• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Gramilano logo 2023

- dance, opera, photography...

  • HOME
  • POPULAR POSTS
    • DANCE
    • MUSIC & OPERA
    • PHOTOGRAPHY
  • QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
    • DANCERS
    • SINGERS
  • MY PHOTOS
  • CONTACT

Paolo Bortoluzzi: a great Italian dancer remembered

15 October 2013 by Gramilano 4 Comments

Bortoluzzi-Nureyev

Italian ballet dancer Paolo Bortoluzzi died twenty years ago today: 15 October 1993.

He died the same year as Rudolf Nureyev, and it was for these two contemporaries that Béjart created his Chant du compagnon errant. Both dancers were born in 1938, two months apart: Nureyev on 17 March, Bortoluzzi on 17 May.

Here, Bortoluzzi dances in La Sylphide with Carla Fracci in rare footage from a 1976 gala.

Graham Spicer version
Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.

Related

Filed Under: dance Tagged With: Carla Fracci, La Sylphide, Rudolf Nureyev

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Avatar of Guy-Paul de St GermainGuy-Paul de St Germain says

    15 October 2013 at 22:06

    Thank you for these unknown (by me) facts.
    I have to admit when I got the email with the title I was hoping to read something about an Homage performance with amazing guests dancing all his famous roles to celebrate the occasion and Carla Fracci making an appearance.
    Why let this go unnoticed?
    After all this great dancer put Italy on the map worldwide… his career deserves to be remembered by the young generation just like it was for Nureyev last year by one of these all star casts… such a shame!

    Reply
    • Avatar of gramilanogramilano says

      16 October 2013 at 09:53

      You are so right – there has been nothing to celebrate his career during the last 20 years from the theatres where he worked, or from his colleagues – a great shame. He is greatly admired by the dance community in Italy, and dancers who worked with him talk about him fondly, and with admiration; unfortunately, for those of us who didn’t see him dance, there are so few videos of his dancing.

      Reply
  2. Avatar of Giovanna Leva JoglekarGiovanna Leva Joglekar says

    16 October 2013 at 06:43

    I agree with the fact that he deserves something big to remember his successful carrier.He was such an inspiration! I remember seeing him in Excelsior at La Scala when I was a small girl and feeling so fascinated by his elegant way of dancing. A very reserved and silent dancer, surely a very fine human being.

    Reply
  3. Avatar of karenatashakarenatasha says

    16 October 2013 at 19:50

    I remember seeing him in New York with ABT, where he regularly guested and danced with Fracci. He was a most soulful dancer, beautiful to watch. I agree with everyone that the silence around this sad anniversary is troubling. Thank you for the footage and thank you for that gorgeous photo of him with Nureyev. I remember seeing it a long time ago, but it has been a while.

    Reply

Post a comment...Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

SUBSCRIBE

Gramilano newsletter 2019

CATEGORIES

FOLLOW

  • 21,200 Subscribers
  • 22,866 Followers
  • 235k Followers
  • 602 Subscribers
  • 3,473 Followers
  • 20,023 Followers

NEWS

[Review] Eun-Me Ahn’s ‘Dragons – “Like a large plate of tasteless food”

A final bow for Russell Janzen: From Danseur Noble to creating Contemporary Ballet

World premiere of film of Kenneth MacMillan’s Sea of Troubles

Matthew Bourne’s Edward Scissorhands embarks on six-month UK tour

The Royal Ballet celebrates Bronislava Nijinska in free livestream

Phoenix Dance Theatre appoints Marcus Jarrell Willis as new artistic director

Prison cancels opera about violent gangster and gay composer Ivor Novello

Scottish Ballet’s Twice-Born double bill in rehearsal

SlowDancing/NYCB – hyper slow-motion films of New York City Ballet dancers in NYC

There’s a new Nutcracker in town – Drew McOnie’s vision will open at the Tuff Nutt Jazz Club

POPULAR DANCE POSTS

Julian MacKay as photohraphed by NYC Dance Project

Julian MacKay – the teenage American ballet dancer making waves in Russia

Alessandra Ferri an Eleonora Duse © Kiran West

Alessandra Ferri: The art of becoming a couple is the gamble of a lifetime

David Ashley and the secrets of a pantomime dame

Rothko in Rome: an interview with Carolyn Carlson

Dancers' injuries illustration

Dance injuries from the ballet dancer’s point of view: top stars share their experiences

Jacopo Tissi in Swan Lake crop

Interview: Who is Jacopo Tissi? The Bolshoi’s enigmatic Italian star talks about Moscow, Milan and London, “It certainly wasn’t easy”

Mikhail Baryshnikov in Not Once crop

[Interview] Baryshnikov on the Venice Biennale, death and laying himself bare

Stepping in for Vasiliev & Osipova: Vittoria Valerio’s turn

Woolf Works with Alessandra Ferri and Federico Bonelli © ROH, 2015 Tristram Kenton

Woolf Works at La Scala – McGregor, Richter, Ferri and Bonelli talk about making the ballet

Anna Rose O'Sullivan after her début as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, photo by Marcelino Sambé

Anna Rose O’Sullivan – meeting the Royal Ballet’s newest star

More Posts from this Category

FEATURED POSTS

franco fagioli © thibault stipal, 2014

Franco Fagioli answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition

Dancers' injuries illustration

Dance injuries from the ballet dancer’s point of view: top stars share their experiences

Gregory Kunde as Otello, photo by Matthias Baus, Teatro alla Scala 2015

Top opera singers discuss how they choose and prepare new roles

Vadim Muntagirov answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition

Nunez headshot cropped

In conversation with Marianela Nuñez

Renata Scotto with Maria Callas

Renata Scotto vs Maria Callas – the 1970 fight at La Scala

In and Out: Bolle, Gomes, Stiefel – how easy is it to be an openly gay ballet dancer?

Joyce DiDonato answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition

António Casalinho, photo by Nikita Alba crop

António Casalinho – Introducing the 17-year-old Portuguese Dancer

English National Ballet in Derek Deane's Swan Lake, photo by ASH, Arnaud Stephenson, 2013

Derek Deane on 20 years of his Swan Lake ‘in the round’

GRAMILANO

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan, aka ‘Gramilano’. 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. He wrote the ‘Danza in Italia’ column for Dancing Times magazine.

Since 2022, Gramilano is pleased to welcome guest authors: Alisa Alekseeva, Paul Arrowsmith, Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel, Jonathan Gray, Marina Harss, Matthew Paluch, Jann Parry, Graham Watts, and Deborah Weiss.

Referred-to-by

SEARCH

Related

Copyright © 2023 · Gramilano · All rights reserved

about me · contact me · privacy and cookies

Would you like to receive an email
whenever we publish a new post?

SUBSCRIBE