Bella ballet.

To many, Italy brings to mind great pasta, opera, and streets made of water. But have you ever wondered about dance in the Old World? The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts' current exhibit, 500 Years of Italian Dance: Treasures from the Cia Fornaroli Collection, curated by Dance Magazine senior advising editor Lynn Garafola with Italian dance scholar Patrizia Veroli, includes some of the earliest writings on dance, scores of books, letters, and photographs. The collection, on view through Jan. 20, is part of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division and was amassed by Walter Toscanini, son of the famous conductor, and his wife Cia Fornaroli, a La Scala ballerina. See www.nypl.org.