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 American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...

and a principal dancer of the

Stuttgart Ballet 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 L ...

, where he created parts in creations by

John Cranko John Cyril Cranko (15 August 1927 – 26 June 1973) was a South African ballet dancer and choreographer with the Royal Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet. Life and career Early life Cranko was born in Rustenburg in the former province of Tran ...

, including Romeo in ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' with

Marcia Haydée Marcia Haydée Salaverry Pereira da Silva (born 18 April 1937) 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, serv ...

as Julia. After retiring from the stage due to an injury, he worked as a ballet master with the

Berlin State Ballet The Berlin State Ballet (german: Staatsballett Berlin, links=no, italic=no) is the principal ballet company in the German capital of Berlin. It was created in 2004 through a merger of the separate ballet companies of the city's three opera houses ...

, the ballet of the

Frankfurt Opera The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Shrek's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, '' Fennimore und Gerda'' by Frede ...

, the

Hamburg 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, , established in 1978. The performances of the Hamb ...

and the

Spanish National Dance Company The Spanish National Dance Company ( es, Compañía Nacional de Danza, CND) was founded in 1979 under the name ''Ballet Nacional de España Clásico''. Its first director was dancer Victor Ullate, followed by Maria de Avila, Ray Barra, Maya Plis ...

Career

Born Raymond Martin Barallobre Ramirez in San Francisco on January 3, 1930, 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

, already as a soloist. He was a principal dancer of the

from 1959, where he performed classical parts such as the Prince in ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

''. He created roles in ballets by

, the title role in ''

'' with

as Julia (1962), the Prince in ''

Firebird Firebird and fire bird may refer to: Mythical birds * Phoenix (mythology), sacred firebird found in the mythologies of many cultures * Bennu, Egyptian firebird * Huma bird, Persian firebird * Firebird (Slavic folklore) Bird species ''Various spe ...

'' (1964), and the title role in '' Onegin'' (1965). He created major roles in ballets by

Kenneth MacMillan Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. Ea ...

, Pepe in '' Las Hermanas''. (1963) and ''

Song of the Earth ''Song of the Earth'' is a novel by Alexander Cordell, first published in 1969. It is the final book of Cordell's "Mortymer Trilogy". The novel is Cordell's third book in the lives of the Mortymer family, after ''Rape of the Fair Country'' and ...

'' (1965). 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 The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the De ...

, from 1970 with the ballet of the

, and from 1973 with the

John Neumeier John Neumeier (born February 24, 1939) is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director. He has been the director and chief choreographer of Hamburg Ballet since 1973. Five years later he founded the Hamburg Ballet School, which also inc ...

. In the late 1980s he was associate director and guest choreographer of the

Ballet Nacional de España Clásico The Spanish National Dance Company ( es, Compañía Nacional de Danza, CND) was founded in 1979 under the name ''Ballet Nacional de España Clásico''. Its first director was dancer Victor Ullate, followed by Maria de Avila, Ray Barra, Maya Plis ...

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 The Teatro de la Zarzuela is a theatre in Madrid, Spain. The theatre is today mainly devoted to zarzuela (the Spanish traditional musical theatre genre), as well as operetta and recitals. History The theatre was designed by architect Jerónimo ...

in Madrid. He choreographed for the

Washington Ballet The Washington Ballet (TWB) is an ensemble of professional ballet dancers based in Washington DC. It was founded in 1976 by Mary Day, and has been under the artistic directorship of Julie Kent since 2016. Septime Webre was artistic director for ...

''Dumky Variations'', on Dvorak's Piano Trio in E minor, Op. 90, played live. It was first performed on 13 February 1991. Barra was ballet director in Berlin from 1994 to 1996. He has directed classical ballets for the

Bavarian State Ballet The Bavarian State Ballet (german: Bayerisches Staatsballett) is a professional ballet company in Munich, Germany. It was founded in 1988 by Konstanze Vernon as an independent company. The ballet had previously been part of the ''Bayerische Staa ...

, ''

Don Quijote Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

'' (1991), ''Swan Lake'' (1995) and ''

Raymonda ''Raymonda'' (russian: Раймонда) is a ballet in three acts, four scenes with an apotheosis, choreographed by Marius Petipa to music by Alexander Glazunov, his Opus 57. It was first presented by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Mariinsky ...

'' (2001).

References

External links

Ray Barra
spainisculture.com

16 November 2007
History / The Cranko Era
Stuttgart Ballet {{DEFAULTSORT:Barra, Ray American male ballet dancers Living people 1930 births Principal dancers Ballet masters