Born in Casale Monferrato, Roberto Bolle, trained at the Theatre La Scala Ballet School where he was chosen by Rudolf Nureyev to dance Tadzio in Death in Venice. In 1996, two years after he joined the Teatro alla La Scala Ballet Company, he was promoted to principal dancer. His repertory includes The Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Don Quixote (Rudolf Nureyev), Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, La Bayadère (Natalia Makarova), Études, Giselle (Sylvie Guillem), Le Spectre de la Rose, La Sylphide, Manon, Romeo and Juliet, Onegin, The Merry Widow and Apollon Musagète, among others.

Among the companies with whom Bolle has danced are The Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Stuttgart Ballet, Finnish National Ballet and The Hamburg Ballet. At the Royal Albert Hall in London, he performed in both Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet, productions created for him by English National Ballet director Derek Deane.

Since December 1998 Bolle has been Resident Guest Artist at La Scala Theatre. In 2000, he opened the ballet season at Covent Garden performing in Anthony Dowell’s Swan Lake and he appeared at the Bolshoi Theatre to celebrate Maya Plisetskaya’s 75th anniversary. In 2002, he danced at Buckingham Palace in the presence of H. M. Queen Elizabeth II, in celebration of her Golden Jubilee.

During the 2003/2004 season Bolle was promoted to Étoile. In 2004 he danced before Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square, celebrating Young People’s Day. He also was invited to appear at the Paris Opera in Don Quixote and The Sleeping Beauty. On December 7, to celebrate the re-opening of the Teatro alla Scala, he danced Europa Riconosciuta with Alessandra Ferri.

In 2005, he danced Apollon Musagète at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg at the Fourth International Festival. In December 2005, he performed at Covent Garden in Frederick Ashton’s Sylvia which was broadcast by BBC on Christmas Day. Bolle also danced a solo, created for him by Enzo Cosimi, at the opening ceremony of the Winter Games in Turin, Italy in February 2006.

In 2007 he performed for the first time as a guest artist with American Ballet Theatre, on the occasion of Alessandra Ferri’s farewell performance. For the 2009 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, he will perform as a Principal Dancer with the American Ballet Theatre: it’s the first time that a male Italian dancer will join the Company as a Principal.

Since 1999 he has been a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF and in 2006 he visited Sudan on his first trip into the field.

 Roberto Bolle's Website

Photo © Luciano Romano