Romagna (Romagnol: Rumâgna) is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to the east, and the rivers Reno and Sillaro to the north and west. The region's major cities include Ravenna, Cesena, Faenza, Forlì, Imola, Rimini and City of San Marino (San Marino is a landlocked state inside the Romagna historical region). The region has been recently formally expanded with the transfer of seven comuni (Casteldelci, Maiolo, Novafeltria, Pennabilli, San Leo, Sant'Agata Feltria, Talamello) from the Marche region,^[1] all of which are comuni where Romagnolo dialect is spoken.

Map of Romagna, showing its administrative divisions (new territories not shown)

Etymology[link]

The name Romagna comes from the Latin name Romània, which originally was the generic name for "land inhabited by Romans", and first appeared on Latin documents in the 5th century. It later took on the more detailed meaning of "territory subjected to Eastern Roman rule", whose citizens called themselves Romans (Romàioi in Greek). Thus the term Romània came to be used to refer to the territory administered by the Exarchate of Ravenna in contrast to other parts of Northern Italy under Lombard rule, named Langobardia or Lombardy. Romània later became Romandìola in Vulgar Latin, meaning "little Romània", which became Romagna in modern times.^[2]

The Caveja, the symbol of Romagna

History[link]

Prehistory[link]

A number of archaeological sites in the region, such as Monte Poggiolo, show that Romagna has been inhabited since the Paleolithic age.

Umbri and Gauls[link]

The Umbri, speaking an extinct Italic language called Umbrian, are the first traceable inhabitants of the region. The Etruscans also dwelt in some portions of Romagna.

In the 5th Century BC, various Gaulish tribes, most notably the Lingones, Senoni and Boii, moved south into Italy, and sacked Rome in 390 BC. The Senoni utterly subjugated the Umbri and settled in Romagna. The Senoni extended further south to Ancona, with their capital Sena Gallica (Senigallia). The lands formerly inhabited by the Senoni were known as ager Gallicus (Gallic plain) to the Romans.

According to the Italian linguist Giacomo Devoto, there are still a number of Celtic substrata in the Romagnolo dialect.

Roman Republic[link]

The Gaul predominance in the region was consistently challenged by the Romans. In the battle of Telamon, the Romans defeated the joint forces of the Celtic tribes, thus achieving a hegemony over the new Roman Province of Cisalpine Gaul centred at Mutina (Modena).

After the Second Punic War, the pro-Carthaginian Lingones and Senoni were expelled. To consolidate the Roman rule in the region, the Via Aemilia was built from Ariminium (Rimini) to Piacentia (Piacenza), and a series of Roman colonies were founded. The most significant ones are Forum Livii (Forlì), Forum Cornelii (Imola) and Forum Popili (Forlimpopoli). After the Social War, the Lex Julia was introduced in 90 BC, and Roman citizenship was granted to all municipia south of the River Po.

In the first Roman civil war, between Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla, most cities in the regions supported Marius. As a result, Forum Livii and Caesena were razed to ground, and the region was looted by Sulla's army.

During the first triumvirate, the Roman Republic was divided along the infamous Rubicon. Most of modern Romagna was ruled by Julius Caesar, the notable exception of Ariminium, which is south of the river. In 49 BC, Caesar, who was residing in Ravenna then, led the Legio XIII across the Rubicon and ignited Caesar's civil war.

Roman Empire[link]

After the decisive battle of Actium, Augustus started a century-long era of Pax Romana. All of Cisalpine Gaul had been incorporated into the Roman province of Italia. Around 7 BC, Augustus divided all of Italy into eleven regiones, and most of Romagna (except Rimini) was in the eighth, Aemilia.

By the beginning of the 3rd Century, Diocletian re-divided the Empire into four prefectures, each divided into dioceses, and into provinces. Under the new system, Italy was demoted to a mere Imperial province. Modern Romagna was organized into the Roman province of Flaminia et Picenum in the diocese of Italia Annonaria.

Steadily Ravenna, which was surrounded by swamps and marshes, prospered and rose in importance, and a Roman fleet was based at the city. It had developed into a major port on the Adriatic. However, in 330, the capital of the Empire was transferred to Constantinople, so with the fleet that stationed at Ravenna, thus weakened the coastal defence in the Adriatic.

Germanic migrations and Exarchate of Ravenna[link]

Stepping into the 5th Century, the incursions of the Germans into the Empire further intesified. In 402, Emperor Honorius even moved the Western Roman Empire's capital from Mediolanum to Ravenna, mainly because of the region's defensive terrain. 8 years later, Alaric I of the Visigoths looted Rome. In 476, Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustus in Ravenna, thus marked an end to the Western Empire.

Encouraged by Emperor Zeno, Theodoric the Great led the Ostrogoths into Italy. He entered Ravenna and murdered Odoacer in 493, establishing a twofold kingdom of the Romans and Goths. Under the Ostrogoths Italy was partly restored to its former prosperity.

In 535 Justinian I initiated the Gothic War. It was fought for 20 years, and bitterly the Ostrogoths were finally subjugated. The peninsula, depopulated and devastated, was ruled by an exarch from Ravenna. However, Imperial authority was maintained for barely more than a decade. In 568 new Germanic tribes, namely the Lombards, entered Italy and established their capital at Pavia. The Empire could barely defend the region around Ravenna and Rome, connected by a narrow strip of land passing through Perugia, as well as a series of coastal cities. The Imperial frontier retreated to Bologna.

In 727 the Lombard King Liutprand renewed the war against the Byzantines, taking most of Romagna and besieged Ravenna itself. They were returned to the Byzantines in 730. In 737 the king entered Romagna once more and took Ravenna. The exarch, Eutychius, retook the region in 740, with Venetian assistance. Eventually another Lombard king, Aistulf, conquered Romagna and marked an end to the exarchate in 751.

Papal rule[link]

Piazza Saffi, Forlì.

The Romagna was officially ceded to the Papal States by Rudolf I of Germany in 1278. However, the Papal control over it remained scanty and often nominal for much of the following centuries. The area was divided among a series of regional lords, like the Ordelaffi of Forlì and the Malatesta of Rimini, many of them naturally adhering to the Ghibelline party in natural opposition to the pro-papal Guelphs. This situation started to change in the late 15th century, when after their return to Rome stronger popes progressively reasserted their authority in the fragemented region. Other powers also seized various part of Romagna, including Venice and most notably the Republic of Florence which expanded up to Forlì and Cervia, building the famous city-fortress of Terra del Sole. The Florentine Romagna remained part of Tuscany until 1920s.

In 1500 Cesare Borgia, illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, carved for himself an ephemeral Duchy of Romagna, but his lands were reabsorbed into the Papal States after his fall. The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis divided Romagna between the Farnese family, the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, the House of Este of Ferrara, the Duchy of Modena and Reggio, and the Papal States.

This situation lasted until the French invasion of 1796, which brought tragic feats (massacre of Lugo, looting, heavy taxation, abolition of Cesena University) but also innovative ideas in social and political fields. During the Napoleonic rule Romagna received for the first time recognition, with the creation of the provinces of the Pino (Ravenna) and Rubicone (Forlì). When in 1815 the Congress of Vienna re-established the pre-war situation, secret anti-Papal societies were formed, and riots broke out in 1820, 1830–31 and 1848.

This opposition was fuelled by the Mazzinian propaganda and the direct action of Giuseppe Garibaldi. Men like Felice Orsini, Piero Maroncelli and Aurelio Saffi were among the protagonists of the Italian Risorgimento.

In a re-united Italy[link]

However, after joining the reunification of Italy in 1860, Romagna did not receive a separate status by the Savoy monarchs, who were afraid of dangerous destabilizing tendencies in the wake of the popular figures cited above.

In the early 20th century the autonomy of Romagna was advocated by Aldo Spallicci, Giuseppe Fuschini, Emilio Lussu and others. A movement proposing separation from Emilia-Romagna was created in the 1990s.

References[link]

External links[link]

• "Other Romagna", a local institution
• La Romagna (in Italian)
• RomagnaOggi.it, a newspaper serving the region online (in Italian)
• Romagna2020.it, official website of a local committee promoting a 2020 Olympics bid (in Italian)

Coordinates: 44°45′N 11°00′E / 44.75°N 11°E / 44.75; 11

Roberto Bolle
Born	(1975-03-26) March 26, 1975 (age 37) Casale Monferrato, Italy
Occupation	ballet dancer
Years active	1994–present
Current group	American Ballet Theatre La Scala
Website
www.robertobolle.com

Roberto Bolle (born March 3, 1975) is an Italian ballet dancer. He is currently a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre and also holds guest artist status with The Royal Ballet and La Scala Theatre Ballet, making regular appearances with both companies.

Early life[link]

Bolle was born in Casale Monferrato in the Piemont Region of Italy. He began ballet studies at age seven at a local school, and was accepted at the La Scala theatre ballet school in Milan at the age of eleven. Rudolf Nureyev chose Roberto to interpret Tadzio in the ballet Death in Venice.

Career[link]

In 1996, following an appearance in Romeo and Juliet, twenty year old Bolle was promoted to Principal Dancer at La Scala. He left that position when he was 21 to pursue a freelance career. Since then he has starred in many ballets including Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Cinderella, The Nutcracker, Giselle, Notre-Dame de Paris, and In the middle somewhat elevated.

Bolle has danced for the Royal Ballet, the Tokyo Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, the Stuttgart Ballet, the Finnish National Ballet, the Staatsoper in Berlin, the Vienna State Opera, the Staatsoper in Dresden, the Bavarian State Opera, the Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden, the 8th and 9th International Ballet Festivals in Tokyo, the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, and the City Theatre in Florence.

Derek Deane, the English National Ballet director, created two productions for him: Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet, both of them performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London. On the 10th anniversary of the Opera Theatre in Cairo, he performed in Aida at the pyramids of Giza and afterwards at the Arena in Verona for a new version of the opera live worldwide.

In October 2000 he opened the season at Covent Garden Opera House in London performing Swan Lake, choreographed by Anthony Dowell, and in November he was invited by the Bolshoi Ballet to celebrate Maya Plisetskaya's 75th anniversary in the presence of President Vladimir Putin.

In June 2002, on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee, he danced at Buckingham Palace in the presence of the Queen. The event was broadcast live by BBC and transmitted to all the Commonwealth countries.

During the 2003-2004 season, he was promoted to Etoile of La Scala Theatre. On 1 April 2004 he danced in front of Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square to celebrate young people's day. On 7 December, to celebrate the re-opening of La Scala Theatre after its restoration, he danced Europa riconosciuta with Alessandra Ferri and three weeks later in the New Year’s Eve Star Gala.

In December 2005 at Covent Garden Opera House in London he performed Frederick Ashton’s production of Sylvia, broadcast by the BBC on Christmas Day.

Bolle danced at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin where he performed a solo created for him by Enzo Cosimi. The ceremony was broadcast worldwide and seen by 2.5 billion people.

In 2007 he performed for the first time with ABT^[1] as a guest artist, on the occasion of Alessandra Ferri’s farewell performance.

For the 2009 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, Bolle performed as a Principal Dancer with the American Ballet Theatre: the first time that a male Italian dancer joined the Company as a Principal. The "Dance Listings" in the New York Times on June 26, 2009 described Bolle as "utterly gorgeous (in both looks and dance)".^[2] Bolle’s Spring 2010 American Ballet Theater performances include The Lady of the Camellias, Swan Lake, La Bayadère, and Romeo and Juliet.

Other work[link]

Bolle has appeared in numerous fashion and style magazines, and has been featured in advertising campaigns; Ferragamo featured Bolle in a 2008 promotion. Bolle also has an agreement with Giorgio Armani, who supplies him with clothes. He also was featured in Vogue US 2009 alongside supermodel Coco Rocha in an editorial spread.

Since 1999 he has been a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.^[1] In 2006 he visited Sudan, spending time at schools and hospitals. As of June 2007, he had raised over $655,000 for education and health projects in Sudan.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website (English)
• Teatro alla Scala (La Scala) Official Website (Italian) (English)
• Roberto Bolle as Romeo on YouTube

v t e Ballet General information ballets companies glossary history music timeline Ballet terminology Ballet d'action Barre Ballet blanc Comic ballet Contemporary ballet Ballets de cour Demi-soloist Divertissement Narrative ballet Neoclassical ballet Opéra-ballet Pas de deux Pas de quatre Pas de trois Pièce d'occasion Pointe shoes Romantic ballet Turnout Tutu Variation Ballet by genre character classical contemporary neoclassical Ballet by region British French Italian Russian Dancers American British French Russian Technique Balanchine Bournonville Cecchetti Royal Academy Vaganova Ballet apparel dance belt leotard pointe shoes slippers tights tutu unitard Schools The National Ballet School of Canada Stuttgart Ballet Cuban National Ballet School Elmhurst School for Dance English National Ballet School Moscow State Academy of Choreography Royal Ballet School School of American Ballet La Scala Theatre Ballet School Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet Royal Winnipeg Ballet Companies American Ballet Theatre Anaheim Ballet Atlanta Ballet Ballet Manila Ballet Philippines Barcelona Ballet Berlin State Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Boston Ballet Cairo Opera Ballet Company Cape Town City Ballet Carolina Ballet Cincinnati Ballet Cuban National Ballet Dayton Ballet Donetsk Ballet Dutch National Ballet English National Ballet Finnish National Ballet Georgian National Ballet Greek National Opera Guangzhou Ballet Hamburg Ballet Hong Kong Ballet Houston Ballet Iaşi Romanian National Opera Iranian National Ballet Company Joffrey Ballet K-ballet Kiev Ballet Korea National Ballet Company La Scala Theatre Ballet Les Ballets de Monte Carlo Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Los Angeles Ballet Mariinsky Ballet Moldova National Opera Ballet National Ballet of Canada National Ballet of China National Ballet Theater of Puerto Rico National Opera and Ballet National Theatre Munich New Jersey Ballet New York City Ballet Norwegian National Opera and Ballet Oklahoma City Ballet Oregon Ballet Theatre Pacific Northwest Ballet Paris Opera Ballet Philippine Ballet Theatre Polish National Ballet Queensland Ballet Royal Danish Ballet Royal New Zealand Ballet Royal Swedish Ballet Royal Winnipeg Ballet San Francisco Ballet Scottish Ballet Shanghai Ballet Company Spanish National Dance Company Stuttgart Ballet The Australian Ballet The Royal Ballet Tokyo Ballet Tulsa Ballet Universal Ballet West Australian Ballet Ballet portal Did you know? today's news today's article today's biography today's picture recent news 2009 2008

Zenaida Yanowsky
Zenaida Yanowsky as Odette in a 2007 Royal Ballet production of Swan Lake
Born	(1975-12-23)23 December 1975 Lyon, France
Occupation	Ballet dancer

Zenaida Yanowsky (born 23 December 1975, Lyon, France) is a Principal Dancer with the Royal Ballet in London.

Early life[link]

Both of her parents, Anatol Yanowsky and Carmen Robles, were dancers with the Lyon Opera Ballet. Later, the family moved to settle in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, where her parents set up a dance school. Although Zenaida, along with her siblings, took dance classes at her parents' school, it was not until she turned 14 that she decided to become a professional dancer.^[1] Her brother, Yuri, is now a Principal Dancer with Boston Ballet and her sister, Nadia, is a demi-soloist with Het Nationale Ballet in the Netherlands.

Ballet career[link]

After winning the silver medal at the Varna International Ballet Competition in 1991, she received an invitation to audition for the Paris Opera Ballet. The audition was successful and she joined the company that year. In 1993 she won the gold medal at the Eurovision Young Dancers Competition and in 1994 the gold medal at the Jackson International Ballet Competition. In the autumn of 1994, having left the Paris Opera Ballet earlier on in the year, she joined the Royal Ballet. She was promoted to the status of Principal Dancer in 2001.^[2]

In June 2002 she performed the "Black Swan" pas de deux with Roberto Bolle at Buckingham Palace as part of the 'Prom at the Palace', an event held to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II.

In 2003, she won the Best Female Dancer award at the Critics' Circle National Dance Awards^[3] and in 2005 was voted Dancer of the Year by readers of the magazine Dance Europe.

Career and repertory[link]

She has performed many roles in the 19th century classical repertory, including: Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Lilac Fairy & Carabosse in The Sleeping Beauty, Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Nikiya & Gamzatti in La Bayadère and Myrtha in Giselle. She has also performed in many ballets choreographed by the Royal Ballet's most important choreographers, Sir Frederick Ashton and Sir Kenneth MacMillan. Her Ashton roles include: the title role in Sylvia, Lady Elgar in Enigma Variations, Natalia Petrovna in A Month in the Country, Josephine in Wedding Bouquet and Monotones II. Her MacMillan roles include: the title role in Manon, Empress Elisabeth in Mayerling, The Chosen One in The Rite of Spring and First Sister in My Brother, My Sisters. She has also performed in many ballets by Balanchine, including the Siren in Prodigal Son, Terpsichore in Apollo, Rubies, Agon, Symphony in C, Serenade, the Four Temperaments and Stravinsky Violin Concerto. Her other roles include the Hostess in Les Biches and the Bride in Les Noces (both choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska) and the Black Queen in Checkmate (by Dame Ninette de Valois).

She has also created roles for and worked with many contemporary choreographers including Tharp, Forsythe, Ek, Duato, Tetley, Tuckett, Page, Davies, Wheeldon, Yanowsky, Baldwin, Marston, Kylián, Brandstrup, Bruce and Flindt. In the Royal Ballet's 2006/07 season, she created a role in Christopher Wheeldon's DGV: danse a grande vitesse and Anna II in the new production of the The Seven Deadly Sins by Will Tuckett. In the 2007/08 season, she worked with Wheeldon again and created a role in Electric Counterpoint.Her role as The maniacal Queen of Hearts in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Christopher Wheeldon, drew thunderous applause and is frequently seen on YouTube.

She is featured in the short dance films Duet and the Sandman ( Directed by The Brothers Quay and Will Tuckett and Choreographed by Will Tuckett for Channel 4). In 2005, she starred in the BBC2's film 'Riot at the Rite' as Maria Plitz, who danced as the Chosen One in the première of The Rite of Spring in 1913 in Paris.

Personal life[link]

She married the British baritone Simon Keenlyside in August 2006.^[4] They have two children, a son, Owen, and a daughter, Iona.^[5][6]

Image gallery[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

v t e Ballet General information ballets companies glossary history music timeline Ballet terminology Ballet d'action Barre Ballet blanc Comic ballet Contemporary ballet Ballets de cour Demi-soloist Divertissement Narrative ballet Neoclassical ballet Opéra-ballet Pas de deux Pas de quatre Pas de trois Pièce d'occasion Pointe shoes Romantic ballet Turnout Tutu Variation Ballet by genre character classical contemporary neoclassical Ballet by region British French Italian Russian Dancers American British French Russian Technique Balanchine Bournonville Cecchetti Royal Academy Vaganova Ballet apparel dance belt leotard pointe shoes slippers tights tutu unitard Schools The National Ballet School of Canada Stuttgart Ballet Cuban National Ballet School Elmhurst School for Dance English National Ballet School Moscow State Academy of Choreography Royal Ballet School School of American Ballet La Scala Theatre Ballet School Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet Royal Winnipeg Ballet Companies American Ballet Theatre Anaheim Ballet Atlanta Ballet Ballet Manila Ballet Philippines Barcelona Ballet Berlin State Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Boston Ballet Cairo Opera Ballet Company Cape Town City Ballet Carolina Ballet Cincinnati Ballet Cuban National Ballet Dayton Ballet Donetsk Ballet Dutch National Ballet English National Ballet Finnish National Ballet Georgian National Ballet Greek National Opera Guangzhou Ballet Hamburg Ballet Hong Kong Ballet Houston Ballet Iaşi Romanian National Opera Iranian National Ballet Company Joffrey Ballet K-ballet Kiev Ballet Korea National Ballet Company La Scala Theatre Ballet Les Ballets de Monte Carlo Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Los Angeles Ballet Mariinsky Ballet Moldova National Opera Ballet National Ballet of Canada National Ballet of China National Ballet Theater of Puerto Rico National Opera and Ballet National Theatre Munich New Jersey Ballet New York City Ballet Norwegian National Opera and Ballet Oklahoma City Ballet Oregon Ballet Theatre Pacific Northwest Ballet Paris Opera Ballet Philippine Ballet Theatre Polish National Ballet Queensland Ballet Royal Danish Ballet Royal New Zealand Ballet Royal Swedish Ballet Royal Winnipeg Ballet San Francisco Ballet Scottish Ballet Shanghai Ballet Company Spanish National Dance Company Stuttgart Ballet The Australian Ballet The Royal Ballet Tokyo Ballet Tulsa Ballet Universal Ballet West Australian Ballet Ballet portal Did you know? today's news today's article today's biography today's picture recent news 2009 2008