The Milanese ballerina, Carla Fracci, has become an Ambassador for the Milan Expo 2015.
The theme of the World Expo is Feed the planet, Energy for Life and in the clip below she talks about her love for her childhood dishes of Risotto alla Milanese (with a short-grained rice, such as Carnaroli , saffron and beef marrow) and Polenta (a maize flour, or cornmeal, boiled into a type of porridge, which is also sometimes fried). These typical Lombardy dishes are now often made with cheaper imported produce, which doesn't have the same quality however; it is a hot political point at the moment.
Fracci puts her name alongside writers, sportsmen, philosophers, showmen, actors, architects, designers, chefs, musicians, singers and filmmakers who will be testimonials for the event, from boxer Clemente Russo to designer Elio Fiorucci.
She says that Milan will become the capital of the world from next May to October during the Exposition, and it gives a chance for people to come together in common agreement about issues such as the sustainable nutrition of our planet.
The idea is to open up a dialogue between international players to exchange views on these major challenges which are relevant to everyone. Is it possible to guarantee water and food for the entire world population? Is it possible to increase food security? Is it possible to have new solutions that take into account the planet's biodiversity? The aim is not to provide only one-way solutions but to pose questions and offer visitors the tools for finding their own answers.
Open from May 1 to October 31, 2015, the Expo will host over 130 participants. Running for 184 days, this giant exhibition site, covering one million square meters, is expected to welcome over 20 million visitors.
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.
