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2010 INTERNATIONAL EVENINGS OF DANCE
Dancer Bios | PERFORMING ARTISTS: |  | Alexei Ratmansky, Choreographer
Alexei Ratmansky was born in St. Petersburg and trained at the Bolshoi Ballet School in Moscow. His performing career included positions as principal dancer with Ukrainian National Ballet, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Royal Danish Ballet. He has choreographed ballets for the Dutch National Ballet, Kirov Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and the State Ballet of Georgia, under the artistic direction of ABT Principal Dancer Nina Ananiashvili. His 1998 work, Dreams of Japan, choreographed for Ananiashvili, earned a prestigious Golden Mask Award by the Theatre Union of Russia. In 2005, he was awarded the Benois de la Danse prize for his choreography of Anna Karenina for the Royal Danish Ballet.
Ratmansky was named artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet in January 2004. For the Bolshoi Ballet, he choreographed full-length productions of The Bright Stream (2003) and The Bolt (2005) and re-staged Le Corsaire (2007) and the Soviet-era Flames of Paris (2008). Under Ratmansky’s direction, the Bolshoi Ballet was named “Best Foreign Company” in 2005 and 2007 by The Critics’ Circle in London, and he received a Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for The Bright Stream in 2006. In 2007, he won a Golden Mask Award for Best Choreographer for his production of Jeu de Cartes for the Bolshoi Ballet.
Ratmansky joined American Ballet Theatre as Artist in Residence in January 2009. He will premiere a new work, set on ballerina Wendy Whelan, at the 2010 Vail International Dance Festival.
|  | Clifton Brown, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Clifton Brown trained at various schools including Take 5 Dance Academy, Ballet Arizona, New School for the Arts and The Ailey School, where he was a student in the Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. Program in Dance. Mr. Brown is a recipient of a Donna Wood Foundation Award, a Level 1 ARTS award given by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and was a 2005 nominee in the U.K. for a Critics Circle National Dance Award for best male dancer. In 2007, Mr. Brown received a Bessie Award in recognition of his work with the Ailey company. He has performed with Earl Mosley’s Diversity of Dance and as a guest artist with the Miami City Ballet. Mr. Brown joined the Company in 1999.
|  | Herman Cornejo, American Ballet Theatre, Corella Ballet Castille y Leon, Espana
Herman Cornejo was born in Mercedes, San Luis province, Argentina, and began his ballet studies at the age of eight at the Instituto Superior de Arte of Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires. In 1995 when he was fourteen he received a scholarship from the School of American Ballet, the dance school of New York City Ballet. On his return to Buenos Aires he was invited to join Julio Bocca’s Ballet Argentino.
At the age of 16, Herman was the Gold Medal winner of the VIII International Dance Competition in Moscow (1997), the youngest dancer ever in the history of the competition. On that occasion he was also awarded the prize granted by the competition’s Foundation for the best La Sylphide.
After his return, Herman was soon promoted to Principal Dancer with Ballet Argentino, alternating with Julio Bocca in all the principal roles of the repertoire during the company's worldwide tours. In 1999 Herman joined American Ballet Theatre, New York, and was appointed Principal Dancer in August 2003.
His roles with American Ballet Theatre and as a guest artist with others companies, include, Basilio in Don Quixote, Romeo and Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Franz in Coppelia, Siegfried in Swan Lake, Jean de Brienne in Raymonda, Solor and Bronze Idol in La Bayadère, Ali, and Lankedem in Le Corsaire, Prince Désiré in The Sleeping Beauty, Lescaut in Manon, Albrech in Giselle, James La Sylphide, the Prince in The Nutcracker, Puck in Sir Frederick Ashton’s The Dream, the Joker in Jeu De Cartes, Cassio in Lar Lubovitch's Othello, 1st Sailor in Jerome Robbins's Fancy Free, George Balanchine's Theme and Variations, Symphony in C, Tarantela, The Suite of Who Cares? and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Michel Fokine's Le Spectre de la Rose and Petrushka, Yellow Couple in Martha Graham's Diversion of Angels, Spring Water Pas de Deux, Diana and Acteon Pas de Deux, Flames of Paris Pas de Deux, Christian Spuck's Le Grand Pas de Deux, Mark Morris's Gong and Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes, Kirk Peterson's Amazed in Burning Dreams, Natalie Weir's Jabula and HereAfter, David Parson's The Pied Piper, Jiri Kylian's Petite Mort and Sinfonietta, William Forsythe's Workwithinwork, Clark Tippet's Bruch Violin Concerto, Robert Hill's Marinba, Twyla Tharp's In The Upper Room and Sinatra Suite, Peter Quanz's Kaleidoscope and Christopher Wheeldon ‘s DGV: Danse à Grand Vitesse.
Protagonist roles were created for him in Robert Hill's Baroque Game and Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Twyla Tharp's Variations on a Theme By Haydn and Rabbit and Rogue, Stanton Welch's Clear and Carmina Burana, Natalie Weir's His Weeping, Trey McIntyre's Pretty Good Year, Jorma Elo's Glow-Stop and Close to Chuck, Mauro Bigonzetti’s Sinfonía Entrelazada, Margarita Fernandez's AmaDuo, Graham Lusting’s Medrano, inspired in Pablo Picasso’s pictures and Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison.
Herman is also Principal Dancer of Corella Ballet where he made his debut in September 2008 performing Solor in Natalia Makarova’s La Bayadère at the Teatro Real de Madrid. Herman has participated in numerous galas and performed as Principal Guest Dancer with the Ballet del Teatro Argentino de La Plata, the Compañía de Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, Boston Ballet, New York City Ballet and Sapporo Ballet.
Since the age of ten, Herman has received multiple awards and distinctions from international ballet organizations, festivals and institutions, publications and governments. Among them, UNESCO named him Peace Messenger in 2000; he was nominated best dancer in the 2005 edition of the Benois de la Danse; Pointe magazine distinguished Herman in its 2008 Pointe VIP LIST of Very Impressive Performances; in January 2010 Hispanic magazine named Herman one of its “15 Young Icons”, Latin idols selected for their commitment and extraordinary talent; and in April 2010 he won the Mr Expressivity prize at the 9th International Ballet Festival “Dance Open” in St Petersburg.
|  | Joaquin DeLuz, New York City Ballet
Joaquin De Luz was born in Madrid and received his training at the Victor Ullate School of Ballet. He danced with Victor Ullate Ballet Company from 1992 until 1995. In March 1996, Mr. De Luz won the Gold Medal at the Second Nureyev International Ballet Competition in Budapest, Hungary, and in August of that year, he joined the Pennsylvania Ballet as a Soloist. With Pennsylvania Ballet, he danced leading roles in La Bayadere, Diana and Acteon, Don Quixote, Paquita Suite, The Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake, as well as George Balanchine's Allegro Brillante, Theme and Variations, and Who Cares? Mr. De Luz joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in 1997 and was promoted to Soloist in 1998. His repertory with ABT included the Bronze Idol in La Bayadere (choreographed by Natalia Makarova after Marius Petipa), the Red Cowboy in Billy the Kidd (Eugene Loring), the first sailor in Fancy Free (Jerome Robbins), Benno in Swan Lake (Kevin McKenzie after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov), and leading roles in Bruch Violin Concerto No.1 (Clark Tippet) and Theme and Variations (George Balanchine). Mr. De Luz has appeared as a Guest Artist in numerous dance events as well as with the Ballet Mediterraneo with Fernando Bujones and with American Ballet Stars 1997 Tour of China. In February 1997, Mr. De Luz was awarded the Rising Star prize by Seven Arts Magazine in Philadelphia. Mr. De Luz represented Spain at the Expo '98 in Lisbon, dancing in the gala Stars of Spanish Ballet. Mr. De Luz joined New York City Ballet as a Soloist in 2003, and in January 2005, he was promoted to the rank of Principal Dancer. Since joining NYCB, he has danced featured roles in George Balanchine's Ballo Della Regina, Coppelia (Frantz), George Balanchine's The Nutcracker (Cavalier, Tea, and Candy Cane), Harlequinade (Pierrot, Harlequin), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oberon), Symphony in C (third movement), Tarantella, Theme and Variations, and Valse-Fantaisie; Peter Martins' Jeu de Cartes and The Sleeping Beauty (Bluebird); and Jerome Robbins' Andantino, Dances at a Gathering, Fancy Free, The Four Seasons (Fall), and The Goldberg Variations. Mr. De Luz originated a featured role in Christopher Wheeldon's Shambards.
|  | Robert Fairchild, New York City Ballet
Robert Fairchild was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and began dance training at the age of ten at the Ballet West Conservatory. Mr. Fairchild attended the 2002 and 2003 summer courses at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, and enrolled as a full time student in the fall of 2003. In June 2005, Mr. Fairchild became an apprentice with NYCB, and the following June, he joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet. He was promoted to soloist in May 2007 and in October 2009 was promoted to Principal Dancer. |  | Hilary Guswiler, Royal Danish Ballet
Hilary Guswiler was born in 1990 in Copenhagen, Denmark. She received her training at the Royal Danish Ballet School. Ms. Guswiler joined the Royal Danish Ballet as an apprentice in 2006 and became a member of the corps de ballet in 2008.
|  | Natalia Hills and Gabriel Missé, Buenos Aires
Gabriel Missé is one of the great milongueros (self-taught dancers) of this generation. At the age of eight, in his native Buenos Aires, he began studying with great masters of tango such as Antonio Todaro and Pepito Avellaneda. Mr. Missé toured the world as part of Miguel Angel Zotto’s company Tango x 2. He began dancing with Natalia Hills in Buenos Aires in 2009, when they presented Romper el Piso.
Born in Buenos Aires, Natalia Hills appears as both a dancer and a choreographer in various national and international productions. Ms. Hills was one of the original members of the Broadway and London hit Forever Tango. During her association with the company (1995-2005), she choreographed two classic numbers Gallo Ciego and Derecho Viejo, which have been presented in major cities throughout the world.
|  | Carla Körbes, Pacific Northwest Ballet
Carla Körbes was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and began her ballet training at age five with local teachers. At age eleven, she began studying at Ballet Vera Bublitz. In 1996, Peter Boal danced with her as a guest artist of the school and encouraged her to come to New York to study at the School of American Ballet. For academic year 1997–1998, her tuition was paid by Alexandra Danilova so she could continue studying at the School of American Ballet. In 1999, she was the Mae. L. Wien Award recipient and was made an apprentice with New York City Ballet. She joined the company as a member of the corps de ballet in 2000 and was the Janice Levin Dancer Honoree for 2001–2002. She was promoted to soloist in 2005 and later that year joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as a soloist. Ms. Körbes was promoted to principal dancer in 2006.
In 2002, Ms. Körbes performed Richard Tanner's Ancient Airs and Dances for the nationally televised PBS Live from Lincoln Center broadcast, "New York City Ballet's Diamond Project: Ten Years of New Choreography."
In addition to her performances with New York City Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ms. Körbes has performed with Peter Boal and Company. In 2007, she performed in the worldwide company debut performance of Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company. She has also performed as a guest artist on the Vail International Dance Festival's "International Evenings of Dance" galas.
|  | Misa Kuranaga, Boston Ballet
Misa Kuranaga began her training at the Jinushi Kaoru Ballet School and later continued at the School of American Ballet. Kuranaga has been a member of San Francisco Ballet. Kuranaga joined Boston Ballet in 2003. She was promoted to second soloist in 2005, soloist in 2007 and to principal dancer in 2009.
She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including a gold medal in the Junior Division of the Ninth Moscow International Ballet Competition and the gold medal in the senior division of the 2006 USA International Ballet Competition. Her repertoire includes La Fille mal gardée (Lise); Bournonville’s La Sylphide (the Sylph); Maina Gielgud’s production of Giselle (peasant pas de deux); Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty (Princes Aurora, Songbird Fairy and Princess Florine); Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker (Snow Queen, Sugar Plum Fairy and Clara) and Swan Lake (Black Swan pas de deux, pas de trois, pas de cinq); Nureyev’s Don Quixote (Amour/Cupid); James Kudelka’s Cinderella; Cranko’s The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet; George Balanchine’s Divertimento No. 15, Serenade (the Russian girl), Rubies, Who Cares?, Concerto Barocco and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (lead butterfly); Mark Morris’ Up and Down; Lucinda Childs’ Ten Part Suite; Boyko Dossev’s Crane; and Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room. Kuranaga has performed as a frequent guest artist internationally.
|  | Sarah Lamb, The Royal Ballet
Sarah Lamb is a native of Boston and trained at the Boston Ballet School with Tatiana Nicolaevna Legat from 1994-1998. She was awarded a Presidential Gold Medal, named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts and was invited to perform for then-president Bill Clinton at the Kennedy Centre in D.C. She won three silver medals: the Third International Ballet and Modern Dance Competition in Nagoya, Japan, 1999; the Sixth International Ballet Competition in NYC, 2000; and the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi in 2002.
She joined the Boston Ballet Company in 1998, was promoted to Soloist in 2001 and Principal in 2003. In Boston she performed Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Lise in La Fille mal Gardée, Gamzatti in La Bayadère, Olga in Eugene Onegin, Myrtha and Peasant Pas de deux in Giselle, Queen of the Dryads and Danseuse de Rue in Nureyev’s Don Quixote, The Sugar Plum Fairy, Dew Drop Fairy and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker and Princess Florine and the Pas de trois in The Sleeping Beauty.
She joined The Royal Ballet as a First Soloist and was promoted to Principal in September 2006. She has made her Royal Ballet debut in Frederick Ashton’s Thaïs, as the Winter and Summer Fairy in Cinderella, the centre woman in the Neapolitan dance in Ondine, Lady Mary Lygon in his Enigma Variations, the side and centre couple in Symphonic Variations, Odette/Odile and the Pas de trois in Anthony Dowell’s Swan Lake, the Fourth Movement in Balanchine’s Symphony in C, the Sylph in Johan Kobborg’s production of August Bournonville’s La Sylphide, Lescaut’s Mistress in MacMillan’s Manon, the Pas de deux Girl in Gloria, Marie Larische in Mayerling, the female role as part of the Orange Couple in La Fin du jour, Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun, Christopher Wheeldon’s Polyphonia, Princess Florine and Aurora in the Monica Mason and Christopher Newton’s production of The Sleeping Beauty, the Pas de trois in Glen Tetley’s Voluntaries, the Girl in Alastair Marriott’s Children of Adam, and Olga in John Cranko’s Onegin.
|  | Alban Lendorf, Royal Danish Ballet
Alban Lendorf was born in 1989 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He received his training at the Royal Danish Ballet School. Mr. Lendorf joined the Royal Danish Ballet as an apprentice in 2006 and became a member of the corps de ballet in 2008. |  | Tiler Peck, New York City Ballet
Tiler Peck was born in Bakersfield, California. She began her dance training at the age of seven, studying privately with former Bolshoi Ballet Principal Dancer Alla Khaniashvili in Hollywood. At the age of 11 she began studying at Conjunctive Point in Culver City, California, with former New York City Ballet dancers Colleen and Patricia Neary. During this time she also studied with former NYCB Principal Yvonne Mounsey at Westside School of Ballet in Santa Monica. At the age of 12, Ms. Peck entered the School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet, for most of the 2000-2001 Winter Term. She returned to SAB during the summers of 2002 and 2003, and that fall began as a full time student. In September 2004, Ms. Peck became an apprentice with New York City Ballet. In February 2005 she joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet and was promoted to soloist in December 2006 and in October 2009 was promoted to Principal Dancer.
|  | Jamar Roberts, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Jamar Roberts graduated from the New World School of the Arts. He trained at the Joffrey Ballet School and as a fellowship student at The Ailey School. Mr. Roberts was a member of Ailey II and joined the Company in 2002. |  | Matthew Rushing, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Matthew Rushing began his dance training at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. He received a Spotlight Award and was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. He trained at The Ailey School in New York City and later became a member of Ailey II, where he danced for a year. During his career, Mr. Rushing has performed as a guest artist for galas in France, Russia, Canada and Hungary and performed for former president Bill Clinton’s inaugural presidential celebration. In 2003, he performed at The White House State Dinner in honor of the President of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki. This season, Mr. Rushing choreographed the new ballet Uptown for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He joined the Company in 1992.
|  | Sokvannara Sar
Sokvannara (Sy) Sar was born in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where he studied traditional Khmer dance from the age of ten at the Wat Bo School. He often performed with the school’s troupe at Preah Khan Temple for guests of the World Monuments Fund. In 2000, Anne Bass, an American enthusiast and supporter of ballet, saw him there and was impressed by his talent and invited him to visit the School of American Ballet in New York. Sar studied at the School of American Ballet for five years and ultimately joined Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle when his teacher, Peter Boal, became Artistic Director. Sar was a semifinalist in the International Ballet Competition, Varna, where he performed variations from Giselle, La Sylphide, Coppelia and Le Corsaire. He was also a guest artist at the cross-cultural evening at the Chatomuk Theatre to celebrate the opening of the new United States Embassy complex in Phnom Penh, where he danced variations from Square Dance, Tschaikovsky pas de deux and Le Corsaire. He has originated roles in Benjamin Millepied’s On the Other Side, 28 Variations of a Theme by Paganini and 3 Movements. In July 2008, Sar performed On the Other Side, accompanied by Philip Glass, for the opening night of the Vail International Dance Festival. In addition, he has danced featured roles in George Balanchine’s La Sonnambula, William Forsythe’s One Flat Thing, reproduced, Kent Stowell’s The Nutcracker, Twyla Tharp’s Waterbabies Bagatelle and Marco Goecke's Mopey. |  | Daniil Simkin, American Ballet Theatre
Daniil Simkin was born in Russia to a ballet family. In 1990, the family left for the West and, after several international engagements, settled in Wiesbaden, Germany, where Simkin first appeared on the stage. From the age of six he often appeared onstage, dancing alongside his father Dimitrij Simkin. At ten, Simkin began his training under the direction of his mother, Olga Aleksandrova. At 12, he began participating in ballet competitions and galas around the world and, at the same time, he finished his academic education. He joined the ballet company of the Vienna State Opera in 2006 as a demi-soloist and since then has danced many roles in the classical, neoclassical and contemporary repertoire of the company. In 2007, he danced his first principal role, Basilio in Don Quixote, as a guest with the Lithuanian National Opera. Simkin’s awards include the Senior Gold Medal at the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson 2006, Grand Prix International Ballet Competition Helsinki 2005 and First Prize and Gold Medal at the 21st International Ballet Competition in Varna 2004, among others. Simkin joined American Ballet Theatre as a Soloist in October 2008. His repertoire with the Company includes a featured role in Company B, Lankendem in Le Corsaire, the Flames of Paris pas de deux, the peasant pas de deux in Giselle, the Son in Prodigal Son, Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, the pas de trois in Swan Lake, Gurn in La Sylphide, Eros and a Goat in Sylvia and leading roles in Allegro Brillante and One of Three. He created a role in Everything Doesn't Happen at Once.
|  | Eric Underwood, The Royal Ballet
Born in Washington, D.C., he trained locally under the direction of Barbara Marks, then at the School of American Ballet, New York, where he was awarded the Philip Morris Foundation Scholarship. He joined the Dance Theatre of Harlem in 2000, promoted to Soloist, 2001, and then joined ABT in 2003. His repertory included leading roles in The Four Temperaments, Agon, Forsythe’s Work within Work, Tharp’s In the Upper Room, Swan Lake (Von Rothbart) and roles in Cinderella (Officer), Manon (Gentleman) and Sylvia (Apollo). He joined The Royal Ballet in 2006. He has since danced Mrs Pettitoes and the Consort to the Queen of Fire (Homage to The Queen), among others, and created roles in Chroma, DGV: danse à grande vitesse, Seven Deadly Sins and Wheeldon’s recent Electric Counterpoint.
|  | Wendy Whelan, New York City Ballet
Wendy Whelan was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, where at the age of three she began taking dance classes with Virginia Wooton, a local teacher. At age eight she performed as a mouse with the Louisville Ballet in its annual production of The Nutcracker. Joining the Louisville Ballet Academy that year, she began intense professional ballet training. In 1981 she received a scholarship to the summer course at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, and a year later, became a full-time student there. In 1984, Ms. Whelan danced as an apprentice with New York City Ballet. Ms. Whelan became a member of New York City Ballet's corps de ballet in January 1986. She was promoted to the rank of soloist during the 1989 spring season and to the rank of principal dancer in the 1991 spring season.
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