Argentine ballet dancer bows out

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The centre of Buenos Aires has been packed with tens of thousands of fans marking the retirement of celebrated Argentine ballet dancer Julio Bocca.

Fireworks shot up as the 40-year-old performed on an open-air stage on the city's 9 de Julio Boulevard, in front of the famous Obelisk monument.

Bocca, who started dancing aged four, featured samba, jazz and tango numbers.

He had been on a year-long farewell tour taking in 11 countries, but called this show "the toughest one" of all.

"The whole tour was exciting, because the people also knew that this was the last time, so they came to the shows with a different mood [from before]," Bocca told the Associated Press.

"All the people stood clapping hands," he added. "I broke down. I cried a little bit."

Large TV screens were placed by the stage to help fans see the showOrganisers estimated the crowd to number 300,000, with spectators stretching along 12 blocks in the Argentine capital, but there was no independent confirmation of the total.

Many of those in the audience chanted "Ole! Ole! Julio!" during his performance.

Bocca was joined on stage by Eleonara Cassano, who had been his dance partner since 1989, with several artists accompanying him on songs.

He wept and blew kisses to fans at the end of the show, hugging friends who had gone up on to the platform with him.

He will continue to have an involvement in dancing during his retirement, however, with plans to keep directing Ballet Argentino, the troupe he founded 17 years ago.