Ballet Romand is a dance company located in Vevey, Switzerland. It was founded in 2005 as a non-profit association. The company was founded by American born dancer, Kim White. [1]
Ballet Romand founder, Kim White began her dance studies at an early age under her mother, Nan Klinger. She continued her studies at the School of American Ballet, home of the New York City Ballet. She holds a diploma from the National Academy of Arts. She was the first representative of the United States to compete in the Prix de Lausanne. Her professional career as a principal dancer expanded across America. She started teaching in 1979 while dancing professionally and has taught in renowned schools in New York such as Steps, Broadway Dance Center and the National Dance Institute where she continues to give summer instruction. In 1989, Kim founded the Los Angeles Youth Ballet. She continues to work with youth companies in America and England. In 2004, Kim was a recipient of a Swiss Award, the Prix de L’Eveil, recognizing her commitment and work with young people in dance. [2]
Maurice Béjart was a French-born dancer, choreographer and opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, talking vast themes. He was awarded Swiss citizenship posthumously.
Gelsey Kirkland is an American ballerina. Kirkland joined the New York City Ballet in 1968 at age 15, at the invitation of George Balanchine. She was promoted to soloist in 1969, and principal in 1972. She went on to create leading roles in many of the great twentieth century ballets by Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Antony Tudor, including Balanchine's revival of The Firebird, Robbins' Goldberg Variations, and Tudor's The Leaves are Fading. Balanchine re-choreographed his version of Stravinsky's The Firebird specifically for her. She left the New York City Ballet to join the American Ballet Theatre in 1974.
Suzanne Farrell is an American ballerina and the founder of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Sylvie Guillem is a French ballet dancer. Guillem was the top-ranking female dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet from 1984 to 1989, before becoming a principal guest artist with the Royal Ballet in London. She has performed contemporary dance as an Associate Artist of London's Sadler's Wells Theatre. Her most notable performances have included those in Giselle and in Rudolf Nureyev's stagings of Swan Lake and Don Quixote. In November 2014, she announced her retirement from the stage in 2015.
Natalia Romanovna Makarova is a Soviet-Russian-born prima ballerina and choreographer. The History of Dance, published in 1981, notes that "her performances set standards of artistry and aristocracy of dance which mark her as the finest ballerina of her generation in the West."
Polina Alexandrovna Semionova is a Russian ballet dancer and model for Uniqlo who is currently a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre in New York and with the Berlin State Ballet. She is a professor at the Berlin State Ballet School.
The Prix de Lausanne is an international dance competition held annually in Lausanne, Switzerland. The competition is for young dancers seeking to pursue a professional career in classical ballet, and many former prize winners of the competition are now leading stars with major ballet companies around the world. The competition is managed by a non-profit foundation organised by the Fondation en faveur de l'Art chorégraphique and is maintained by various sponsors, patrons and donors.
Maina Gielgud is a former British ballet dancer and a veteran ballet administrator. She was artistic director of the Australian Ballet from 1983 to 1996. She had a twenty-year career as a dancer in Europe and the United Kingdom. Gielgud directed the Royal Danish Ballet between 1997 and 1999. Until 2005, she held the artistic associate position at the Houston Ballet. She is a daughter of Lewis Gielgud and actress Zita Gordon and niece of actor John Gielgud.
Alexandra Noel Ansanelli is a retired American ballet dancer.
Kiril Jacob Kulish is an American actor, dancer, and singer who is best known for portraying the title role in the original American production of Billy Elliot the Musical.
Hee Seo is a South Korean ballet dancer who is a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. She became the company's first Korean ballerina to be promoted to principal dancer in ABT's 75-year history. She is also one of the youngest dancers in ABT history to be promoted to principal at the age of twenty-six. The New York Times has described her style and dancing to "exude an unhurried purity that sums up all that is lovely about ballet" and by Vogue as "unspeakably lissome". Several critics have noted her style as "lyrical and open" and she has been critically acclaimed for her "humility" and "unique feminine strength".
Didy Veldman is a Dutch choreographer. She trained at the Scapino Academy in Amsterdam. She has danced with Scapino Ballet, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève and Rambert Dance Company, working with international choreographers such as Jiri Kylian, Mats Ek, Ohad Naharin and Christopher Bruce, among others.
Drew Jacoby is an American contemporary ballet dancer. As of 2020, she is a principal dancer of Royal Ballet of Flanders.
Luciana Savignano is an Italian ballet dancer.
Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) is the world's largest non-profit international student ballet competition and scholarship program, open to dance students of all nationalities, 9–19 years old. YAGP annually conducts regional auditions in the United States and around the world, with the Final Round of the competition held in New York City every April.
Manola Asensio is a former Swiss ballet dancer. She was born to a Swiss father and an English-born mother. In 1956 she began studying at the ballet school of La Scala in Milan, where she stayed until she became a professional in 1964. After a short season with the La Scala Theatre Ballet, she joined the ballet of the Grand Théâtre de Genève in Geneva, Switzerland where she was directed by Janine Charrat.
Dusty Button is an American ballet dancer. She was born in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. At age sixteen she moved to New York to train at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at the American Ballet Theatre. After that, she was invited to the ABT II company where she performed major roles. In 2006 she was awarded the Bronze Finalist Medal at the Youth America Grand Prix. She later joined the Royal Ballet School, in 2008 where she also performed professional roles at the Royal Opera House. She joined the Boston Ballet corps de ballet in 2012, was promoted to soloist in 2013 and principal in 2014.
Aesha Ash is an American ballet dancer and teacher. She had danced at the New York City Ballet, where she was the only African American woman at the time, then at the Béjart Ballet and Alonzo King LINES Ballet. Following her retirement in 2008, she founded The Swan Dreams Project in 2011, and became the first African American female faculty member at the School of American Ballet in 2020.
Lucinda Dunn is an Australian retired ballerina and current principle teacher at the Tanya Pearson Academy.
Larissa Saveliev is a former Bolshoi Ballet dancer and the Founder and Artistic Director of YAGP, – the world's largest student ballet scholarship competition. She is also a producer of various performing arts events in the U.S. and around the world.