Argentine ballet legend to wrap up long goodbye

By Katie Paul

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters Life!) - Julio Bocca, Argentina's most famous ballet dancer, said he will start the final phase of his protracted farewell tour next week after nearly three years of goodbyes on stages around the world.

"I feel I have had a very full career. It has been 27 years and I've done it all," said a worn-out-looking Bocca at a news conference in Buenos Aires.

"I've traveled all over the world with the greatest companies and the greatest stars. It is almost like there is nothing left to do," he said.

Bocca's final whirlwind tour begins on Aug. 2 in Spain and will take him to 10 countries for 62 performances. It is set to culminate on Dec. 22 in a massive open-air spectacle in front of Buenos Aires' white obelisk.

The 40-year-old ballet legend, who has danced everywhere from Montevideo to Moscow with some of the most distinguished companies in the world, says he has needed a change of pace for some time.

Known for his refined classical technique and passionate expression, Bocca retired from New York's American Ballet Theater in June 2006 after two decades with the company.

Since then, he has focused on his own troupe, Ballet Argentino, which fuses tango and ballet to stadium-filling crowds in Argentina and has won rave reviews worldwide.

Bocca's long list of credits include principal roles in classics such as "Giselle" and "Don Quixote," as well as the more provocative and experimental "Boccatango" and "The Man in the Red Tie," which featured scantily clad dancers and overt eroticism.