Roberto Bolle is an Italian ballet dancer, who is enormously popular in Italy for his beautiful appearance as well as his exceptional dancing skill with graceful expressiveness. He is regarded as one of the greatest danseur nobles and a reliable dancing partner with whom numerous leading ballerinas hope to dance. For his handsome features, perfect physique and great artistry, he is often likened to “Dancing Greek Sculpture”.

Roberto Bolle was born in March 26, 1975 in Casale Monferrato, Piedmonte in northwestern Italy. Enchanted by the ballet scenes in TV programs, he expressed an interest in dancing when he was only five or six years old. At his urging, he began his ballet studies at a local ballet school in Vercelli at age seven. At the age of eleven, he passed an audition test and was accepted at the La Scala ballet school. He lived away from home and acquired both dance and coursework studies in Milan.
In 1990 when he was 15, Rudolf Nureyef noticed his talent and chose him as the beautiful youth Tadzio in the ballet “Death in Venice” though this did not ever get off the ground. It was the event that made him determine to pursue a course toward a professional ballet dancer, he recalls.
Upon graduation from the school, he joined the La Scalla Ballet Company in 1994. After just two years, his performance as Romeo in “Romeo and Juliet” was acclaimed and he was promoted to a Principal Dancer by Elisabetta Terabust who was the Director of Ballet at the time. The promotion led to many opportunities to dance outside of Italy. Upon his international career began, he left the La Scalla Ballet Company at the age of 21. As a freelance dancer, he has danced regularly at his home theatre La Scala and throughout Italy, but he has also performed extensively in many countries by invitations of world-famous ballet companies.
He has been a Residential Guest Artist at La Scala since December 1998 and was promoted to Etoile during the season 2003/2004. He is also a Principal Guest Artist with the Royal Ballet, and a Principal Dancer with the American Ballet Theatre.

In 1997 Roberto made his English debut with the English National Ballet (ENB) at Royal Albert Hall in London. Derek Deane, director of the ENB created two productions, “Swan Lake” and “Romeo and Juliet”, for him and both were performed at the Royal Albert Hall.
His first appearance with the Royal Ballet was in 1999, dancing with Darcey Bussell in “Nutcracker” for the opening of the re-furbished Royal Opera House (Covent Garden). He has regularly appeared with the Royal Ballet as a Principal Guest Artist in many of great productions including “Swan Lake” choreographed by Anthony Dowell for the opening of 2002 season and the Natalia Makarova’s new production of “The Sleeping Beauty”.

In November 2000, to celebrate Majja Plisetskaja's 75th anniversary, he was invited and danced at the Bolshoi Theatre in the presence of President Putin. In July 2003, he danced in “Swan Lake” with Royal Ballet at Mariinsky Theatre to celebrate St Petersburg’s 300-year anniversary.
Afterwards, he was invited by Mariinsky Theatre to dance for the 3rd and the 4th International Ballet Festival, dancing in “Manon”, “Pas de deux from Excelsior” and “Summer” in 2004 (the 3rd) and in “Apollon Musagète” in 2005 (the 4th).

On June 1, 2002, for a celebration in honor of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee, he danced “Pas de deux of the Black Swan” in the PROM concert hosted by the Queen at the magnificent ballroom in Buckingham Palace. In March 2004, he danced a solo “Fire Bird” which Renato Zanella (Director of Ballet at the Vienna State Opera) had choreographed for him at the San Remo Festival.
On April 1, 2004, to celebrate the young people's day, he danced at St. Peter's Square in the presence of the Pope John Paul II.

In 2004, he made his first appearance in the Paris Opera, dancing with Agnès Letestu in “Don Quixote (by Nureyef) ” in May, and then in “Sleeping Beauty” in December.
In the United States, he has first appeared in the Royal Ballet tour in July 2004.
On February 10, 2006, Roberto, as a leading Italian artist, made a monumental performance at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Turin, which was broadcasted worldwide.
In June 2007, he was invited by the American Ballet Theatre to partner with Alessandra Ferri in “Romeo and Juliet” and “Manon” for her farewell performances at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

He has been organizing the gala “Roberto Bolle & Friends”, in which he danced with selected world-famous dancers regularly in Italy. It was also performed at the World Expo in Aichi, Japan on July 17, 2005 and in Beijing, China on July 5, 2006. In 2008, the gala performances have taken place at the Colosseo, Rome and the Temple of Concordia, Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, Sicily, both of which are UNESCO-designated World Heritage Sites, and the profits are used for supporting the FAI (Fund for the Italian Environment) working to preserve cultural sites in Italy.

As a dancer of Italy, a nation of opera, he has danced in several opera productions including “Aida” “Moses and Pharaoh” and “La Gioconda”. In 1998, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Cairo Opera Theatre in Egypt, he performed in a spectacular production of “Aida” at the pyramids of Giza.

He has also danced with the National Canadian Ballet, the Stuttgart Ballet, the Finnish National Ballet, the Berlin State Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Dresden State Opera, National Theatre Munich and the Wiesbaden festival, among others.

Since he was appointed as an Italian Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF at the age of 24 in 1999, he has made positive contributions by participation in charity events and fund-raising campaigns. In 2006, he went on an inspection tour to Sudan still in the chaos of civil war.
He has often appeared in advertisings, fashion magazines and shows, which include Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana and Longines, working with famous fashion designers and photographers. Salvatore Ferragamo’s latest advertising campaign for autumn/winter 2008 in their memorial year of the 80th anniversary features Roberto, who has appeared in their special events.

Danza e Danza, 1995
Positano, 1995
Gino Tani, 1999
Galileo 2000 Prize (Pentagramma d'oro), 2000
Danza e Danza, 2001
Barocco, 2001
Positano, 2001
Premio Acqui Terme, 2003
Oscar provinciale del successo, 2004
Cecchetti d'argento, 2005
Acqui Danza, 2005
Foglio d'oro, 2005
Golfo del Tigullio, 2005
Orpheus, 2005
Danza e Danza, 2006
Croce dell’Amicizia per la Cultura, 2006
Palladio d'oro, 2006
Kimbo Humanitarian Award, 2006
Premio speciale Citta di Manfredonia, 2006
Milano per la musica, 2007
Amici della lirica, 2007
De Sica per la Cultura, sezione Danza, 2008
Medaglia d'oro per la promozione della cultura italiana all'estero, 2009
La ginestra d'oro 2009
Excellence Award (Italia Film, Fashion and Art Festival, Los Angeles) , 2011
Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Knight 2012
UNESCO's Cultural Diversity Medal 2014
Ambrogino d’oro (Comune of Milan) 2015