Première Danseuse Eleonora Abbagnato gets hitched
As is the tradition in Italy, beautiful girls – especially “showgirls” – wed footballers. On June 13 Eleonora Abbagnato, Première Danseuse with the Paris Opera Ballet, got married to Palermo player Federico Balzaretti. He’s not her first footballer, but he might be her last. She’s certainly preserving family ties for her father was the boss of the Palermo team during the 80s.
Italian gossip magazine ‘Chi’ was there to capture the magic. Ahh…
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
