Carla Fracci

Carolina "Carla" Fracci (Italian: [ˈkarla ˈfrattʃi]; 20 August 1936 – 27 May 2021) was an Italian prima ballerina, actress and ballet director. Considered one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century, she was a leading dancer of La Scala Theatre Ballet in Milan, then worked freelance with international companies including the Royal Ballet, London, Stuttgart Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. Fracci is known for her interpretation of leading characters in several Romantic ballets, such as La Sylphide, Giselle, Swan Lake, and Romeo and Juliet. She also performed in ballets such as Nijinsky and Complete Bell Telephone Hour Performances: Erik Bruhn 1961–1967. She danced with partners including Erik Bruhn, Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Later, she directed several ballet companies in Italy, including the Teatro San Carlo in Naples and the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in Rome.

According to Bruhn, she "gave the world a new idea of the ballerina in 19th-century Romantic ballets". She appeared with many of the leading companies of the world, and received multiple honours for her performances.