English National Ballet announces promotions and new joiners for the 2018/2019 season

Tamara Rojo has announced promotions within English National Ballet and new joiners for the 2018/2019 season.

Joiners and promotions

Joining the Company will be Jeffrey Cirio who joins English National Ballet as Lead Principal following his recent guest performances in Song of the Earth, La Sylphide, Romeo & Juliet, Nutcracker and Akram Khan's Giselle. Cirio is currently Principal at American Ballet Theatre.

Cirio says that his decision to leave ABT wasn't an easy one, but his reasons are admirable. The 27-year-old American dancer says,

I have been honored to dance for the last three years at ABT. I am so grateful for the opportunities which I have been given here by Kevin Mckenzie. However, after being at ENB last fall as a guest artist and working with Tamara Rojo, I realized that she has a lot of the same vision about ballet that I have. While respecting the classics, she is excited about moving ballet forward. I feel that in moving to London I will get the opportunity to dance more roles and to work with some of the choreographers with whom I have always wanted to work.

Coming originally from Boston Ballet, I was accustomed to doing a very diverse rep. After working with Wayne McGregor again here at ABT, I realized how much I missed that.

A dancer's career is very short and it is imperative that we seek out the opportunities and accept them when they come our way. I will miss my colleagues and friends here at ABT. I love them all very much. This is an amazing group of dancers and artists. I am so thankful to the staff for all that they have given me. Again, I'm honored to have worked here. I am very excited about what the future holds in Europe.

From The National Ballet of Canada, Francesco Gabriele Frola and Emma Hawes join the Company as Principal and First Soloist respectively, while both remaining as members of The National Ballet of Canada (as announced by Karen Kain yesterday).

Promotions within the company see James Streeter promoted to First Soloist; Rina Kanehara promoted to Soloist; Henry Dowden, Sarah Kundi, and Jia Zhang promoted to First Artist; and Fernando Carratalá Coloma promoted to 4th Year Artist of the Company.

In addition, ENB welcomes three Prix de Lausanne prize winners as Artists of the Company this year: Shale Wagman from Princess Grace Academy, Miguel Angel Maidana from Brussels International Ballet School, and Carolyne Galval from Itego in Artes Basileu Franca.

Joining as Artists of the Company from English National Ballet School are Breanna Foad, Josue Moreno Lagarda, Rentaro Nakaaki, and Maria Del Mar Bonet Sans.

Also joining as Artists of the Company are Rebecca Blenkinsopp from the Royal Ballet School, and Ivana Bueno from Academy Princess Grace.

Leavers

Following her sabbatical last season Laurretta Summerscales leaves English National Ballet, remaining Principal at Bayerisches Staatsballett.

Junior Soloist Guilherme Menezes leaves to join Royal Danish Ballet following his twin brother, Vitor Menezes, who joined last year.

Artist of the Company, Laurent Liotardo, retires at the end of the current season after 15 years with the Company. Laurent will continue to work at English National Ballet as the Company's Staff Photographer and Filmmaker, and will train as a Pilates teacher.

As previously announced Principal Cesar Corrales leaves to join The Royal Ballet.

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.