Alberto Spadolini (1907-1972) was a painter, dancer ad a lot more, but dance constitutes the fil rouge of his career. Born in a turbulent Ancona, he spent his formative years in Rome and had his debut in France in 1932, becoming famous as a music-hall dancer in La Joie de Paris, with Josephine Baker. In an interview he defines himself as ‘anarchist’ and in 1933 he performs in the Gala de danse, a performance of ‘pure’ dance where we can perceive an authorial line that distances him from the music-hall. In spite of the fact that he wears costumes of different kinds, he is classified as a ‘nude dancer’ by the press. This is due to his statuesque body that he shows in some dances. From the 1940s he begins to paint a series of paintings dedicated to ballerinas, recalling, in some aspects, Edgar Degas. Analysing even very rare documents, the present study explores the relationship Spadolini had with dance, illustrating another name with which he was known: Apollo of the Dance.
