Zhandra Rodríguez (born 17 March 1947) is a Venezuelan ballet dancer, choreographer, founder of the Caracas International Ballet, and founder and director of the New World Ballet of Caracas.

Career

She was born in

Caracas, Venezuela Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

and began studying ballet aged five under Nena Coronil, and two years later she continued her training in the Interamerican Ballet Academy, directed by Margot Contreras. When she was fifteen years old she became part of the National Ballet of Venezuela, directed by Irma Contreras. In a short time, due to her talent and effort, she became one of the prima ballerinas of that company. Rodríguez was impressed by a show of 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. Through 2019, it had an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spr ...

in Caracas and decided that this was the company with which she wanted to continue her professional career. She was accepted, and quickly became the principal dancer of the ABT. With the ABT, Rodríguez played almost all the main roles in the classic ballets of the company's repertoire. While continuing her career with the American Ballet Theatre, she was invited to the Hamburg Ballet, directed by

John Neumeier John Neumeier (born February 24, 1939) is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director. He was the director and principal choreographer of Hamburg Ballet from 1973 to 2024 and the artistic director of the ballet at the Hamburg State ...

, to be Principal Dancer. She decided to leave the American Ballet Theatre to join the

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

company, where Neumeier created many choreographies especially for her, for which she was praised by critics and the German public. In 1974, she returned to Venezuela and founded the International Ballet of Caracas with Vicente Nebrada, María Cristina Anzola and Elías Pérez Borjas, a company that soon achieved great international prestige. From 1974 until 1980 she split her time between Caracas and Hamburg. In 1980, accompanied by the dancer

Mikhail Baryshnikov Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov ( rus, Михаил Николаевич Барышников, p=mʲɪxɐˈil bɐ'rɨʂnʲɪkəf; ; born January 27, 1948) is a Latvian and American dancer, choreographer, and actor. He was the preeminent male ...

, she traveled through different cities of Brazil performing twenty functions with the

pas de deux In ballet, a ( French, literally "step of two") is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The ''pas de deux'' is characteristic of classical ballet and can be found in many well-known ...

, '' El Corsario'' and ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

''. In 1981 the International Ballet of Caracas disintegrates, and Rodríguez founded and directed, together with the American dancer Dale Talley, a new company: Ballet Nuevo Mundo de Caracas. Her world tours, representing Venezuela, went to nearly every country. She was invited to dance the principal role with diverse ballet companies, such as,

National Ballet of Cuba The Cuban National Ballet () is a classical ballet company based at Great Theatre of Havana in Havana, Cuba, founded by the Cuban prima ballerina assoluta, Alicia Alonso in 1948. The official school of the company is the Cuban National Ballet S ...

; Opera Ballet of Berlin; Opera Ballet of Vienna; Ballet del Teatro Colón de

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

; Ballet del Teatro Municipal de

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

; and Ballet de Santiago de

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, among others, and with great dancers like

; Paolo Bortolucci;

Edward Villella Edward Villella (born October 1, 1936) is an American ballet dancer and choreographer. He is frequently cited as America's most celebrated male dancer of ballet at the time. He has won numerous awards, including the Daytime Emmy Award for Out ...

; Jacques D'Ambrois;

Fernando Bujones Fernando Bujones (March 9, 1955 – November 10, 2005) was an American dancer. Born in Miami, Florida to Cuban parents, Bujones is regarded as one of the finest male dancers of the 20th century and hailed as one of the greatest American male da ...

; John Clifford; Michael Denard; Ivan Nagy; and

Anthony Dowell Sir Anthony James Dowell (born 16 February 1943) is a retired British ballet dancer and a former artistic director of the Royal Ballet. He is widely recognized as one of the great ''danseurs nobles'' of the twentieth century. Early life and tr ...

as her partners.

Awards

* 1999: Premio Nacional de DanzaZhandra Rodríguez Premio Nacional de Cultura Mención Danza 1999
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References

External links

Entrevista a Zhandra Rodríguez, Periódico El Universal. Venezuela

Entrevista a Zhandra Rodríguez, La Guía.com

Entrevista a Zhandra Rodríguez, Analítica.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodríguez, Zhandra Living people 1947 births Entertainers from Caracas Venezuelan choreographers Venezuelan women choreographers Venezuelan dancers Venezuelan female dancers