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Ballet Stars

#TBT: Tamara Rojo and Carlos Acosta in "Romeo and Juliet" (2007)

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Carlos Acosta and Tamara Rojo both took The Royal Ballet by storm when they arrived at the company in 1998 and 2000, respectively. Virtuosic, enigmatic performers, the two forged a storied partnership over the course of their next decade together at The Royal. Now they've both gone on to lead the next generation of ballet dancers in England: Rojo has been the artistic director of English National Ballet since 2012, and Acosta will take the helm of Birmingham Royal Ballet in January. With this 2007 clip of their balcony scene from Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet, it's easy to see why they are already the stuff of ballet legend.

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News

Onstage This Week: NYC's Fall For Dance Festival Opens, Royal Winnipeg Ballet Celebrates 80th Season with New "La Bayadère," and More!

Yi Yin, Courtesy Oregon Ballet Theatre

Wonder what's going on in ballet this week? We've rounded up some highlights.

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Ballet Stars

Precious Adams' Journey from Student of the World to Captivating English National Ballet First Artist

Kristie Kahns. Hair and makeup by Kristina Feyerherm.

This is Pointe's Fall 2019 cover story. You can subscribe to the magazine here, or click here to purchase this issue.


Precious Adams is sitting in a deck chair in the sunshine of London's Olympic Park. She's on a break from rehearsing Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella with English National Ballet, where she's been polishing up her comic timing for the role of Sister Edwina (they're not "ugly" sisters in this production). "Working with Christopher Wheeldon is a massive tick on my bucket list," smiles the 24-year-old as she tucks into her lunch.

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Viral Videos

#TBT: Leanne Benjamin in “Swan Lake” (1988)

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Natalia Makarova's version of Swan Lake, staged in the 1980s for London Festival Ballet (now the English National Ballet), incorporates a pas de quatre choreographed by Sir Fredrick Ashton into the ballet's opening act. Leanne Benjamin, then just 24 and a principal with the company, dances among the couples in this clip from a 1988 film of the ballet. The burgeoning ballerina shines in her minute-long solo, tackling intricate footwork with intelligence and spirit that foreshadow her formidable, two-decade career as a principal of The Royal Ballet.

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News

Meet the 2019 English National Ballet Emerging Dancer Award Finalists

The six Emerging Dancer Award finalists. Laurent Liotardo, post production by Nik Pate, Courtesy ENB.

For the past 10 years, English National Ballet's annual Emerging Dancer Awards have offered a unique opportunity for lower-ranking company members to step into the spotlight. This year's competition, held on May 7 at London's historic Sadler's Wells Theatre, features six finalists selected by their peers. If a quick trip to London's not in the cards, don't fear; ENB will live-stream the awards on their Facebook and YouTube pages starting at 7:25 pm BST (2:25 pm EST).

The young dancers will take the stage before a panel of expert judges in classical pas de deux and contemporary solos, in which they've been coached by their ENB colleagues. The program also includes an appearance from last year's winner, Daniel McCormick, who will dance a pas de deux from Don Quixote with ENB dancer (and 2017 Pointe Star of the Corps) Francesca Velicu. Get to know the six finalists below.


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News

English National Ballet's Tamara Rojo on Bringing Akram Khan's "Giselle" to Chicago: "We Would Love the Whole World to See It."

English National Ballet in Akram Khan's "Giselle." Laurent Liotardo, Courtesy ENB.

This week (Feb 28-Mar. 2), English National Ballet brings Akram Khan's widely acclaimed Giselle to Chicago's Harris Theater, the company's first U.S. appearance in 30 years. Commissioned by ENB artistic director Tamara Rojo, Khan, whose work combines contemporary dance and Indian kathak, takes a revisionist approach to the classic story, replacing peasants and aristocrats with migrant factory workers and wealthy landlords. The ballet's look and sound have also been reinterpreted, with music by Vincenzo Lamagna (adapted from Adolphe Adam's original score), sets and costumes by Academy Award-winner Tim Yip and lighting design by Tony-award winner Mark Henderson.

Pointe spoke with Rojo to learn more about why she wanted to modernize one of ballet's best-loved classics—and why the risk was worth it.

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Ballet Stars

Jeffrey Cirio on Joining English National Ballet, Plus His Advice for Dancers Contemplating a Career Abroad

Cirio in English National Ballet's "Manon." Photo by Laurent Liotardo, courtesy English National Ballet.

Jeffrey Cirio's meteoric rise is what dreams are made of. A Pennsylvania native, he joined Boston Ballet in 2009 and quickly rose up the ranks to principal dancer by 2012. While he felt Boston was "home," he left to join American Ballet Theatre as a soloist in 2015, where he was promoted to principal after only one year. Now, after a four-month stint as a guest artist with English National Ballet last season, this all-American boy has joined the company as a full-time lead principal. It's hard to believe he's only 27.

Just a day after his performance as Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake with Alina Cojocaru last month, Cirio sat down with Pointe to give an update on his new life living and working in London.

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Trending

Missed World Ballet Day 2018? Catch Up Now!

San Francisco Ballet in class during World Ballet Day 2016. Photo Courtesy SFB.

Here at Pointe, every day feels like World Ballet Day, though the official 2018 event took place on Tuesday. While WBD is a thrill for any bunhead, it can also be overwhelming. How are you supposed to sit in front of your computer all day when you have class and rehearsal and work and a life? We get it, and we're here to help.

To give you a chance to catch up, we've rounded up WBD videos from 26 companies. So grab some popcorn, a backlog of pointe shoes to sew, and settle in. If you start watching now, you might just be done in time for WBD 2019.

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News

These 6 Major Companies Have Promoted a Slew of Dancers

New San Francisco Ballet principal Wei Wang in Helgi Tomasson's Concerto Grosso. Photo by Erik Tomasson, Courtesy SFB.

Promotions season is well underway. Earlier this spring we covered exciting changes at Boston Ballet and Pennsylvania Ballet; now we're back with news from six more companies—English National Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Miami City Ballet, Ballet West and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. (Stay tuned throughout the summer as additional companies release their updated rosters.) Here's who's doing a happy dance.

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News

English National Ballet Names Daniel McCormick As Its Emerging Dancer Award Winner

ENB dancer Daniel McCormick, winner of the 2018 Emerging Dancer Award. Photo by Laurent Liotardo, Courtesy ENB.

English National Ballet's Emerging Dancer Award has become a highly anticipated annual event, especially since the company started live-streaming the performance around the world. The competition, which is between six up-and-coming dancers from ENB's junior ranks, is often a good predictor of bigger things to come—past winners include ENB principal Shiori Kasi and first soloist Junor Souza, as well as exiting principal Cesar Corrales, who will join Royal Ballet as a first soloist next season.

This year's competition took place Monday. Finalists Precious Adams, Fernando Carratalá Coloma, Giorgio Garrett, Daniel McCormick, Francesca Velicu and Connie Vowles performed their hearts out for a live audience at the London Colosseum, each dancing a classical pas de deux and variation, as well as a contemporary solo. (Read more about the finalists here).


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News

Onstage This Week: ABT's New "Harlequinade," Houston Ballet Celebrates Their Resilience Post-Hurricane, And More

Costume sketches for Alexei Ratmansky's new "Harlquinade" for ABT. Courtesy ABT.

Wonder what's going on in ballet this week? We've pulled together some highlights.


ABT's New Harlequinade is Finally Here

The long wait for Alexei Ratmansky's Harlequinade for American Ballet Theatre is finally over. June 4-9, catch ABT at the Metropolitan Opera House in this bold and colorful tribute to the Italian commedia dell'arte traditions, based on the archival notes of Marius Petipa. If this trailer by Ezra Hurwitz is any indication, this new story ballet is sure to delight (fingers crossed that those dogs make their way to the stage).

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Ballet Stars

Michaela DePrince on Tapping into Her Painful Past to Take on the Character of Myrtha in "Giselle"

DePrince soars in English National Ballet's "Giselle." Photo by Laurent Liotardo, Courtesy ENB.

As told to Amy Brandt.

Myrtha is a role I've always loved to watch, but when Tamara Rojo asked me to dance it for English National Ballet's Giselle last year as a guest artist, I thought she was crazy. The role is usually for a tall, strong dancer. I'm strong, but I'm also very petite. I thought people might criticize me for that. I also wore brown tights onstage, since I'm a brown dancer, and I was nervous people wouldn't understand that—but I got great comments on it.

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Winter 2020
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