BREAKING BALLET NEWS
Sergei Polunin is promoted to Principal
Johannes Stepanek to First Soloist
Melissa Hamilton to Soloist
Claire Calvert, Akane Takada, Fernando Montano and Erico Montes to First Artists
Nehemiah Kish joins as Principal from the Royal Danish Ballet
Itziar Mendizabal joins from the Leipzig Ballet as First Soloist
Graduates from The Royal Ballet School join the company as Artists and are :
Yasmine Naghdi
Sander Blommaert
James Butcher
Valentino Zucchetti joins from the Norwegian Ballet
Camille Bracher joins from Johannesburg as Artist
Beatrix Stix-Brunell from the School of American Ballet as Artist
Miyako Yoshida retires at the end of the season
Also leaving/left are :
Viacheslav Samodurov
Yohei Sasaki
Gemma Sykes
Cindy Jourdain
Ernst Meisner
Richard Ramsey
Xander Parish
June 10, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Good luck to all those leaving. I'd like to hear what they do after their retirement. That's the scariest thing for me.
June 10, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Thanks for sharing this info with all of us across the pond!!
June 10, 2010 at 8:07 pm
This sort of news is most interesting to know. And yes, retirement must be scary – good luck to them.
June 10, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Dancing Branflake – agree it can be a worry but for most dancers, they know that at best, they have a short career and are encouraged to add other strings to their bow. Miyako retired after 25 years with the company which really is unusual. I believe that she wants to spend time with her family in Japan, just as Darcey Bussell is doing in Australia. There are so many options for dancers if they want to stay in the profession too – photography, teaching etc. I think all it takes is some advance planning. Anne – thank you. Hope to have other compsny news for you as their seasons draw to a close.
June 10, 2010 at 8:26 pm
Anon – thank you. Good to hear that a student from your side us coming over here ! The ballet world is a small one !!