Dores André Rodríguez (born 1985) is a Spanish ballet dancer. She is currently a principal dancer at the
San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fran ...
.
Early life
André was born in
Vigo
Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the ...
, Spain, to a professor and a doctor. When she was eleven, she was sent to a small ballet studio at her hometown. Two years later, she was spotted by
Maria de Avila at a competition, and joined her school in
Zaragoza
Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tribut ...
, which is eight hours away from Vigo.
When she was seventeen, she was supposed to compete in the
Prix de Lausanne, but had to withdraw after she broke her leg. She considered going to college instead but ultimately chose to pursue a career in ballet.
Career
André briefly danced in a company in Florence, Italy. Then, she auditioned for the
San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fran ...
, and joined the company as a member of the corps de ballet in 2004. She became a soloist in 2012 and a principal dancer in 2015. Roles she performed include the title role in ''
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
'', 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 cano ...
'', Juliet in ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a 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 lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...
'' and Olga in ''
Onegin''. She had also originated roles, such as
Christopher Wheeldon
Christopher Peter Wheeldon OBE (born 22 March 1973) is an English international choreographer of contemporary ballet.
Life and career
Born in Yeovil, Somerset, to an engineer and a physical therapist, Wheeldon began training to be a ballet dan ...
's ''Bound To'' and
Justin Peck's ''
Hurry Up, We're Dreaming''. In 2018, she returned and performed in a gala in Zaragoza, where she had her training.
[
As a designer, André had designed costumes for Estonian National Ballet and Ballet Idaho. She is currently working on costumes for ]Royal New Zealand Ballet
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is a ballet company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was originally known as The New Zealand Ballet Company.
History
New Zealand Ballet was established in 1953 as an independent charitable trust by Royal Danish ...
's '' The Sleeping Beauty''.
Selected repertoire
André's repertoire with the San Francisco Ballet includes:[
]
Personal life
André is a feminist.[
André grew up swimming and painting before she started ballet. In off-season, she swims five times a week with her sister, who is a competitive open-water swimmer, and paints as a hobby. She is also learning tap dancing. She lives in ]Twin Peaks
''Twin Peaks'' is an American mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 fo ...
, San Francisco.
References
External links
Dores André
- San Francisco Ballet profile
Dores André and Joseph Walsh on ''Coppélia''
Dores André and Wei Wang in Bluebird Pas de Deux
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andre, Dores
Spanish ballerinas
San Francisco Ballet principal dancers
Living people
1985 births
People from Vigo
21st-century ballet dancers
21st-century Spanish dancers
Spanish expatriates in the United States
Prima ballerinas