Skylar Campbell and Francesco Gabriele Frola Promoted to Principal Dancer at The National Ballet of Canada
Six Promotions in 2018/19 Season
Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, yesterday announced six promotions for the 2018/19 season: Skylar Campbell and Francesco Gabriele Frola to Principal Dancer, Jack Bertinshaw to First Soloist, Christopher Gerty, Spencer Hack and Miyoko Koyasu to Second Soloist.
Quick Facts
Born: Laguna Beach, California
Trained: With Victor and Tatiana Kasatsky in Orange County, California
Joined: 2009
Principal Dancer since: 2018
Skylar Campbell recently danced in the world premiere of Frame by Frame by Robert Lepage and Guillaume Côté. He created the title role in the world premiere of Pinocchio by Will Tuckett last season and has also danced the title roles in Le Petit Prince and Nijinsky. The Toronto Star wrote that he “offers a different dramatic perspective. His is a Nijinsky of childlike innocence, conveyed in dancing of unaffected, almost angelic purity. He simply breaks your heart.”
His repertoire includes Peter/The Nutcracker in The Nutcracker, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Hilarion in Giselle, Gurn in La Sylphide, White Rabbit in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Florizel in The Winter’s Tale, Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty and Alan in A Streetcar Named Desire. A California native, Campbell trained with Victor and Tatiana Kasatsky in Orange County before he joined The National Ballet of Canada as a RBC Apprentice in 2009. He was awarded the Bronze Medal in the Pas de Deux category at the 2009 Youth American Grand Prix and was a finalist at the 2009 Prix de Lausanne.
Quick Facts
Born: Aosta, Italy
Trained: Professione Danza Parma in Italy, The School of The Hamburg Ballet in Germany and Fomento Artistico Cordobés in Mexico
Joined: 2010
Principal Dancer with English National Ballet: 2018
Principal Dancer since: 2018
Francesco Gabriele Frola’s roles include the title role in Nijinsky, Albrecht in Giselle, Peter/The Nutcracker in The Nutcracker and Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Beauty. Of his portrayal of Florimund, DanceTabs.com hailed him as “a prodigious talent… demonstrating a flair for fluid phrasing and high jumps. His solos felt like a firework of youthful exuberance.” His other roles include Lensky in Onegin, Florizel in The Winter’s Tale, James in La Sylphide, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet and Lescaut in Manon.
Born in Italy, Frola joined the company as a RBC Apprentice in 2010 after training at Professione Danza Parma in Italy, The School of the Hamburg Ballet in Germany and Fomento Artistico Cordobés in Mexico. His awards include the Silver Medal at the Helsinki International Ballet Competition in 2012, Bronze Medal in the 2010 International Ballet Competition in Cuba, semi-finalist at 2008 Prix de Lausanne and the prize for Best Male at the Grand Prix Pavlova in 2006 and 2003.
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
