Cast shake up at English National Ballet

The English National Ballet has announced the introduction of new soloists for the 2011/2012 season.
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The English National Ballet has announced the introduction of new soloists for the 2011/2012 season.

Vadim Muntagirov has been promoted from First Soloist to Principal dancer. Russian dancer Vadim dancer joined the Company in 2009 and, despite his youth and inexperience, he has been dancing Principal roles on press nights, notably as Prince Siegfried at the Royal Albert Hall in 2010. He also danced his first Romeo on tour and opened both ‘The Nutcracker’ and ‘Romeo & Juliet’ at the London Coliseum. Muntagirov has formed a strong dance partnership with Senior Principal Daria Klimentová, which is set to continue in the Autumn tour of ‘Strictly Gershwin’. Vadim also featured in ‘Dance Dance Dance’, Sky Art’s 3D Dance film, and in the BBC Documentary ‘Agony & Ecstasy, a Year at English National Ballet’.

On his performance in ‘Swan Lake’, The Financial Times commented that “Throughout the ballet [Muntagirov] performs from the heart of the character and dances with a sensibility and a power that touch the heart.”

Other promotions within the company include Yonah Acosta, Junor Souza, Max Westwell and James Streeter all joining the rank of Junior Soloist.

Max and Junor both debuted as Romeo in the 2010/2011 season of Nureyev’s ‘Romeo & Juliet’, which was captured by the BBC’s cameras for ‘Agony & Ecstasy’. Junor’s debut was with Principal dancer Begoña Cao at the London Coliseum.

Former Speed skater James has danced many solo roles since joining English National Ballet in 2004, including Tybalt in ‘Romeo & Juliet’ and Lescaut in ‘Manon’. James Streeter and Max Westwell were both nominated for the 2011 Emerging Dancer Award.

Yonah joined English National Ballet in January 2011 as a First Artist and has already danced major roles in ‘Suite en Blanc’, ‘Men Y Men’, and ‘Strictly Gershwin’. He can be seen at the Coliseum this week, in ‘Le Jeune Homme et la Mort’, dancing with Anaïs Chalendard.

New additions to the company include Zdenek Konvalina, who joins as Senior Principal with Bridgett Zehr as Principal dancer, both having moved from the National Ballet of Canada. Twin brothers Vitor Menezes and Guilherme Menezes, slong with Ken Saruhashi have joined the company as Artists from English National Ballet School.

All the new dancers will be seen in ‘Strictly Gershwin’ on National Tour previewing from 6 October in Oxford, and opening at the Manchester Palace Theatre on 12 October.

For information on the 2011/2012 English National Ballet program visit http://www.ballet.org.uk/.

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