![]() ![]() “Thanks to her, new ballet schools sprouting up like mushrooms, and ballet is enjoying a renaissance in Italy”.ģ0-minute curtain calls were not rare for her. “Miss Fracci has managed to attract vast audiences and has brought many unsuspecting people closer to this mysterious art which is ballet” the newspaper wrote. In 1981 the New York Times called her Prima Ballerina Assoluta. In the late Sixties she became, among others, Principal guest with the American Ballet Theatre. Fracci, after all, was renowned for her interpretation of great romantic ballets, and Giselle become her signature role in many ways. Her partnership with Erik Bruhn is mythical and seemed to reach perfection – their Giselle is still considered a model, a point of reference. ![]() “A great dancer and choreographer” she wrote, “but also a very difficult man, competitive, eccentric, fickle, unpredictable, moody, temperamental, sometimes so awful as to behave badly onstage with those who were dancing with him”. Rudolf Nureyev partnered her several times, including when they danced together two of the most difficult ballets choreographed by Russian dancer – The Nutcracker and Don Quijote. With Rudolf Nureyev in “The Nutcraker” 1970 Many among the great male dancers of her generation got the chance to be her stage partners. ![]() She became an internationally acclaimed star due to her dramatic approach to dancing and to both her technical skills and her lightness, and left La Scala in 1963 to pursue an international career.Įminent ballet companies she appeared with include the Royal Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet – she inspired John Cranko’s first production of Romeo and Juliet. As a child she wanted to be a hairdresser, though. She entered the ballet school of La Scala in 1946 before joining the company and becoming Prima ballerina in 1958. A tram driver’s daughter, Fracci has always remembered that her father used to ring the tram bell three times while crossing Piazza della Scala in order to make her know that he was around and was thinking of her, while she was at the barre. She was born in Milan in August 1936 and, in some ways, always remained true to her Milan origins, in spite of having become one of the world’s most renowned ballet stars. She has always been, indisputably, the true queen of Italian dance. She had been suffering from cancer, but faced the disease with great reserve. Italy’s most famous and celebrated ballet dancer, Carla Fracci, has died today at the age of 84. It is told that once Charlie Chaplin said to her, “You are wonderful” after seeing her dancing. Italy’s president Mattarella says “she has honoured our country with her elegance and her artistic commitment” She has always been the brightest Italian ballet star. Fracci last danced at La Scala in 2000, in the role of Luce in “Excelsior.” She was invited back in January of this year to teach a masterclass on “Giselle,” which was broadcast on La Scala’s social media channels and is part of a documentary series by RAI state television.The Milan-born ballerina faced her fatal disease with great reserve. Italy's premier, Mario Draghi, called her “a great Italian,” and President Sergio Mattarella, said she had honored her country “with her elegance and her artistic efforts, the fruit of intense work.” A bona fide Italian celebrity, she frequently appeared on Italian television and was equally the darling of popular magazines. Fracci also played lead roles in the teleplay “Verdi” and the film ”Nijinsky” by Herbert Ross. Performing for camera as well as live audiences, Ms. Fracci received the Dance Magazine Award, considered one of the greatest prizes for a dancer. Later partners included La Scala’s own Roberto Bolle, who remembered Ms. She was most identified with the role of “Giselle," which she danced with Nureyev and Baryshnikov as well as Danish star Erik Bruhn. Her global fame soon spread, with invitations to the Royal Festival Hall, followed by doors opening in the United States, even while remaining a central figure at La Scala. She got her first break substituting for French dancer Violette Verdy in “Cinderella” the same year, and by 1958 had risen to the role of prima ballerina. ![]()
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