Tell us about your dance journey
I started my dance training at the age of 7 after years of asking my parents to bring me to a dance school. Opera has been a huge influence in my early years of life, letting me understand and then fall in love with classical music. Being a boy in my first dance school, back where I’m from, meant a lot for my teachers, investing on my talent and soon letting me start competitions and potentially win a scholarship in a better and more professional school.
Joined the Academie Princesse Grace in Monaco in 2015, at the age of 13yo, after 5 weeks of summer intensive earlier that year. While there I trained with three different teachers and learned the essence of classical ballet and began to understand the art form and how I want to express myself and contribute to it.
Following my time there I competed at the prix de Lausanne winning the first prize and the contemporary award, getting the first choice on where I wanted to start my career as a professional. Decided to take on the Royal Ballet apprenticeship and joint the company in August 2020, became an artist in 2022 and a first artist in 2023.
How were your studies in the Academie de Danse Princesse Grace in Monaco?
My time in Monaco has been a crucial moment for my formative education and also where I made some of the best memories in life so far. The cultural diversity helped shape my values and the different methods of classical training have helped me grow a better understanding in my artistic development.
Alongside our ballet training we had a big variety of creative activities that helped us enrich our personality and stimulate our creativity, such as acting, poetry and cooking sessions with a professional chef.
It was a very strict school that taught me respect and discipline, will be forever grateful for everything I’ve learned and the special people I’ve met.
Tell us more about your experience in the Prix de Lausanne 2020
The prix de Lausanne is a competition I’ve been looking forward to for many years before my participation. It’s always been a dream to attend and every year a big event I was waiting for to watch.
So when I got the news I was taking part of it, it was with great excitement that I felt honoured and grateful.
Competitions are very stressful and it’s a completely different world to what we actually do as professionals. Ballet is not about being the best dancer or the best technician but digging yourself into a role and becoming one with the music; getting your emotions out and gifting them to the audience. That is what I tried doing during the week there, as well as sponging the knowledge of all the coaches and artist during the completion.
It truly has been a life changing experience and I look back with great satisfaction in what I’ve done and for sure one of the greatest experiences I will cheering forever.
How did you feel winning the Prix de Lausanne?
Winning the prix de Lausanne gave me the opportunity to join one the biggest and most important ballet companies in the world. I felt a big sense of pride in winning as an Italian and for the Academy, being the third win in a row.
Sadly only few weeks later the whole world started going into lockdown so my focus shortly shifted to a completely different topic and a much more important one, going back home living a totally new lifestyle with a lot of challenges and difficulties. But definitely then, I had the time to process everything that had happen and it was quite unbelievable to me thinking about the big achievement I’d accomplished.
From Season 2020/21 you joined The Royal Ballet, how is your experience there?
Well joining the company in a very difficult moment worldwide, was quite a different experience than what I had imagined starting my professional career looked like. Nevertheless, it was a great opportunity to integrate slowly in a completely new environment where I didn’t know anyone, living in a new city, trying to build a new life.
But I quickly adapted, found my people and felt at home in a new country.
After the first difficult year not performing, still being an apprentice, I had a role created on me by Wayne McGregor for “Dante”, his latest full length work for the Royal Ballet, and since then, I got given many solo opportunities where I had the chance to show myself, getting promoted to first artist in 2023.
How important is ballet for you?
Ballet is a very expressive art form and it has been essential for me because it has helped to express myself in ways I couldn’t have had before. What’s interesting and exciting about it, is that as artists we are in continue exploring of our bodies and character, digging into different emotions sometimes to an extreme where you feel things you would never imagine yourself experiencing, being someone you are not helps understating a lot about certain aspects of you and sometimes it even allows being authentically yourself in ways you can’t in everyday life.
Which advice would you give to younger dancers?
To younger dancers I would advise them not be too hard on themselves, get to know their body and mind well in order to be taken care of as best as possible. And to take this art form seriously if done professionally, because of mediocrity, the world is full and the legacy and beauty of what we do must be preserved for years to come.
What are you doing when you are not working?
When I’m not working I like to spend my time investing on different hobbies and interests I have. Usually going for walks in nature, wondering around flower markets and even getting creative with new cooking recipes. Museums and pottery occasionally, game and movie nights more often.
Photographer : Andre Uspensky (@dancersdairy)