Ballet or Modern, As Long As It's Dance

He has worked with Riccardo Muti and Pier'Alli, at the Rome Opera House, in Mosè e il Faraone, and he performed in Romeo e Giulietta directed by Carla Fracci, also in Rome. But he was also on stage in front of 20,000 people at San Siro, in the first musical inspired by I promessi sposi, directed by Michele Guardì. A classical and modern dancer, Ottavio Taddei is a 27-year old from Bologna. He is a graduate of the Bachelor in Economics and Social Sciences at Bocconi and has "possibly momentarily," he says, put earning another hard-earned degree on hold in order to try to make it in dance, his huge passion that has become a career. "I started late, when I was 17, starting with modern jazz. At the time I didn't think it would become my profession."

After his first experience with dance, when his life consisted of continuously running to class, studying for hours and the rest of his time dedicated to dance, Ottavio started studying ballet at Prisca Picano's school, to whom he owes a lot: "I was lucky, because to open a dance school in Italy you need to have a qualification, but then teaching can be done by anyone. The risk of finding unqualified teachers is very high." This can create negative effects on a dancer's future career, "something that happens to a lot of dancers," he says bitterly. After his time in Milan, when his love for dancing grew enough to "change [his] priorities," Ottavio moved to New York for a few months, returning to Italy a few times, where his brother lives and studies. It was an important time in his life. "There are great schools and great teachers in New York, and I especially remember David Howard and Kat Wildish, but, more importantly, I met a Mexican dancer who would then become my wife."

Being a professional dancer is a difficult job, six or seven hours of training every day, lots of study and lots of discipline, especially when dancers learn ballet as an adult, with a fully-formed body. In return, there are lots of auditions, a lot of competition and not much money. There are frustrations, "like when you are rejected after a one-minute audition where you couldn't demonstrate anything about yourself," but there are also joys, "like getting called by Christoph Ferrari in Florence for the wonderful opportunity to take part in I promessi sposi, from Milano to Agrigento, with the unique experience of performing in San Siro, a stage not normally used by dancers." He has experienced constant traveling, payments arriving late and a private life that is certainly affected by it all.

This instability makes Ottavio think about his future, in which he would like to work in entertainment, "even if I wouldn't rule out going back to university for a Master of Science or Specialized Master," he says. "Though I'm terrorized by the idea of going into competition with classmates who are about ten years younger than me."

Soon, however, Ottavio will be leaving once again, destination Qatar. "I'll be part of a show, curated by choreographer Gino Landi, called Secrets of the Sea, organized on the occasion of the Festival of the Sea to celebrate the county's unification. There will be around ten shows between 5 and 27 March, with about 60 dancers."

This is a good opportunity for his career and his wallet, "because they have money to invest over there, while in Italy it is in short supply and you have to compromise. Here, if you want to earn a living you have to be on TV, but, at least for me, that's an experience that doesn't attract me."