Star of Italian classical dance, partner of the greatest dancers of her century, from Rudolf Nureyev to Mikhail Barychnikov, ballerina Carla Fracci died Thursday at the age of 84 at home in Milan, announced La Scala where she had started his career.
"The Theater, the city and the dance are losing a historical, legendary figure, which has left a very strong mark on our identity and has made a fundamental contribution to the prestige of Italian culture in the world", writes the prestigious institution.
Most important figure in the history of dance at La Scala
The news of his death immediately sparked a shower of tributes. “The greatest, divine and eternal. Italy of culture forever grateful, immense Carla Fracci ”, reacted on Twitter the Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini. "With Maria Taglioni, Carla Fracci was the most important personality in the history of dance at La Scala", stressed for his part the French Dominique Meyer, director of La Scala, recalling that in January she was there. came for a final masterclass to prepare the students for the revival of
Giselle
, which has remained one of the peaks of her interpretations.
Known in the peninsula simply as La Fracci, this elegant brunette woman always dressed in white, who has played more than 200 characters during her career, had been named a star within the famous Milanese institution in 1958. But it was as early as 1946, at the age of nine, the girl from a modest background was admitted to the Scala ballet school, where she studied dance, notably under the guidance of Emée Bulnes and Vera Volkova, which allows it to benefit from a double classical tradition, Milanese and Petersburg.
She considered herself underemployed and poorly paid
At the end of her training in 1954, she joined the Scala troop. It was from there that she met, among others, Luchino Visconti, Maria Callas, Leonard Bernstein… Her meeting with the South African choreographer John Cranko opened the doors to an international career for her. But this colorful character decides in 1963 to leave La Scala where she considers herself underemployed and poorly paid.
With the help of her husband, the director Beppe Menegatti, she therefore becomes independent. Appreciated by choreographers like John Cranko or Roland Petit, she stands out for her very personal interpretations to restore the emotion of the female characters she embodies on the stage. She also participates in original creations, for example on works by Mario Pistoni in 1966, or Roland Petit in 1996, or in dance reconstructions of Isadora Duncan by Millicent Hodson, in 1990.
In the 1970s, his interventions at the Verona Festival met with popular success.
She also took charge of the Ballets des Arènes de Verona from 1995 to 1997, then of the Rome Opera Ballet in 2002. In 2004, she was appointed Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations for the food and agriculture.
"With her elegance and her artistic commitment, Carla Fracci has honored our country", said the President of the Italian Republic, Sergi Mattarella.
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