Julio Bocca  
Organization: Ballet Nacional Sodre (Uruguay)

Position: Artistic Director

Affiliation with organization: 2010 – 2017

Years active at YAGP: 2015 – 2017

Contact: Facebook, Instagram

 

Julio Bocca is one of the world’s most iconic dancers. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he studied at The Institute Superior of Art at the Teatro Colón. Mr Bocca’s professional career began in 1982 as a Principal Dancer with the Fundación Teresa Carrreño in Venezuela and The Teatro Municipal of Río de Janeiro in Brazil. In 1985, he won the Gold Medal at the International Ballet Competition in Moscow, and joined The American Ballet Theatre as Principal Dancer in 1986, performing there until 2006. In 1990, Teatro Colón named him its International Representative. The same year he founds his own company “Ballet Argentino” and toured with it all over the world. He is a recipient of many prestigious awards including the New York Times Dancer of the Year Award (1987) Dance Magazine Award (1992) Hispanic American Max Award for the Performing Arts (2007) granted by SGAE in Bilbao, Spain; Gold Medal on the Arts by Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts for his achievements and dedication to cultural exchange between Argentina and the United States of America (2008); and many more. From 2009 until 2017, Mr. Bocca was the Artistic Director of Ballet SODRE (Uruguay). He is the president of the jury at Prix de Lausanne, a frequent adjudicator for Youth America Grand Prix and other prestigious ballet competitions around the globe.