As a young boy growing up in Italy, Alberto Liberatoscioli’s interest in ballet began at a very early age. His mother owned a dance studio, so four-year-old Alberto asked her to put him in one of her shows — and he was hooked. “I was fascinated by the first time I heard Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2,” says Alberto. “Not just that piece, but especially that piece.”
Being born in Italy less than 40 miles from the birthplace of Enrico Cechetti, master ballet teacher and founder of the Cechetti method of ballet training – and with a ballet teacher for a mother — one would think Alberto was destined for a career in ballet. That was not necessarily the case.
“Even in Europe, there are many fewer boys who study ballet than girls,” Alberto observes. “The notable exception is Russia where there are thousands of boys who train in ballet from a young age. There ballet is a source of national pride.” But not so much in his household.
Alberto was expected to have a “normal job” as an adult. “Dance was to be a fun thing, not something I should aim seriously to do,” he says.
It wasn’t until the end of high school that Alberto started to think about dance more seriously – though not as a full time career since he still had to go to college and get that real job one day. But when he reached a peak both physically and technically after his university studies, Alberto auditioned for companies. He got a job within the first year and moved to Milan.
Alberto’s family, especially his father and grandmother, were “horrified” by his choice of dance as a career. “By that point, ballet was for me the most beautiful thing ever,” says Alberto. “Their fears were more about the sacrifices they thought I would be making and not being able to settle down soon enough, or maybe not being happy – those kinds of concerns.”
“I have wanted to dance since I was a child,” says Alberto. “Obviously it was harder to express my interest in dancing professionally based on the conservative values and expectations of my family, so I paused it. But I am grateful to have rediscovered my passion for ballet after high school and for being able to find success with it.”
Although Alberto holds degrees in law and human resources and is an accomplished writer, it was his passion for dance that ultimately defined who he is. “I have always been a dancer first and will always be – no regrets,” Alberto says. “Of course it cannot last forever so I enjoy each moment of what I do. Studying law and human resources was Plan B for me, and helped me with critical thinking and understanding human behavior and psychology. It mostly taught me that what I really wanted to be is a dancer.”
So who inspires Alberto today? “My lifelong favorite is the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow,” reveals Alberto. “They represent a synthesis of what my vision of ballet is – committed, heroic, masculine, aggressive – and very sensual and graceful at the same time. Absolute beauty and freedom.” For Alberto, ballet is “an esthetic born of color, expression, lines and passion.”
Alberto still goes back to Italy every summer. “My family is there. At the moment I have two homes – one in Omaha and one in Italy,” he says.
“I spent most of June performing in Italy, and all of July teaching,” says Alberto. August brings a week-long cruise with his family before returning to the United States and back to “Homaha” (yes, he really said that) for his third season with American Midwest Ballet.
“My experience with American Midwest Ballet has been wonderful,” says Alberto. “We dance a lot and the shows are of exceptional standards. The environment is fresh – no one feeds into artistic drama. We just don’t waste each others’ time like that. We do our jobs with passion and still try to have a life which keeps our environment healthy, constructive and joyful.”
“Whether it is as a dancer or a teacher,” says Alberto “home for me is where I am needed.”
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