Puglia triumphed in Rai2’s artistic talent show, From the street to the stage. In fact, the program hosted by Nek won it was the dancer Alessio Spirito, 39 years old, from Francavilla Fontana (Brindisi), with a spectacular performance of flying pole, an aerial dance discipline. To the tune of the song Make noise by the Taranto artist Diodato, Alessio danced suspended in the air, supported by a floating pole. «I feel Diodato’s song inside, it involves me and, what’s more, it brings me closer to Puglia», says Alessio. A final performance by a talent that earned the Apulian dancer the victory of the third edition of the programto. «I am very happy – he continues -. Family and friends filled me with affection and esteem. My colleagues in the race were also sincerely happy for me. It was rewarding.” Alba Parietti presented the plaque to the winner, under a cascade of confetti. Alongside Alessio, in that very last heat, there was another Apulian: the singer Andrea de Pascalis, aka Badisco, originally from Galatina but resident in Milan. «Badisco is an exceptional artist – says Alessio Spirito –. Ylenia Monno and the Rainmakers, the Apulian acrobats who reached the final, are also really very good. I met them all in the program and discovered some wonderful people. From the street to the stage it was an intense journey of growth not only artistically but also humanly.”
Alessio left Puglia many years ago. He was a citizen of the world and for some time he settled in a town in the province of Naples. His dream has always been to dance. Since he was a child he approached the world of dance: first Latin American dances, then classical and contemporary dance. «Once I graduated, I left Francavilla with the aim of becoming a professional dancer. And I succeeded. I danced in tourist villages, on cruise shipsin musicals like The divine Comedy (directed by Andrea Ortis and choreography by Massimiliano Volpini) ei Betrothed (directed by Michele Guardi and choreography by Martino Muller). I also danced in French cabarets and at Disneyland Paris.” Alessio also took his art on the streets around Italy: «I really like performing in the streets of cities because I am strongly convinced that art is everywhere». He approached aerial disciplines when he was 30 years old. «But it was during the lockdown that I bought the tools with which I performed From the street to the stage: the Cyr wheel (a large aluminum or steel ring, ed.) and the rod for the flying pole. As a self-taught person, during those long free days, I trained daily. Day after day I became passionate and refined the technique.” Until he became, precisely by performing in those aerial dance categories, the absolute winner of the Rai2 artistic talent show.
«My loved ones followed me from home. They gathered and cheered for me, as always.” Alessio is very close to his very large family. Also to the father who he lost but who, as he loves to remember, continues to support him from above. «The distance that separates me from home is only geographical: I always remain very attached to Puglia. Everything I have managed to achieve in life started from Francavilla, from my land, from my first affections. I travelled, got to know different cultures, I grew up, but my solid foundations are always in the country and family where I was born.” This is why, ultimately, the victory of Alessio Spirito a From the street to the stage it also represents the victory of that slice of Puglia that lives in the hearts of those who have left.
