March 6, 1967) is one of the most important ballet dancers of the latter part of the 20th century, and probably the most important Argentine dancer of all time.

Born in Munro in Buenos Aires, he started ballet lessons at the age of four, and aged seven he entered the National School of Dance and then progressed to the Teatro Colón's Advanced Arts Institute a year later.

A prodigiouly gifted youngster, he joined the Chamber Ballet Company at the Colon Theatre in 1981, and a year later he had already performed as soloist at the Colon in a show directed by Fleming Flindt. In 1985, aged just 18, he won the Gold Medal at the International Ballet Competition in Moscow and was invited into the American Ballet Theatre by Mikhail Baryshnikov.

In 1990 he fulfilled his dream of creating his own ballet company; the Ballet Argentino, of which he is, as of 2005, the artistic director, and which performs regularly in theatres around the globe. Bocca often dances with Argentine dancer Eleonora Cassano. In the year 2000 he participated in the international Millennium Day event, dancing in Ushuaia with Casano and the Ballet Argentino in a performance broadcast to the whole world.

Julio Bocca has also mixed ballet dancing with Tango; a combination that has been very well received by the public. In 1998 he participated of the film Tango, no me dejes nunca (English title:Tango), which gained him a new audience. In combining ballet with tango, he has often collaborated with tango choreographer Ana Maria Stekelman.

Bocca danced his farewell performance in American Ballet Theatre's production of "Manon" on June 22, 2006. Though he will continue to dance with his Ballet Argentino until then, he has announced that he will retire from dancing at the end of 2007.

[edit] Awards

Among the awards Julio Bocca has received:

1985 - Golden Medal 1985 (International Contest) in Moscow.
1986 - Primus Inter Pares in Buenos Aires
1987 - Dancer of the year 1987 (New York Times), in New York
1990 - Acquidanza in Acqui-Terme, Italy
1990 - Gino Tanni Award, in Rome
1990 - Best International Classic Dancer (Iberoamerican Dancing Association) in Barcelona
1991 - Leonid Massine in Positano, Italy
1992 - Benois (International Coreografers Assosiation) at the Bolshoi Theatre
1999 - Platinum Konex for Male Ballet Dancer (Konex Foundation) in Buenos Aires

[edit] Personal life

In 2002, after years of speculation about his sexuality, Bocca came out as bisexual in an interview with the journalist Jorge Lanata on his television program called La Luna. [1]