L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano E nvision a little b o y , n a m e d Angelo, walking i n t o t h e l o c a l theater of a little town in Northern Italy. His m o m i s t h e r e w i t h h i m , h o l d i n g h a n d s w h i l e w a t c h i n g o t h e r k i d s d a n c i n g . T h e s u c c e s s f u l s t o r y o f A n g e l o G r e c o , Principal Dancer at the San Francisco Ballet, could have c o n t i n u e d a s m a n y o t h e r stories we hear about ballet dancers. This is different though: that day Angelo left the theater being sure he would not come back and would never dance in his life. Lucky us, he changed his mind and he is now one o f t h e t o p I t a l i a n b a l l e t dancers in the world, after he won important awards a n d d a n c e d w i t h f a m o u s artists worldwide. Who is Angelo Greco? I was born in Sardinia, h o w e v e r , m y d a d w a s originally from Modena and t h a t ' s w h e r e I g r e w u p . I don't come from a family of dancers, my mom used to be a gymnast. Both my parents went to Engineering school, so had nothing to do with b a l l e t a n d d a n c i n g . Nevertheless, they always s u p p o r t e d m e i n w h a t I wanted to do. That's crucial if you want to embark on such a journey as a ballet dancer. W h e n d i d y o u m a k e the decision to become a ballet dancer? I was late in a sense. Most kids start when they are 7-8 years old; I didn't until I was 13, in a small dance school in my hometown. My mom t o o k m e t o D a n z A r t e because I did not want to practice any sports, yet I was always moving around. We both went to watch a class of modern dance at the school but, ten minutes in, I told her: "Let's go, I don't like it." A few days later, I went back because I had realized that I liked classical dance better. M y t e a c h e r , E m a n u e l a Mussini, followed me for a year and a half until I was 1 4 , s h e h e l p e d m e understand ballet and I fell in love with it. What was the turning point of this early stage? It was during a contest, D a n z a i n F i e r a , t h a t t h e d i r e c t o r o f t h e s c h o o l , Susanna Plaino, asked me to do an audition to join the school. I did the audition but I was afraid to leave my f a m i l y . E v e n a f e w y e a r s e a r l i e r , w h e n I w a s 1 0 , I p l a y e d s o c c e r a n d g o t a n offer to be part of Modena's young team. I rejected the offer because I did not want t o s t a y a w a y f r o m h o m e . Once again, the same feeling hit me, but this time I made a d i f f e r e n t d e c i s i o n a n d accepted the opportunity coming from Susanna. The first week was awful, I was crying all day long and was r e a d y t o g o b a c k t o m y family. It was tough: I rode my bike to school in the AM a n d t o t h e t h e a t e r i n t h e a f t e r n o o n , d a n c i n g a n d p r a c t i c i n g u n t i l 6 p m . A t night I had to study for the day after, while being apart SERENA PERFETTO from my parents. After one week, I wanted to give up, however my parents did not l e t m e . M y d a d d r o v e m e back to the school and told m e r i g h t b e f o r e l e a v i n g : "Don't worry too much. Just have fun." For a month, I d i d n ' t g o b a c k t o s e e m y p a r e n t s . A n d m y l i f e changed forever. What happened after this? I started working hard to b e c o m e a p r o f e s s i o n a l dancer and learned the pain and the suffering coming with it. Three years later, I w a s i n N e w Y o r k , o n m y own, for an audition after being selected in a group of twelve top dancers. That did not go well. New York was Angelo Greco moved to San Francisco in 2016 from Milan (Photo: Nicholas Mackay) Angelo Greco: "How the magic of ballet changed my life, from Sardinia to San Francisco" Continued to page 22 LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TRADITIONS

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