📍Milan, Lombardy, Italy
1936 – 1954“I was born in Milan in August 1936, the daughter of Luigi Fracci, a tram driver, and my mother, who worked in a factory. We were a working-class family and lived modestly. When the war came, and Milan was bombed again and again, I was sent to stay with relatives in the countryside of Lombardy, and I grew up as a little country girl, a farmer, I used to say, who knew nothing about the theatre or dance. After the war we came back to Milan, and I loved to dance at family gatherings and parties. Someone noticed my grace and musicality and suggested I audition for the ballet school of La Scala. In 1946, when I was ten, I took the entrance exam; the examiners thought my body was not quite right for ballet, but they took me anyway, the last of the thirty-five pupils accepted, because I had a pretty face. Every day I rode my father's tram, route 1, which passes right in front of La Scala, to the academy, and at first I found the training hard and dull. Then I watched the great ballerinas, such as Margot Fonteyn, rehearsing on the stage, and I fell in love with ballet. I graduated in 1954, and made my debut at La Scala the following year. By 1958 I was prima ballerina, and I became famous around the world for my Giselle and my romantic roles, dancing with Rudolf Nureyev, Erik Bruhn and others. I was proud to be a tram driver's daughter, and to bring ballet to ordinary people across Italy, dancing in squares, tents and small towns.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today