Julio Bocca and Ballet Argentino

Francis Timlin · **Posted:** Fri Apr 02, 2004 7:53 pm

Julio Bocca and Ballet Argentino will appear at the University of Washington's Meany Hall in Seattle from April 8-10, 2004. The King County Journal previews:

http://kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/160250

Andre Yew · **Posted:** Tue Apr 06, 2004 9:18 pm

Segal seems lukewarm on Ballet Argentino:

Quote:

Artist lends star power to young troupe
Lewis Segal, LA Times
Coincidences can be enlightening — Jirí Kylián choreography from both Nederlands Dans Theater and American Ballet Theatre on Southland stages in the same week, for example. Or Ballet Theatre dancing "Romeo and Juliet" downtown on Saturday while Julio Bocca — one of the company's stellar former Romeos — performed other company repertory and a new work at the Cerritos Center the same night.

...

However, his dominance helped unify and upgrade a performance suffering from the Argentino men's technical limitations (particularly their rough terminations) and the women's inability to get the jazz music into their bodies. Not only could Bocca dance Ailey idiomatically, but he brought a surprising depth of soul to the "Spring" opening and, especially, the "Twin Cities" finale opposite the capable Rosana Perez.

...

Ballet Argentino can't compare with Ballet Theatre just yet, but its fire burns with greater heat, and there's no question of who supplies the spark.

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Andre Yew · **Posted:** Tue Apr 06, 2004 9:27 pm

I just saw this elegant company at their Santa Barbara performance at the Arlington Theatre. They may not have the technical fireworks of ABT, but their understated, well-placed, in-control Apollonian style with its beautiful long lines is a welcome relief to frenetic, sloppy step-making. Hernan Piquin, Rosana Perez, and Cecilia Figaredo were definite highlights of the company. The company's understated style didn't quite ignite Le Corsaire, which actually looked too easy (!!), but gave Ailey's very enjoyable The River an almost neoclassical flavor. Ana Maria Stekelman's The Man In The Red Tie was distinguished by an imaginative set, but the choreography seemed to take second place to the mime --- what was there wasn't too interesting to look at, though the 4th act duet with Bocca and Figadero was smoldering.

--Andre

Francis Timlin · **Posted:** Sat Apr 10, 2004 4:22 pm

A pair of reviews by the Seattle press on the company's Thursday, April 8 performance at Meany Hall at the University of Washington.

R. M. Campbell in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/classical/168475_argentino10q.html

Mary Murfin Bayley in the Seattle Times:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/artsentertainment/2001899684_argentino10.html

kurinuku · **Posted:** Mon Apr 12, 2004 3:12 am

Quote:

Quit at the top

By VICKI SMITH PALUCH
The U-Daily News via Yahoo
April 1, 2004

Ballet star Julio Bocca is impatient. After decades of lighting up the stage with his bravura dancing with American Ballet Theatre, Bocca is now looking forward to his own retirement from the stage and doing "the other stuff in life."

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kurinuku · **Posted:** Mon Apr 19, 2004 9:34 am

Quote:

'Red Tie' performance has passion and more

By ANNE HERMAN
The Anchorage Daily News
April 18, 2004

Ballet isn't usually overtly sexual. It can be passionate and sensual, but a "hot bodies and flushed faces" sort of eroticism generally isn't in its vocabulary. So it was a bit of a surprise to see Ballet Argentino get hearts racing and palm sweating with its steamy "The Man with the Red Tie" at Atwood Concert Hall.

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gaeadea · **Posted:** Thu Apr 22, 2004 2:06 pm

DANCE REVIEW
Painting comes to life for Bocca and company

By MOLLY GLENTZER
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Mona Lisa, ha. Girl With a Pearl Earring, nah.

If you wanted to be seduced by a painting on Thursday, the subject to see was The Man in the Red Tie, brought to life by ballet superstar Julio Bocca.

He was a central figure in Argentine choreographer Ana María Stekelman's nifty new dance of the same name. It's a contemporary ballet based on a story by Natalia Kohen, which was inspired by the work of Latin American painter Antonio Seguí. Society for the Performing Arts and three other U.S. presenters co-commissioned the work for this year's tour (and Houston debut) by Ballet Argentino, Bocca's own 15-member company.

Set designer Tito Egurza doesn't just project Seguí's austere paintings, which often feature a gaucho character bounding across a jumbled cityscape. He fuses and morphs them intriguingly into the action, making The Man in the Red Tie alluringly surreal. Stekelman's passionate, sometimes sharp-as-a-dagger movement, a great tango-infused score by Lito Vitale and a corps of sinister suited men and flamboyant artsy types contribute to the work's cool sensibility.

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Dean Speer · **Posted:** Thu Apr 29, 2004 5:34 pm

I enjoyed seeing Mr. Bocca and his Ballet Argentino here in Sunny Seattle at the University of Washington's Meany Hall Theatre. Mr. Bocca has assembled a talented pool of dancers who were a pleasure to watch. I found the main weakness of the company to be choreographic. Several pas de deux; one modernistic, somewhat balletic group piece; followed by a very strange "story" ballet that looked like a cross between a bad vampire movie and ballet meets "The Picture of Dorian Gray."

The company to me also has an identity crisis: Is this a "Julio Bocca and Friends" kind of outing or is it really about developing and nurturing a home-grown Argentinian ballet company? As lovely as he his, Mr. Bocca danced too often. He becomes a prop or crutch for the company and I think for it to grow to its next level, there need to be more ensemble pieces on the bill. I'm not suggesting Mr. Bocca give up performing but should consider whether the company is artistically viable without him? Could it sustain a season (or two) on its own? If yes, then performances by Mr. Bocca should be the icing on the cake and not the meal. Are presenters worried about selling tickets and name recognition? I would hope that eventually, Ballet Argentino will be just that, with guest artist Julio Bocca.

<small>[ 29 April 2004, 07:51 PM: Message edited by: Francis Timlin ]</small>

corrival · **Posted:** Mon Feb 06, 2006 9:59 am

Bocca's Last Tango In D.C.
By Sarah Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 5, 2006; Page N19

Quote:

The upcoming months will offer new work, the return of familiar faces and a couple of lamentable, but inevitable, final bows.

The ravishing Argentine virtuoso Julio Bocca will end local audiences' long romance with his dancing on Valentine's Day, when he makes his final Washington area stage appearance with Ballet Argentino at the Music Center at Strathmore. Bocca, who is nearing 40, founded Ballet Argentino in Buenos Aires in 1990 while still one of the hottest principal dancers with American Ballet Theatre. He has become revered in his homeland for revitalizing ballet there. Though he achieved worldwide fame with ABT in bravura roles of the classical repertoire -- and he won't retire from ABT until 2007 -- it's dance of a different sort with which Bocca will take his last steps onstage here. "Boccatango" is the name of the program, with choreography by frequent collaborator Ana Maria Stekelman and live music by Octango in a ballet-influenced take on the steamy Argentine dance form.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/03/AR2006020300852.html

corrival · **Posted:** Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:51 am

Julio Bocca's Heady Tango Of Emotions
By Sarah Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 16, 2006; Page C01

Quote:

Julio Bocca doesn't dance like a man about to retire. Certainly, 20 years is a long time to stay atop the steep slopes of the ballet field, and it has been that long since Bocca burst forth as one of the world's most dramatically refined virtuosos. But when he soars into the air as he did Tuesday night at the Music Center at Strathmore, or skims the stage with those light, quick feet, you see a man in command of his powers, able to dance the younger members of his small troupe, Ballet Argentino, off the stage.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/15/AR2006021502709.html

kurinuku · **Posted:** Mon Mar 27, 2006 1:32 pm

Quote:

Bocca's Latin flavor will be missed
by SID SMITH for the Chicago Tribune

"I've undergone seven operations, involving both knees and both feet," he says. "I started to have trouble again, and the doctor said, `You can do one of two things: Have another operation or retire.'

"It's a good time to stop, a chance to spend more time with my family in Argentina," he adds. "I spent only 80 days in Buenos Aires all of last year."

Bocca's ABT career ends this June, and he'll retire from dancing altogether next year. It's hard to imagine dance without him.

published March 26, 2006

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