The living embodiment of Italian beauty

Italians have always understood that the human body is a form of art. From Michelangelo's David to the marble statues of ancient Rome, beauty in Italy has always been physical, tangible, alive. And **Roberto Bolle **is the most extraordinary contemporary expression of that idea.

The years seem not to have touched him. At 51, critics and fans alike have compared him to a dancing Greek sculpture, and watching him perform, you understand the comparison. There is a quality to his movement that goes beyond technique: an effortlessness, a presence, a *bella figura *so complete it makes you forget you are watching a human body do something almost physically impossible. What is perhaps most remarkable about Bolle is his unshakeable conviction that beauty — even the most rarefied, demanding kind — belongs to everyone. After decades of performing at the Colosseum, the Arena di Verona and the world's greatest stages (and of bringing dance into children's hospitals and juvenile detention centres), in 2018 he took ballet to prime time television with Danza con Me. Five million Italians tune in every January, many of whom had never watched a single minute of dance before.

He proved that when beauty is offered without barriers, people will always come.