Argentinean dancer and choreographer Julio Bocca was BOTD in 1967. Born in a working-class suburb of Buenos Aires, he started dance lessons at 4 and entered the National School of Dance at 7. He joined the Chamber Ballet Company in 1981 and began performing in group and solo shows. In 1985, he won first prize at the International Ballet Competition in Moscow, and was invited by Mikhail Baryshnikov to join the American Ballet Theatre. He spent 20 years as principal dancer with the company, frequently performing as a guest artist with La Scala, Paris Opera, the Bolshoi Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet and the English Royal Ballet, and performing in the Broadway musical Fosse. In 1990, he created his own ballet company, Ballet Argentino, frequently mixing classical ballet with tango and contemporary dance and helping popularise dance for general audiences. He retired from dance performance in 2007. After falling in love with an Uruguayan economist, he moved to Montevideo and became artistic director of the National Ballet of Uruguay. A noted philanthropist, he established the Julio Bocca Foundation, a performing arts charity for children. He hit headlines in Argentina during a 2021 talk show appearance, when he spontaneously made out with openly gay host Jay Mammon.