Julio Bocca: 1967—: Ballet Dancer Biography - Began Dancing At Four, Soared Onto The International Stage, Danced For Argentina, Approached Future By Taking On Challenges

Since his spectacular win at the 1985 International Ballet Competition, Julio Bocca has established himself as one of the twentieth century's most renowned dancers. "There's something about his very person that attracts you," a ballet director told Dance Magazine, "not only his great technique and talent, but he dances as if his soul depended on it." He has danced with almost every major ballet company, including nearly two decades with the American Ballet Theatre in New York City. Fans say that he can defy gravity, effortlessly fly across the stage, and spin an impossible number of pirouettes all with exacting precision and unbridled passion. "Julio has a magnetism," his artistic director in New York told Dance Magazine. "He's this combination of totally controlled and on the edge." Though the ballet world may adore him, his native Argentina worships him. There he is a superstar easily selling out auditoriums normally reserved for sporting events. His company, Ballet Argentino, is considered a national treasure. Yet for Bocca, fame and fortune is not the point—the dance is. "A good dancer learns to be a dancer," the artistic director of Ballet Argentino told Harper's Bazaar, "but Julio Bocca was born to dance."