L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 22 L'Italo-Americano too big and too cold for me. I w a s s h o c k e d b y t h e n u m b e r o f p e o p l e , t h e traffic, and the chaos. When on stage, I fell apart. I could not move, breathe, or dance. I l e a r n e d a b i g l e s s o n though. That was one of my l a s t a u d i t i o n s w i t h t h e B a l l e t t o d i C a s t e l f r a n c o V e n e t o b e c a u s e , a t t h a t point, many theaters were sending me offers to get into their schools. My first choice w a s t h e B o l s h o i , t h e n I changed my mind and chose L a S c a l a , w h i c h a l s o h a d offered me a spot. My mom thought I was crazy, so she called the director and they let me do another audition at a lower level than initially offered. I loved Milan, I was very comfortable with what I k n e w a n d I d i d n ' t k n o w . When the audition ended, the list of people admitted to level six did not have my name in there, because they actually got me in the higher level. It was a big surprise f o r m e a n d m y m o m o f course. W h a t w a s t h e m o s t c h a l l e n g i n g p a r t o f being a young dancer? Y o u n e e d t o l e a r n w h o y o u a r e . T h e r e ' s a b i t o f philosophy in becoming a dancer because ballet is a sophisticated art, enjoyable t o w a t c h . W h e n I w a s admitted to La Scala, I got time for myself to refine the technique and find a better way to express myself. In those two years, I learned by d a n c i n g i n P a r i s a n d Moscow, although I was just a s t u d e n t . S o o n a f t e r I g r a d u a t e d , I b e c a m e P r i n c i p a l D a n c e r f o r N u r e y e v ' s D o n Q u i x o t e , s o m e t h i n g t h a t d o e s n o t h a p p e n v e r y o f t e n . T h a t wasn't easy though, and I was lucky to have a director that wanted me to succeed. My career at the beginning w a s s h o r t a n d i n t e n s e , I w e n t f r o m b e i n g a n a p p r e n t i c e t o a r o l e a s principal dancer in less than five years. How did you deal with this new world? I c o u l d n o t m a k e m y mind around the fact that ballet was just for a small group of people and nobody was paying attention to us as professionals who make lots of efforts and sacrifice many things in life. I still believe that our world is very little known and acknowledged. Fast approaching, I learned t h a t , w h e n o n s t a g e , y o u need to let it go and focus without thinking about what happens outside. Besides t h e p r o b l e m s m y f a m i l y faced at the time, I was able to free my mind and focused on a new journey as a young adult who wanted to change the world. I had a strong personality and didn't hold b a c k f r o m t o u g h c o n v e r s a t i o n s w i t h m y directors and colleagues. I never took no as an answer, unless it was well motivated. H o w d i d S a n F r a n c i s c o b e c o m e home? I w a s a t L a S c a l a a n d there was nothing more to learn and experience to do for me. I wanted to leave and start something new. I was 20 when they offered me a contract for a lifetime, but I was not ready for it. I wanted to go to the Royal B a l l e t b u t s o m e o n e m e n t i o n e d t h e S a n Francisco Ballet, well known for its amazing dancers and performances. I came to San Francisco on vacation and, w h e n b a c k i n M i l a n , I s t a r t e d t h i n k i n g o f t h i s change and shared it with m y p a r e n t s . I w e n t t o L a S c a l a d i r e c t o r a n d announced I'd resign. Five years ago, in 2016, I moved to San Francisco. First impressions? The first thing I had to do was to watch movies over and over to learn English. T h e c h a n g e o f p a c e w a s g r e a t , i t w a s a n e w beginning and I had great e n e r g y . I n f i v e m o n t h s , I could speak English right on time for the season to start. After my first performance, the director offered me to b e c o m e t h e P r i n c i p a l Dancer starting the week after. It was a fast start and kept growing. I met Roberto Bolle and, thanks to him, I also got introduced to an a m a z i n g c o l l e a g u e , M i s a Kuranaga. H o w i s t h e relationship with Misa? T h e f i r s t p e r f o r m a n c e together I dropped Misa on t h e f l o o r . I w a s s h o c k e d . Afterwards, she told me "I have a feeling we will dance together a lot in the future." It was scary and dangerous, h o w e v e r , a f t e r t h a t performance, I was relaxed and we realized we had an a m a z i n g c h e m i s t r y . S h e invited me to her galas and, when back to San Francisco, I showed my director videos with Misa and she got an offer to join us at the San Francisco Ballet a year later. W e h a v e b e e n d a n c i n g together ever since. W h a t i s b a l l e t f o r you? Dancing is magic, it's like an egg covered in gold. It's a r t , i t ' s l i k e g o i n g t o a m u s e u m a n d l o o k i n g a t paintings or statues. It's an o p e n b o o k a n d i t ' d b e amazing to break the barrier b e t w e e n t h i s a r t a n d o u r day-by-day. It's part of our culture and it's our culture. W h a t ' s y o u r r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h t h e audience? The audience looks at the dancers as beautiful people, they are all good-looking a n d p e r f e c t . O n t h e backstage though, there's a different atmosphere where conflicts happen and you need to work and build on harmony as you go. We need t o k e e p o n w o r k i n g o n g e t t i n g c l o s e r t o t h e audience and making them p a r t o f t h i s a r t . I w a s surprised to see my brother t a k i n g h i s f r i e n d s t o t h e theater and knowing that they all loved it and will go b a c k a n d w a t c h o t h e r performances. When you see a show in person, you live the magic. One thing I look forward to is going back to Italy and hosting my own Galas. I want to bring my experience and knowledge back and share the love for b a l l e t w i t h m y f e l l o w Italians. Continued from page 20 Angelo is planning a gala with his name in Italy in the future (Photo: Nicholas Mackay) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TRADITIONS

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