Ray Barra | |
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Born | San Francisco, US | January 3, 1930
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Years active | 1949– |
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Ray Barra (born January 3, 1930) is an American former ballet dancer, a ballet master and ballet director. He was a soloist with the American Ballet Theatre and a principal dancer of the Stuttgart Ballet, where he created parts in creations by John Cranko, including Romeo in Romeo and Juliet with Marcia Haydée as Julia. After retiring from the stage due to an injury, he worked as a ballet master with the Berlin State Ballet, the ballet of the Frankfurt Opera, the Hamburg Ballet and the Spanish National Dance Company.
Born Raymond Martin Barallobre Ramirez [1] in San Francisco on January 3, 1930, [2] and studied ballet at the School of Ballet in San Francisco and at the American Ballet Theatre School. In 1949 he became a member of the San Francisco Opera Ballet. From 1953 to 1959 he danced with American Ballet Theatre, already as a soloist. [1] He was a principal dancer of the Stuttgart Ballet from 1959, where he performed classical parts such as the Prince in Swan Lake . [1] [2] He created roles in ballets by John Cranko, the title role in Romeo and Juliet with Marcia Haydée as Julia (1962), [3] the Prince in Firebird (1964), and the title role in Onegin (1965). He created major roles in ballets by Kenneth MacMillan, Pepe in Las Hermanas . [4] (1963) and Song of the Earth (1965). [2]
In 1966 Barra retired from the stage due to an injury. He worked as ballet master, from 1966 with the ballet of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, [1] from 1970 with the ballet of the Frankfurt Opera, and from 1973 with the Hamburg Ballet of John Neumeier. [1] In the late 1980s he was associate director and guest choreographer of the Ballet Nacional de España Clásico in Madrid.
Barra choreographed for the Ballet del Teatro Lírico Nacional La espera, also known as Antes del albor, on Miguel Ángel Roig-Francolí's Cinco piezas para orquesta (Five pieces for orchestra), first performed on 13 September 1987 at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid. [5] He choreographed for the Washington Ballet Dumky Variations, on Dvorak's Piano Trio in E minor, Op. 90, played live. [6] It was first performed on 13 February 1991. [7]
Barra was ballet director in Berlin from 1994 to 1996. He has directed classical ballets for the Bavarian State Ballet, Don Quijote (1991), Swan Lake (1995) and Raymonda (2001). [1]
Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64, is a ballet by Sergei Prokofiev based on William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. First composed in 1935, it was substantially revised for its Soviet premiere in early 1940. Prokofiev made from the ballet three orchestral suites and a suite for solo piano.
John Cyril Cranko was a South African ballet dancer and choreographer with the Royal Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet.
Natalia Romanovna Makarova is a Russian 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."
Stuttgart Ballet is a leading German ballet company. Dating back to 1609, then the court ballet of the dukes of Württemberg, the modern company was founded by John Cranko and is known for full-length narrative ballets. The company received the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance in 1981.
Roberto Bolle is an Italian danseur. He is currently a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre and a principal dancer étoile at La Scala Theatre Ballet. Bolle also dances regularly as a guest artist with the world’s leading companies, including The Royal Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet.
The Hamburg Ballet is a ballet company based in Hamburg, Germany. Since 1973, it has been directed by the American dancer and choreographer John Neumeier. In addition there is a ballet school, School of the Hamburg Ballet, established in 1978. The performances of the Hamburg Ballet are usually held at the Hamburg State Opera, while the training and education facility is the "Ballettzentrum Hamburg – John Neumeier".
Georgina Parkinson was an English ballet dancer and ballet mistress. She joined The Royal Ballet in 1957 and was promoted to principal dancer in 1962. Best known for dancing 20th-century works, she was a frequent collaborator of choreographer Kenneth MacMillan, and had also created roles for Frederick Ashton. In 1978, she accepted the invitation to become a ballet mistress at the American Ballet Theatre for a year, before assuming the position permanently in 1980. She also performed character roles with the American Ballet Theatre.
Renato Zanella is an Italian-born ballet dancer, choreographer and director. He studied classical ballet for several years before becoming a choreographer for various professional companies. Due to his success, he has won many awards and honorary titles within the ballet community.
Marcia Haydée Salaverry Pereira da Silva is a Brazilian ballet dancer, choreographer and ballet director. She was prima ballerina of the Stuttgart Ballet under John Cranko and succeeded him as the company's director, serving from 1976 to 1995. She has been director of the Santiago Ballet since 1992.
Ivan Cavallari is a dancer and choreographer and artistic director. He is currently at the head of the artistic direction of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal.
Las Hermanas is a one-act ballet created by Kenneth MacMillan in 1963 for the Stuttgart Ballet. The music is Frank Martin's Harpsichord Concerto (1952). The piece is loosely based on The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico García Lorca.
Egon Madsen is a Danish ballet dancer, teacher, ballet master and company director. In 1961, he joined the Stuttgart Ballet, where John Cranko had become the director. Madsen was hired as a soloist but was soon promoted to principal dancer, and created numerous roles for Cranko. He retired from Stuttgart in 1981.
Stephen Jefferies is a retired ballet dancer, artistic director and choreographer. He was a senior principal dancer for The Royal Ballet and The National Ballet of Canada.
Onegin is a ballet created by John Cranko for the Stuttgart Ballet, premiered on 13 April 1965 at Staatstheater Stuttgart. The ballet was based on Alexander Pushkin's 1825-1832 novel Eugene Onegin, to music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and arrangements by Kurt-Heinz Stolze. The ballet had since been in the repertoires of The Australian Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, American Ballet Theatre and The Royal Ballet.
Gina Tse is an English ballerina of British-Chinese descent, and first soloist of the Royal Swedish Ballet. Beginning in the 2012–2013 season, she was elevated to the principal dancer of the company.
Vladimir Yaroshenko – Polish-Russian ballet dancer in type danseur noble, first soloist with Yury Grigorovich's Ballet Theatre, Krasnodar, trained in classical Russian ballet school. Polish resident since 2007, engaged with Teatr Wielki, Warsaw, where since September 2010 is a first soloist, and since January 2020 - a principal dancer of Polish National Ballet under direction of Krzysztof Pastor.
David Motta Soares is a Brazilian classical ballet dancer. He was a leading soloist with the Bolshoi Ballet. In May 2022 David became a Principal Dancer with the Berlin State Ballet.
Anne Woolliams was an English artistic director, ballet choreographer, dancer and teacher. She began studying dance at age five, performing with the Russian Opera and Ballet, the Ballet de la Jeunesse Anglaise and the St. James' Ballet and danced in the film The Red Shoes and stage musicals. Woolliams taught at Folkwang School, was appointed ballet mistress of Stuttgart Ballet, founded the John Cranko School with the director John Cranko, was the third artistic director of The Australian Ballet, was dean of dance at Victoria College of Arts, Melbourne and was artistic director of the Vienna State Ballet.
Initials R.B.M.E. is a ballet choreographed by John Cranko to Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2. The ballet is plotless, and features four movements, each with a lead dancer. The ballet was created for the Stuttgart Ballet, and the title was named after the dancers that originated the four lead roles, Richard Cragun, Birgit Keil, Marcia Haydée and Egon Madsen. Initials R.B.M.E. premiered on 18 January 1972, at the Staatsoper Stuttgart. It was one of Cranko's most successful ballets, and one of his final works before his sudden death in 1973.
Daniel Camargo is a Brazilian ballet dancer. He joined the Stuttgart Ballet in 2009, and was promoted to principal dancer in 2013. In 2016, he left to join the Dutch National Ballet, before leaving in 2019 to pursue a freelance career. In 2022, he joined the American Ballet Theatre.