Noelani Pantastico (born May 4, 1980) is an American

ballet dancer A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

. She was formerly a principal dancer with

Pacific Northwest Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is a ballet company based in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States, with 11,000 subscribers in 2004. The company consists of 49 dan ...

in Seattle and also danced at the

Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo (The Monte Carlo Ballet) is a classical ballet company established in 1985 by the Princess of Hanover in accordance with the wishes of her mother, Princess Grace of Monaco. It is the official national company of the ...

in Monaco.

Early life

Pantastico was born in

Oahu, Hawaii Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O’ ...

, to a Hawaiian-Filipino father and an Australian mother, and is one of six children. In her early life, her family moved around in the country. She started training at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet at the age of 11. She also attended

's summer intensives for three years

Career

In 1997, Pantastico joined the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

as an apprentice, and became a member of the corps de ballet a year later. She was named soloist in 2001 and, a year after dancing Aurora in ''Sleeping Beauty'', a principal in 2004. In 2008, she left PNB and joined

Jean-Christophe Maillot Jean-Christophe Maillot (born 1960) is a French dancer and choreographer born in Tours. Early life and education He studied at the dance conservatory in Tours before enrolling at the École supérieure de danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower, ...

in Monaco as a soloist, having previously danced Maillot's '' Roméo et Juliette'' at PNB. She was named first soloist a year later. In 2015, she returned to PNB, again as a principal dancer. During her time in PNB, she has danced in ''

Jewels A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...

'', ''

Cendrillon ''Cendrillon'' (''Cinderella'') is an opera—described as a "fairy tale"—in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Caïn based on Perrault's 1698 version of the Cinderella fairy tale. It had its premiere performance on 24 ...

'', ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...

'', ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, ...

'', Crystal Pite’s ''Plot Point'' and Penny Saunders’s ''ALICE''. She was also featured in the 1999 filmed version of PNB's ''

A Midsummer Night’s Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

''. In 2017, Pantastico choreographed ''Picnic'' for Sculptured Dance. Outside of PNB, in 2004, she made a guest appearance at the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...

, dancing the second movement of Balanchine's ''

Brahms–Schoenberg Quartet ''Brahms–Schoenberg Quartet'' is a one-act ballet by George Balanchine, to Johannes Brahms's Piano Quartet No. 1, orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg. The ballet premiered on April 21, 1966 at the New York State Theater, performed by the New ...

'' at NYCB's Balanchine Centennial. She also founded Seattle Dance Collective with fellow PNB principal dancer James Moore. In January 2022, Pantastico announced her retirement and future teaching position at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.

Selected repertoire

Awards

*1996 Regional Dance America/Northeast Scholarship winner *1997 Regional Dance America/Northeast Scholarship winner

References

External links

Noelani Pantastico official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pantastico, Noelani 1980 births American ballerinas Living people People from Oahu Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancers Dancers from Hawaii Prima ballerinas 21st-century American ballet dancers American expatriates in Monaco American people of Australian descent American people of Native Hawaiian descent American dancers of Asian descent American people of Filipino descent 21st-century American women