Yosvani Ramos Explained

Yosvani Ramos
Birth Date:1979 6, df=y
Birth Place:Camagüey, Cuba
Occupation:Ballet dancer
Former Groups:

Yosvani Ramos (born Yosvani Sabdiel Ramos Fontes on 23 June 1979) is a Cuban ballet dancer. He danced with the English National Ballet for nine years, five as a principal dancer, before joining The Australian Ballet as a principal artist in January 2008, leaving in 2013 and dancing with Cincinnati Ballet as a principal dancer for one season. He then joined Colorado Ballet in Denver as a principal dancer, and retired in April 2023. He has been named artistic director of in Mexico from January 2024.

Early life and training

Ramos was born to Juan Ramos Barba and Gisela Fontes Lopez in Camagüey, Cuba. He studied dance at the Vocational School of Arts there from 1989, and in 1994 won the gold medal at the Vignale Festival of Dance. He was then admitted to study ballet at the Cuban National Ballet School under the direction of Ramona de Sáa, graduating in 1997.

Professional ballet career

In September 1997 Ramos joined the Jeune Ballet de France, a French touring company. Started by Robert Berthier with the assistance of Rosella Hightower, the dancers trained for three months and toured for nine - a Professional Year type of training. Ramos remained with the company for two years, leaving in April 1999 for the Paris Opera Ballet. He performed Nureyev's Swan Lake as a surnuméraire (extra member of the corps de ballet).

Ramos was invited to join English National Ballet as a soloist in August 1999 by Derek Deane, and was promoted to senior soloist in 2000, then principal in 2003 after a performance of Coppélia at the Sadler's Wells Theatre.

The Australian Ballet had only two male principals at the end of 2007, and artistic director David McAllister invited Ramos to join the company as a principal artist from February 2008.[1] He also had many opportunities to perform as a guest artist outside Australia, frequently taking The Australian Ballet's Leanne Stojmenov as his partner. Ramos left The Australian Ballet in April 2013.[2]

After leaving The Australian Ballet, Ramos danced around the world on a freelance basis. He debuted as James in La Sylphide with Bangkok City Ballet in Thailand in July 2013 and also performed at the 18th International Ballet Festival in Miami in September 2013.

He spent the 2014-15 season with Cincinnati Ballet as a principal dancer, then joined Colorado Ballet as a principal dancer for the 2015-16 season.

He remained in Denver for the 2016-17 season, but during rehearsals for "The Nutcracker" in November 2016, tore an Achilles tendon. By June 2017, after surgery and intensive rehabilitation, he was back in the studio, anticipating a return to the stage early in the 2017-18 season. Ramos duly returned to the stage in Dracula in October 2017.

Ten years after leaving English National Ballet, Ramos worked with his former artistic director Derek Deane again, reprising the role of Romeo in Deane's Romeo and Juliet, which Deane set on Colorado Ballet.

In April 2023, he both debuted the title role in George Balanchine's The Prodigal Son and retired as a professional dancer.

In addition to freelancing for a time, Ramos has performed as a guest with companies including Staatstheater Wiesbaden (Germany), HNK Split Ballet (Croatia), Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele (Palermo, Italy), Compañía Nacional de Danza (Mexico), and Ballet de Monterrey (Mexico).

Awards

Companies and roles

After graduating from the Cuban national school, Ramos toured with the Jeune Ballet de France, both domestically and internationally - Africa, South America, and St Petersburg, Russia. The company performed classical excerpts and commissioned contemporary works. Ramos' roles included pas de deux from La Fille mal Gardée, Harlequinade, Le Corsaire, Flower Festival at Genzano, The Flames of Paris, Stars and Stripes, Don Quixote, and Variations for Four.

As a surnuméraire (short term contract corps de ballet member) with Paris Opera Ballet, Ramos danced in Nureyev's Swan Lake.

English National Ballet

At the invitation of Derek Deane, Ramos joined English National Ballet as a soloist, eventually being promoted to principal in 2003. Roles with ENB included:

The Australian Ballet

Invited to join the company as a principal, Ramos expanded his repertoire to include

and continued to dance

May 2013 until August 2014

After his last performance as Basilio in Rudolf Nureyev's Don Quixote with The Australian Ballet on April 24, 2013, Ramos spent some time dancing freelance all over the world.

He made his debut as James in August Bournonville's La Sylphíde with Bangkok City Ballet in Thailand in July 2013, danced Giselle second act pas de deux and Lizzie MacKenzie's Adherence.Process at the International Ballet Festival in Miami, USA in September 2013, guested as the Prince in The Nutcracker with various companies in the USA in December 2013 and performed in ballet galas in London, Cork, Denver and Vienna as well as teaching in England and the USA.

Cincinnati Ballet 2014-2015 season

Colorado Ballet

Television and film performances

The Poet in Les Sylphides, included in The Australian Ballet's triple bill Firebird and Other Legends.

References

  1. Web site: Aussie Dance News!. Dance Informa.
  2. Web site: Tulk. Jasmin. Farewell Yosvani. Behind Ballet. The Australian Ballet. 1 May 2013.
  3. Web site: Betancourt. Jose Luis Estrada. Timida y magnifica. Desde Cuba. blogspot. 25 October 2012.
  4. Web site: 1998 Medalists . List of USA International Ballet Competition medallists . 25 October 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150730043320/http://www.usaibc.com/2014-competition/dignitaries/medalists/98-medalists/ . July 30, 2015 .
  5. Web site: Boccadoro. Patricia. Paris International Dance Competition. Culturekiosque. 25 October 2012. 7 June 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120607211503/http://www.culturekiosque.com/dance/reviews/rheconc.htm. dead.
  6. Web site: 1999 winners. Japan International Ballet Competition website. 25 October 2012.
  7. News: Mackrell. Judith. Charm and the Maiden. The Guardian. 25 October 2012. London. 26 April 2002.
  8. Web site: Watts. Graham. English National Ballet in The Nutcracker, London Coliseum. Londondance.com. 25 October 2012.
  9. News: Mackrell. Judith. English National Ballet at the Royal Opera House. The Guardian. 25 October 2012. London. 18 December 2002.
  10. News: Mackrell. Judith. ENB Mixed Bill. The Guardian. 25 October 2012. London. 26 April 2002.
  11. News: Parry. Jann. There is nothing like a Dane. The Observer. 25 October 2012. London. 26 June 2005.
  12. News: Brown. Ismene. The Snow Queen: a few icicles short of a magic trip. The Telegraph (UK). 25 October 2012. London. 19 October 2007.
  13. News: Roberts. Jo. Our man from Havana. The Age. 25 October 2012. Melbourne. 13 February 2008.
  14. Web site: Angear . Cheryl . Cupcakes and Conversation with Yosvani Ramos, Principal, The Australian Ballet . 21 November 2012 . . 21 November 2012.
  15. News: Smethurst. Chloe. Don Quixote. Sydney Morning Herald. 25 October 2012.
  16. Web site: Potter. Michelle. 'Don Quixote': The Australian Ballet. Michelle Potter ... on dancing. 1 May 2013.
  17. Web site: Lawson. Valerie. British ballet at its best - and one from the museum. Dancelines. 25 October 2012.
  18. News: Sykes. Jill. Coppelia. Sydney Morning Herald. 25 October 2012.
  19. News: Jones. Deborah. Living doll makes the heart sing. The Australian. 25 October 2012. 6 May 2010.
  20. Web site: Brookes . Darren . Ballet: The unbearable lightness of being "Giselle" . Media Culture . 25 October 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120320064514/http://www.reviews.media-culture.org.au/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2672 . March 20, 2012 .
  21. News: Brissenden. Alan. Electrifying leaps of the imagination. The Australian. 25 October 2012. 2 March 2009.
  22. Web site: Lyman. David. Review: This 'Nutcracker' anything but routine. Cincinnati.com. 9 February 2016. Ramos is hilarious, a consummate professional.
  23. Web site: Lyman. David. Is ballet's 'Director's Choice' season's best?. Cincinnati.com. 9 February 2016. 20 May 2015.
  24. Web site: Jaffe. Mark. After a ruptured Achilles, a lead in “Dracula” resurrects his ballet career from the dead. The Denver Post. 14 October 2017. 29 September 2017.
  25. Web site: Bows. Bob. Dracula. Colorado Drama.com. 14 October 2017.
  26. Web site: Bows. Bob. Romeo and Juliet. Colorado Drama. 13 March 2018.
  27. Web site: Bows. Bob. The Nutcracker. Colorado Drama.com. 9 February 2016.
  28. Web site: Rinaldi. Ray Mark. Colorado Ballet's "Alice" a colorful, acid trip of a ballet. The Denver Post. 24 February 2016. 20 February 2016. Yosvani Ramos was a shiny, dazzling Dodo Bird.
  29. Web site: Werle. Jane E.. A Luminous Swan Lake. Presenting Denver. 17 October 2016.
  30. Web site: Colorado Ballet Opens Season With ‘Sleeping Beauty’ . CBS Denver . CBS Broadcasting Inc . 11 April 2019.
  31. Web site: Selstad Bosch . Briana . Colorado Ballet’s Spring Fling . Presenting Denver . Presenting Denver . 11 April 2019.

External links


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