#tbt: How Star Ballerina Carla Fracci Nailed the Whole "Work-Life Balance" Thing

The cover star of the January 1974 issue of Dance Magazine was beloved Italian ballerina Carla Fracci. She was adored by ballet fans in the U.S. for her guest appearances with American Ballet Theatre, and a bona fide celebrity in her hometown of Milan. But she nevertheless made time for her director husband and their young son, who often accompanied her on tour. “I don’t like to be only ballerina,” she told us. “I say: the dance—all right. I like it. I like my work, and I do the best that I can. But it is not ‘all’ for me…Most dancers are closed, in a way, because it takes so much to dance, the physique is under so much stress, that often they are too tired, even to read, or to go to the theaters, the museums, to hear music, to be with people. But you can’t be a dancer without these things…You can’t just close your eyes and go to the barre. You get lost in this obsession with the barre and toe shoes. Your life can be destroyed that way.”