Showing posts with label Ballando con le Stelle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ballando con le Stelle. Show all posts

1 August 2024

Kaspar Capparoni - actor

Found fame co-starring with crime-fighting dog

Kaspar Capparoni with his German Shepherd co-star in the crime drama Il Commissario Rex
Kaspar Capparoni with his German Shepherd
co-star in the crime drama Il Commissario Rex
The actor Kaspar Capparoni, an accomplished performer on stage and screen whose fame received its biggest boost after he starred alongside a German Shepherd dog in the TV crime series Il Commissario Rex, was born in Rome on this day in 1964.

Capparoni played the part of Commissioner Lorenzo Fabbri, a homicide detective who is accompanied in his work by an unusually talented police dog known as Rex, whose ever-growing range of skills are often key to solving the crimes Fabbri is charged with investigating.

Il Commissario Rex, which was screened by Italian national broadcaster Rai between 2008 and 2015, revived a show previously shown on TV in Austria but which had ceased production in 2004 after 11 years.

Capparoni portrayed Commissioner Fabbri for four seasons, working alongside two different German Shepherds in the Rex role. The action, which had been set in Vienna in the original version, was switched to Rome for the Italian revival.  Capparoni decided to leave after the show’s producers proposed a return to its former setting in Austria.

Nonetheless, the popularity of Rex with Italian audiences brought Capparoni a much higher profile. His acting ability was already well regarded within his profession but thanks to Rex he acquired a large following among the public.

Capparoni and his dance partner Julija Musichina won the 2011 edition of Ballando con le Stelle
Capparoni and his dance partner Julija Musichina
won the 2011 edition of Ballando con le Stelle
Invited to take part in the 2011 edition of Ballando con le Stelle - the Italian equivalent of the UK’s Strictly Come Dancing and the US show Dancing with the Stars - he was paired with the Russian dancer Julija Musichina, the couple emerging from 10 weeks of competition to be crowned champions.

Born Gaspare Capparoni, his father was a surgeon, his mother a German teacher, originally from Sexten - Sesto in Italian - a German-speaking village in Alto Adige, also known as South Tyrol. Kaspar attended Rome’s German School - the Deutsche Schule - and is fluent in German as well as Italian.

After some early work as a model in advertising campaigns, he enrolled for acting lessons at the Teatro Argentina in Rome, where his work came to the attention of the writer and director Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, who gave him his stage debut at the age of 18.

It was the beginning of a relationship that would last 20 years and see Capparoni appear under Griffi’s direction in a host of classic stage plays, including works by Molière, Shakespeare, Goldoni, Ceckhov, Pirandello, Ibsen and Tennessee Williams among others.

Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, who nurtured Capparoni's stage career
Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, who
nurtured Capparoni's stage career
Capparoni’s big screen debut came in 1985 when he was cast in a small role in the horror film Phenomena, directed by Dario Argento and with a cast that included Jennifer Connelly and Donald Pleasance. 

Although he subsequently starred in a number of movies, notably opposite Valeria Golino in Il Sole Nero (2007) and with Claudio Amendola and Elisabetta Rocchetti in Il ritorno del Monnezza (2005), it for his work in television that he has become best known.

In addition to Il Commissario Rex, he is well known for his roles in the drama series such as Solo per amore and Capri, soaps such as Incantesimo and the period drama Elisa di Rivombrosa.

Capparoni has been married twice, first to the former Tunisian model Ashraf Ganouchi, with whom he had two children - Sheherazade, born in 1993, and Joseph, born in 2000 - before a traumatic divorce in 2003, and subsequently to Veronica Maccarone, who was best known for her appearances on Quelli che il calcio, a sports-themed entertainment show. She is the mother of Alessandro, born in 2008, and Daniel (2013).

He recently appeared with Alessandro - a student at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome - in Mothers, Fathers, Sons and Daughters, a production of words and dance, on stage at the Teatro Municipale in Piacenza.

Rome's Teatro Argentina has staged a number of important premieres
Rome's Teatro Argentina has staged
a number of important premieres 

Travel tip:

The Teatro Argentina, where Capparoni enrolled for acting lessons as a teenager, is one of the oldest theatres in Rome. Located in Largo di Torre Argentina the Teatro Argentina was built over the remains of the curia section of the Theatre of Pompey, where Julius Caesar was murdered in 44BC. It was commissioned by the Sforza-Cesarini family, designed by the architect Gerolamo Theodoli and inaugurated in 1732. In the 19th century, it staged the premieres of Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville as well as Giuseppe Verdi's I due Foscari and La battaglia di Legnano. Several plays by Luigi Pirandello, Henrik Ibsen and Maxim Gorky were performed for the first time there in the 20th century. The auditorium is set out in the traditional horseshoe shape, with seats for 696 people, including 344 in the stalls, and 40 boxes on five levels seating an additional 352.

Sexten (Sesto) enjoys a picturesque setting in  the Puster Valley in the Alto Adige region
Sexten (Sesto) enjoys a picturesque setting in 
the Puster Valley in the Alto Adige region
Travel tip:

Sexten - known as Sesto in Italian - is the home village of Capparoni’s mother, who taught German to Italian students. A centre for both winter and summer sports, it is situated in a branch of the Puster Valley, near Innichen (It: San Candido) and Toblach (It: Dobbiaco). Just 3km (1.88 miles) from the Austrian border, it has a population of just under 2,000, 95 per cent of whom speak German as their first language, yet is part of the Alto Adige region. The nearest substantial Italian cities are Bolzano, which is 113km (70 miles) to the west by road, and Belluno, 86km (53 miles) south. Damaged during World War One, when it was on the front line as the Italian army battled against the forces of Austria-Hungary, it is now a thriving centre for skiing in the Dolomite mountains in the winter months and for trekking and mountain biking in the summer. Its most famous sporting product is the tennis player Jannik Sinner, who was born in Innichen but grew up in Sexten.

Also on this day:

902: Arab forces complete their conquest of Sicily

1464: The death of Cosimo de’ Medici, the banker who founded the Medici dynasty

1776: The birth of soldier Francesca Scanagatta

1831: The birth of baritone Antonio Cotogni

1905: The birth of painter and enameller Paolo De Poli


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10 October 2023

Nunzia De Girolamo - politician and television presenter

Lawyer who moved from debating to dancing

De Girolamo served in prime minister Enrico Letta's cabinet from 2013 to 2014
De Girolamo served in prime minister
Enrico Letta's cabinet from 2013 to 2014
Politician and lawyer Nunzia De Girolamo, who served as Minister of Agriculture in the government of Enrico Letta from 2013 to 2014, was born on this day in 1975 in Benevento in Campania.

Nunzia became a member of the Italian parliament, representing Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party, in 2008, and she was re-elected to parliament in 2013. She went on to become the youngest member of the Letta cabinet and one of just seven female politicians appointed.

While growing up, Nunzia attended the Liceo Classico Pietro Giannone in Benevento and then entered the faculty of jurisprudence to study law at the University of Rome La Sapienza. After graduating, she went into the legal profession.

Nunzia worked in the fields of civil law, employment law, and commercial law before going into politics.

She became a member of Forza Italia, but left the party in 2009. Voters chose her as an individual member of the People of Freedom party, when she stood for parliament for the second time.

In 2011, she married Francesco Boccia, the Minister for Regional Affairs and Autonomy. They had a daughter, who they named Gea.

After leaving the People of Freedom party in November 2013, Nunzia joined Angelino Alfano’s New Centre Right party.

However, she resigned from office in 2014, after claims were made that she had conducted herself improperly. Nunzia denied any wrongdoing, saying she had left her ministerial post in order to defend herself against the allegations made against her. After Prime Minister Letta accepted her resignation, Nunzia became the second minister to resign from the cabinet in the nine months since the elections.

With dancer Raimondo Todaro, De Girolamo  reached the finals of Ballando con le Stelle
With dancer Raimondo Todaro, De Girolamo
 reached the finals of Ballando con le Stelle
She subsequently served as House whip for the New Centre Right party, but she failed to be re-elected to the Chamber in the 2018 elections.

In 2019, Nunzia took part in the 14th series of the programme, Ballando con le Stelle, Italy’s version of the BBC's popular programme, Strictly Come Dancing and America's Dancing with the Stars. 

She was partnered by professional dancer Raimondo Todaro and the couple enjoyed some lively exchanges with the programme’s panel of judges at the end of their dances each week, yet were popular enough with the public to be one of six couples voted through to the finals show. 

The former politician’s Ballando con le Stelle appearances have since been followed by regular television work presenting programmes for Rai Uno.

Benevento's Arch of Trajan echoes the city's Roman past
Benevento's Arch of Trajan
echoes the city's Roman past
Travel tip: 

Benevento, Nunzia De Girolamo's birthplace, is a city built on a hill some 50km (31 miles) northeast of Naples in Campania. As Beneventum, it was an important Roman trading station along the Via Appia route between Rome and Brindisi and its Roman remains are a particular attraction to visitors. An outdoor theatre built by Hadrian to seat 10,000 spectators has been preserved in relatively good condition, as has the city's marble Trajan's Arch, built during the second century to mark the opening of the Via Traiano trade route. The arch had ornate decorative carvings of exceptional detail, which celebrate the life and times of Emperor Trajan. Benevento suffered extensive damage from bombing in World War Two and several major buildings, including the city's Duomo - the Cattedrale di Santa Maria de Episcopio - had to undergo restoration or complete rebuilding work. The church of Saint Sophia, a circular building with Byzantine touches consecrated in around 760, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. 

The palace housing the Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza church, which was built from a tax on wine
The palace housing the Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza
church, which was bought with a tax on wine
Travel tip: 

The University of Rome - often referred to as the Sapienza University of Rome or simply La Sapienza, meaning 'knowledge' - was founded in 1303 by Pope Boniface VIII, as a place for  ecclesiastical studies over which he could exert greater control than the already established universities of Bologna and Padua. The first pontifical university, it expanded in the 15th century to include schools of Law, Medicine, Philosophy and Theology. Money raised from a new tax on wine enabled the university to buy a palace, which later housed the Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza church. The university was closed during the sack of Rome in 1527 but reopened by Pope Paul III in 1534. In 1870, La Sapienza ceased to be the papal university and as the university of the capital of Italy became recognised as the country's most prestigious seat of learning. A new modern campus was built in 1935 under the guidance of the architect Marcello Piacentini. 

Also on this day:

1881: The death of missionary Saint Daniele Comboni

1891: The birth of Mafia boss Stefano Maggadino

1921: The birth of poet Andrea Zanzotto


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7 April 2018

Marco Delvecchio - footballer

Striker who became TV dance show star


Marco Delvecchio scored four goals in 22 appearances for the Italy national team
Marco Delvecchio scored four goals in 22
appearances for the Italy national team
The former Roma and Italy striker Marco Delvecchio, who launched a new career in television after finishing runner-up in the Italian equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing, was born on this day in 1973 in Milan.

Delvecchio scored 83 goals in exactly 300 appearances for Roma, where he was part of the side that won the Scudetto in 2000-01 and where he became a huge favourite with fans of the giallorossi because of his penchant for scoring against city rivals Lazio.

His record of nine goals in the Rome derby between 2002 and 2009 was the best by any player in the club’s history until that mark was overtaken by the Roma great Francesco Totti, whose career tally against Lazio was 11.

Delvecchio’s talents were somewhat underappreciated at international level. He made 22 appearances for the azzurri and the first of his four goals was in the final of Euro 2000 against France, although he finished on the losing side. Yet after being favoured by Dino Zoff, he was not so popular with Zoff’s successor as head coach, Giovanni Trapattoni, who took him to the 2002 World Cup but did not give him a game, and omitted him from his squad for the 2004 Euros.

Delvecchio enjoyed his best days in a Roma shirt
Delvecchio enjoyed his best
days in a Roma shirt
Unusually, after 17 seasons, 395 appearances and 94 goals in professional football, Delvecchio ended his career with an amateur club in the Rome area, Pescatori Ostia, for whom he scored 34 goals in one season.

Three years after quitting football, Delvecchio accepted an invitation to appear in the 2012 edition of Ballando con le Stelle (Dancing with the Stars) and finished second with professional partner Sara Di Vaira. 

Popular with viewers, Delvecchio then teamed up with former Internazionale and Italy striker Christian Vieri in their own show, called Bobo e Marco - i re del ballo (Bobo and Marco - the kings of dance) - on satellite channel Sky Uno, in which the two ex-players went on their travels to examine dance culture around the world.

Delvecchio’s TV career has continued to develop. A regular football pundit on Sky Sports, Teleradiostereo, Retesport and Radio 105, he has recently taken part in a third dance show, Dance Dance Dance, on FoxLife, paired with his 18-year-old daughter Federica.

Almost 6ft 2ins (1.86m) in height, Delvecchio was characteristically strong in the air as a player but with quick feet too.  Brought up through the youth system at Inter, he made his senior debut shortly before he turned 19 in a Coppa Italia match against Juventus and his first appearance in Serie A came against Fiorentina a few days later.

He established himself in the Inter team after gaining experience on loan at Venezia and Udinese but was then sold to Roma, where he became a key player in a team bursting with attacking talent, playing initially alongside Daniel Fonseca and Abel Balbo and later with Gabriel Batistuta and Vincenzo Montella, as well as the emerging Francesco Totti.

Delvecchio with professional partner Sara Di Vaira in the 2012 edition of Ballando con le stelle
Delvecchio with professional partner Sara Di Vaira
in the 2012 edition of Ballando con le stelle
Trophy success came his way under the coaching of Fabio Capello, who led Roma to the Serie A title in 2000-01 and the Supercoppa Italiana later in 2001.

In international football, Delvecchio was a member of the Italian team that won the UEFA European Under-21 championships in 1994 and 1996 and played for the Italy team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, before making his senior azzurri debut under Zoff in December 1998.

Established in the Zoff team that qualified for Euro 2000, hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands, Delvecchio was close to scoring a winner under the now defunct Golden Goal rule in the semi-final against the Netherlands, which the azzurri ultimately won on penalties, before scoring his first senior international goal to put Italy ahead in the final against France in Rotterdam, which ended in heartache for the Italians after Sylvain Wiltord equalised in the last minute of stoppage time, forcing a period of extra time in which David Trezeguet hit a Golden Goal winner for France.

In domestic football, Delvecchio left Roma in 2005 and had spells with Brescia, Parma and Ascoli, where injury forced the termination of his contract and obliged him to have a year out of the game. He came out of retirement to help a former Roma teammate, Massimiliano Cappioli, launch his coaching career with Pescatori Ostia in Eccellenza Lazio, an amateur regional league.

Ostia has a wide sandy beach, which makes it a popular destination for holiday-makers and day-trippers from Rome
Ostia has a wide sandy beach, which makes it a popular
destination for holiday-makers and day-trippers from Rome
Travel tip:

The seaside resort of Ostia, where Delvecchio finished his career, lies 30km (19 miles) to the southwest of Rome, situated just across the Tiber river from Fiumicino, home of Rome’s largest international airport, it adjoins the remains of the ancient Roman city of Ostia Antica. Many Romans spend their summer holidays in the modern town, swelling a population of about 85,000.

The Stadio Olimpico in Rome has hosted numerous major football matches
The Stadio Olimpico in Rome has hosted numerous
major football matches
Travel tip:

FC Roma’s home ground is the Stadio Olimpico, the largest sports facility in the city, located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The athletics stadium for the 1960 Olympics, the structure belongs to the Italian National Olympic Committee but is primarily a football stadium. Roma are joint tenants with city rivals Lazio and the ground also hosts the Coppa Italia final. It was rebuilt for the 1990 FIFA World Cup and it hosted the tournament final. Originally called Stadio dei Cipressi as part of the Foro Mussolini complex, the 70,000-capacity stadium has been the venue for four European Cup/Champions League finals, two European championship and one World Cup final, in 1990, as well as numerous high-profile athletics events.

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27 February 2018

Simone Di Pasquale – dancer

Ballroom talent has been springboard for business success


Simone Di Pasquale is a regular on the  Italian TV show Ballando con le stelle
Simone Di Pasquale is a regular on the
Italian TV show Ballando con le Stelle
Ballroom dancer and television celebrity Simone Di Pasquale was born on this day in 1978.

In 2005, he became a household name after he started to appear regularly on Italian television in Ballando con le Stelle - the equivalent of the US show Dancing with the Stars and Britain’s Strictly Come Dancing. The annual show, presented by Milly Carlucci, is broadcast every Saturday evening on the tv channel Rai Uno during the season.

Pasquale has also appeared in numerous other television programmes, on stage in musical theatre and as an actor in a television drama.

Born in Rome, Di Pasquale learnt ballroom dancing at a young age and took part in competitions.

In 2000 he paired up with the dancer Natalia Titova, who also later became a celebrity because of Ballando con le Stelle. The couple were engaged from 1998 to 2005.

They took first place in the competition Rising Stars UK in 2004.

In the first season of Ballando con le Stelle, Di Pasquale partnered the Italian actress Hoara Borselli and the couple won the competition. He has taken part in each successive series since. The 2018 season of the show is due to begin on March 10 and will be broadcast live on Rai Uno every Saturday night.

Di Pasquale has appeared as a guest on numerous programmes on Italian television and had a role in an episode of the long running crime series, Don Matteo.

Di Pasquale and actress Hoara Borselli won the first series of the Ballando con le stelle competition
Di Pasquale and actress Hoara Borselli won the first
series of the Ballando con le stelle competition
He has also appeared on many famous stages in the musicals, Saturday Night Fever and Hairspray: Fat is beautiful!

Di Pasquale has dance schools in Rome, Florence, Milan, and Bologna and runs the company, Twister Entertainment, which organises events and dance and entertainment initiatives.

He presented the final of the European Championship of Tango in 2013, which was broadcast from Rome on Rai Uno and he also was part of the Canadian tour of Ballando con le Stelle in 2014, which was renamed Dances with Milly.

In January 2018, he was production director for the prestigious La Notte delle Stelle, a pro-am dance competition held at the Parco dei Principi in Rome.



Mussolini had hoped his new stadium in Rome would host the Olympic Games in 1944
Mussolini had hoped his new stadium in Rome would
host the Olympic Games in 1944
Travel tip:

Ballando con le Stelle is broadcast from Rai's studio in Piazza Lauro de Bosis close to Foro Italico in Rome. Formerly named Foro Mussolini, the Olympic Stadium was built between 1928 and 1938 to a design by Enrico del Debbio and Luigi Moretti inspired by the Roman forums of the Imperial age. The purpose of the prestigious project was to secure the Olympic Games of 1944 for Fascist-run Italy, although in the event there were no Games that year because of the Second World War.







The Villa Borghese gardens date back to 1605
The Villa Borghese gardens date back to 1605
Travel tip:

The pro-am dance competition produced and directed by Di Pasquale in January was held at the Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi, which is in one of the most prestigious locations in Rome, on the edge of the Villa Borghese gardens and close to the Via Veneto. The beautiful Villa Borghese gardens date back to 1605 when Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V, commissioned the work to turn a former vineyard into the most extensive gardens built in Rome since the days of the republic.









(Picture credits: Stadio dei Marmi by Blackcat; Borghese Gardens by Jean-Christophe Benoist; via Wikimedia Commons)




13 March 2017

Flavia Cacace - dancer

Star of Strictly Come Dancing famous for Argentine Tango


Flavia Cacace became a well known face through Strictly Come Dancing
Flavia Cacace became a well known
face through Strictly Come Dancing
The dancer Flavia Cacace, who found fame through the British hit television show, Strictly Come Dancing, was born on this day in 1980 in Naples.

She and professional partner Vincent Simone, who is from Puglia, performed on the show for seven seasons from 2006 to 2012.

The show, which has been mimicked in more than 50 countries across the world, including Italy and the United States, pairs celebrities with professional dancers, combining Latin and ballroom dances in a competition lasting several months.

Cacace, who was runner-up in 2007 with British actor Matt d'Angelo, left the show as champion in 2012 after she and the British Olympic gymnast Louis Smith won the final, which was watched by an estimated 13.35 million viewers.

The youngest of six children, Cacace moved to England shortly before her fifth birthday when her father, Roberto, a chef, decided to look for work opportunities in London.

Her family are from the Vomero district of Naples, a smart neighbourhood that occupies an elevated position on a hill overlooking the city, offering spectacular views. Although more than 30 years have passed since she left the area, Cacace has been quoted as saying that she still considers herself Neapolitan.

A hazy view of Mount Vesuvius across Naples from the top of Vomero Hill
A hazy view of Mount Vesuvius across Naples
from the top of Vomero Hill
Cacace attended the St Peter's Roman Catholic School in the town of Guildford in Surrey, about 43km (27 miles) south-west of central London.

She was introduced to dancing at the age of six when her mother, Rosaria, keen to find her an activity outside school, took her and her eldest sister to Hurley's dance school in Guildford, unaware that it had a reputation for Latin and ballroom tuition that attracted dancers from around the world.

Her talent shone through and she began to win medals at an early age.  It was at Hurley's, at the age of 14, that she met Simone, who had arrived in the UK at the age of 17 and was looking for a partner.

The two formed a professional relationship and won a string of titles together, including numerous UK Ballroom, Ten-dance and Showdance championships.  They have been UK Argentine Tango champions and world Argentine Tango Showdance champions.

The Argentine Tango became their trademark and for several years they have been on tour with a series of glitzy stage productions, including Midnight Tango and Dance 'Til Dawn, both of which were sell-outs.  They announced last year, however, that their 2016 tour The Last Tango, would mark the end of their career on the road.

Their professional partnership turned into a romance for several years before they went different ways after Cacace began a relationship with Strictly partner D'Angelo.

Flavia Cacace on Strictly with Jimi Mistry, now her husband
Flavia Cacace on Strictly with Jimi Mistry, now her husband
Simone is now married with two children, having met his future wife, Susan, in the bar after a show during the 2007 Strictly series, when she had been in the audience as a fan.

Cacace is married to Jimi Mistry, a Yorkshire-born actor who was her celebrity partner in the 2010 series of Strictly.  They were married in London in 2013 and live in Jacobs Well, a village just outside Guildford.

She has been approached several times about appearing on the Italian version of Strictly - entitled Ballando con le Stelle (Dancing with the Stars) - but has been unable so far to take up any offers.  Ballando is currently in its 12th series on the Rai Uno channel.



Castel Sant'Elmo (left) and the Certosa San Martino
Castel Sant'Elmo (left) and the Certosa San Martino
Travel tip:

Vomero is a middle class largely residential area of central Naples but has a number of buildings of historic significance. The most dominant, on top of Vomero Hill, is the large medieval fortress, Castel Sant'Elmo, which stands guard over the city. In front of the fortress is the Certosa San Martino, the former Carthusian monastery, now a museum.  Walk along the adjoining street, Largo San Martino, to enjoy extraordinary views over the city towards Vesuvius.  Vomero's other tourist attraction is the Villa Floridiana, once the home of Ferdinand I, the Bourbon King of the Two Sicilies.  Surrounded by extensive gardens, the building now houses the Duke of Martina National Museum of Ceramics.

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The Cathedral of Santa Maria Icona Vetere in Foggia
The Cathedral of Santa Maria
Icona Vetere in Foggia
Travel tip:

Foggia, where Vincent Simone was born, is a largely modern city, much of it rebuilt following heavy bombardment during the Second World War.  Nonetheless, there are some attractive features, including the 12th-century Cathedral of Santa Maria Icona Vetere, off Piazza del Lago. The present campanile replaced the one destroyed in a major earthquake in 1731. The opera composer Umberto Giordano, born in Foggia, is commemorated with a theatre that bears his name and a square, Piazza Umberto Giordano, that contains several statues representing his most famous works.