Bolle dedicates 'On Dance' to Carla Fracci, 'was her idea'

(ANSA) - MILAN, AUG 31 - Roberto Bolle, principal dancer étoile at Milan's La Scala, said Tuesday he was dedicating this year's edition of his On Dance extravaganza around Milan to the late ballet legend Carla Fracci, who died at the end of May aged 84 - and that the event had been her idea in the first place.
    Bolle said that culture, and dance in particular, is necessary for restarting, because "we can't allow ourselves to get used to a life without art".
    "It's important to go back to culture, beauty, live shows," he said as he presented a series of initiatives in which he is a protagonist, tied to the world of dance.
    "Dance for me is an essential tool, it is relating, sharing, and it is the tool I know best and want to share and through which to launch my message to give confidence and a desire to restart.
    "I am sure that everyone will find their own, everyone will do it in their own way, the important thing is to launch these messages to return to the way of living, relating like we were used to doing before," he said.
    Starting with On Dance, the major event he conceived in 2018, to bring dance, in all its forms, around Milan, from 2 to 6 September, involving all fans for free.
    This 2021 edition will be special, not only because of the health protocols that will have to be applied, but above all because it takes place a few months after Fracci's death on May 27.
    Opened by the exhibition 'Passo a due-Roberto Bolle and Giovanni Gastel', in the Museum of Gallerie d'Italia, the event will continue with the workshop and a series called Openclass, a calendar of lessons open to all in the Castello Sforzesco, teaching a variety of dance styles from musicals to the Charleston, African dance and swing.
    The final show at the Castello Sforzesco will include many guests and a choral moment, in which all the thousand admitted spectators should be involved.
    "Of course there are problems, related to restrictions, but there has been a great effort by the city institutions and above all by the big sponsors, such as Intesa SanPaolo and Pastificio Rana, who support us, without which, without public and private synergy, without the support of the Ministry of Culture, all these events could not take place," Bolle said.
    Bolle also agreed to be the spokesperson for an Intesa SanPaolo fundraiser for the restoration of the Guglia della Madonnina, in an event scheduled in Milan on 7 September, when a video will be presented, with the artist dancing in the Duomo, from the halls of the museum to the Terrazza, at the foot of the statue.
    (ANSA).