TO 61 years old, Enrico De MartinoNeapolitan dancer and father of Stefano, host of Your businessreceives the Salerno Danza Lifetime Achievement Award. A recognition that comes after a life spent on stage and sacrifices. Including the most important one: having given up his great passion, dance, when he learned he was about to become a father.
Enrico De Martino: «For Stefano I gave up dance»
Behind that award, in fact, there is also a lifestyle choice. «Basically, until the age of 40 I combined dance with my restaurateur activity. But I did it as a hobby, collaborating with various schools in Campania. My career as a professional dancer stopped when I was 25», he says in an interview given to Corriere della Sera. It was then that he received the phone call that changed everything: «I was in Rome, on stage with a dance company, when My girlfriend, current wife, calls me and tells me that she is pregnant, pregnant with Stefano». Since then “the dancer’s main activity has become a hobby”.
The passion for dance from father to son
When his son confesses to him that he wants to take the same path, Enrico tries to warn him: «It’s a demanding job, both physically and mentally, there are very strict rules to respect… I immediately told him that it’s not all roses and flowers, there are enormous sacrifices to face, you can’t go out in the evening with friends, go and have fun because you always try, even on Saturdays and Sundays. I was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to bear something like that…”. But Stefano didn’t hold back: he decided to make his dream come true. And he succeeds.
The relationship between father and son
The relationship between Enrico De Martino and his son Stefano is particular but profound and grateful. The first “I love you” came when the host was 21 years old. «I grew up without a father and, unfortunately, not having a father figure, I always felt a sort of reluctance, almost shame, in expressing feelings. But then as I got older I loosened up and became malleable with my children”, reveals Enrico al Courier.
The meeting with Maria De Filippi and Bill Goodson’s prediction
During the interview, then, father Enrico talks about the characters he met during his son’s artistic career. He knew Maria De Filippi two years ago: «It was a nice meeting, I remember that he asked me: “are you happy with your son’s career?” And what could I answer? Very happy».
And about Stefano’s talent, Enrico reveals a significant episode: «Bill Goodson. He came to do an internship in the dance school where Stefano took lessons at the age of 13-14 and I collaborated. At a certain point the American choreographer he called me aside and said: “you see, your son will be a showman”. His prediction stuck with me».
“Tonight everything is possible 2025”, Stefano De Martino. (Handle)
The success and simplicity of Stefano De Martino
Despite his notoriety, Stefano De Martino remained «the person he was, he didn’t let it go to his head. And this is the compliment that people always pay me, in Torre Annunziata and elsewhere, when they talk about him.” He excludes Sanremo from his son’s television present, at least for the moment. And the future remains open: «He has so many dreams in his drawer, little by little he opens the drawer and takes one out. You have to ask him, however one thing is certain, he never stops dreaming.”