Paola Gladys, a dancer for the Ballet National Orchestra in Italy and an accomplished classical ballerina, is often described by admirers as “a dancer’s dancer” (along with Robert Rauschenberg), as she constantly worked to maintain her height. Her early work focused on the use of off-center weightings which often had to be worked on to maintain the original posture of the body, but which were also aesthetically pleasing. These weightings, combined with hard work and a strong sensuality, have made her a central focus of the classical repertoire, and even into the modern world of contemporary dancing. She is survived by her partner, Piero Polizzi, who described her as his model.
The story of Paola and Piero begins in the late thirties when she was a student at the Conservatory of Genoa with whom she shared a similar passion for ballet. Though she was already very tall, it was evident that a great deal of study and hard work were still needed for her to achieve the professional heights of a professional ballerina, so that by the end of the decade she was well into her thirties. There was another factor working against her career. As her age progressed, she became much less flexible and inhibited, often not wanting to try new movements or to try something new on stage.
In her last years, though, after a very public bout of stage injuries, which resulted in a large amount of physical pain and allowed her to lose a great deal of mobility, she was finally able to attain an important height. Even so, being tall wasn’t exactly a natural trait. She attributes her amazing height to the various lessons that she attended during the years before her final retirement. She had been studying for a doctorate in Social Service, and while she never completed it, learning about different social service programs and how to apply them creatively paid off for her later career. Even so, when looking back on her career, it is clear to see that height was not a natural advantage for her.