Laurretta Summerscales (born 1993) is a British ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer with

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 ...

and previously with the

English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish ...

Early life

Laurretta Summerscales grew up in

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

, Surrey, England. Her mother runs the Karen Clarke Theatre School in Surrey (where Summerscales sometimes teaches), and her father works in information technology. She began dancing at the age of three, at her mother's school. Summerscales began her training at the English National Ballet School in 2007, having won a scholarship to study there, she was 16 at the time. Also in 2007, Summerscales was a finalist for the

Young British Dancer of the Year The Young British Dancer of the Year Competition began in 2000. It is held annually at the Royal Ballet School, London and the Linbury Studio Theatre, Covent Garden. The competition is open to young British and British-trained classical dancers. Th ...

competition.

Career

In 2009, at age 18, Summerscales was offered a contract to join the

, 18 months after she started training at the English National Ballet School and a year before she was supposed to graduate. Five months after she joined the company, she danced her first principal role, Myrtha in ''

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, ...

'', and found out she had to dance the role two days before the performance. ''The Evening Standard'' called her "the rising star of English ballet", and speculated that she might be "the new Darcey Bussell". Summerscales was promoted to first soloist at the end of the 2012/13 season, and made her debut as Odette-Odile 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 ...

'' in 2013. She was named a principal dancer in January 2016. In September 2017, she joined the

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

as a Principal dancer. In 2018, she left the English National Ballet and began to dance full-time in Munich.

Selected repertoire

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

in '' Alice's Adventure in Wonderland'' *Nikiya in '' La Bayadère'' *Giselle and Myrtha in ''

'' (

Mary Skeaping Mary Emma Skeaping (15 December 19029 February 1984) was an English ballerina who is better known as a ballet teacher, director, choreographer, and producer. She served as director of the Royal Swedish Ballet in Stockholm for nine years (19531 ...

) *Myrtha in ''Giselle'' ( Peter Wright) *Myrtha and Bathilde in ''Giselle'' ( Akram Khan) *Odette/Odile in ''

'' *Clara/Sugar Plum in ''

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 ...

'' (

Wayne Eagling Wayne Eagling (born 27 November 1950) is a Canadian ballet dancer, now retired. After more than twenty years as a popular member of The Royal Ballet in London, he became well known as an international choreographer and company director. Early li ...

) *The Ballerina/Louise in ''The Nutcracker'' *Marie in ''The Nutcracker'' (Andrey Petrov) *Madora and Gulnara in '' Le Corsaire'' *

Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist R ...

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 ...

'' (

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...

) *Swanilda and Prayer in ''

Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Éti ...

'' *Lise in ''

La Fille Mal Gardée LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'' *Carmen in ''Carmen'' (

Carlos Acosta Carlos Yunior Acosta Quesada (born 2 June 1973) is a Cuban-British ballet director and retired dancer who is director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. He danced with many companies including the English National Ballet, National Ballet of Cu ...

) *Kitri in '' Don Quixote'' *Tatiana and Olga in '' Onegin'' *Anna and Kitty in '' Anna Karenina'' *Rubies 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 ...

'' *

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer *Helena, mother of Constantine I Places Greece * Helena (island) Guyana * ...

in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (

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 ...

) *Lilac Fairy in '' The Sleeping Beauty'' *Pas de trois in ''

Suite en Blanc ''Suite en Blanc'', later retitled ''Noir et Blanc'', is a ballet choreographed by Serge Lifar to music from Édouard Lalo's ballet '' Namouna''. The first performance, by the Paris Opera Ballet The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet comp ...

'' *Firebird and The Purist Lady in '' The Firebird'' *''

In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated ''Impressing the Czar'' is a four-act, award-winning, postmodern dance, postmodern Judith MackrelImpressing the Czar: Sadler's Wells, London The Guardian, 7 November 2008 ballet choreographed by William Forsythe (choreographer), William Forsythe t ...

'' *''Petit Mort'' *''Fantastic Beings''

Personal life

In summer 2017, she married fellow English National Ballet dancer Yonah Acosta, originally from Cuba, and the nephew of

. They lived in Woking during their time in ENB. They are now based in Munich, Germany.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Summerscales, Laurretta Living people British ballerinas English National Ballet principal dancers People from Woking Prima ballerinas English expatriates in Germany 21st-century British ballet dancers 1993 births