Bocca's good-bye.

• Author: Durbin, Paula
• Position: Julio Bocca

FOR MOST AUDIENCES on the 2006 itinerary of Arm Maria Stekehnan's blazing "Boccatango," this is Julio Bocca's farewell. Now thirty-nine, the premiere classical dancer gives his last performance with American Ballet Theater this summer, and in December 2007, he retires as well from the company he founded in 1990, Ballet Argentino. Bocca's extended good-bye actually began a year ago, with the announcement of his final bravura display of the grand pas de deux from Don Quijote, events that filled theaters in New York and Buenos Aires.

If Bocca is acclaimed around the world, in Argentina he is a national monument. Long before the Teatro Colon elevated him, in 1996, from the corps de ballet to emeritus status, he could easily fill its great hall. Then there is Ballet Argentino, which Bocca created to give talented Argentine dancers something like the opportunities he has had--since bureaucracy and protective labor practices restrict their chances of ever working at the Colon. A glance at a Ballet Argentino program confirms Bocca's initiative as an empresario who offers ambitious productions and meets a staggering payroll, given the artists, technicians, and licensing fees required to stage them: Eighteen dancers, a guest musician for one number, an assistant director, four rehearsal pianists, a ballet master, a physical therapist/tour manager, and production director/manager Lino Patalano. The technical staff runs in the dozens. Additionally, Bocca's Maipo Theater, which is too small for the company's productions but houses Bocca's enterprise, lists a staff of twenty-one, as well as Bocca and Patalano, who share the direction.

Fortunately, Ballet Argentino plays, rock-concert style, in large venues jammed with huge audiences of screaming fans. Bocca satisfies them early on with a classical pas de deux that leads to a wild ovation. Then he gets to the meat of the program of mainly contemporary works by Twyla Tharp, George Balanchine, Oscar Araiz, and Stekelman. Bocca commissions up-and-coming dance makers as well. With its tours...