Marianela Nuñez

[silvy]

I am wondering if anyone has seen Marianela Nuñez recently.

I know she is now a principal in Royal Ballet, but it happens that I saw her dancing when she was little more than a child (and a child prodigy). I remember her Raymonda (perhaps she was not more than 13 years old at that time). I also saw her dancing paired with Maximiliano Guerra, before she went to the Royal BAllet school. I remember their Diana & Acteon pdd very distinctly - she was about 16 years old at that time, and had already a very strong stage personality - dazzling to his Acteon.

Just wanted some fresh news about her latest developments, and how she is regarded by the British press and audiences.

thanks

silvy

[Drew]

I saw her with the Royal Ballet, dancing Kitri in Don Quixote about two years ago -- the Basilio was Carlos Acosta. Nunez had not been cast for this run of performances originally, so I don't know how much preparation she had, but I liked her performance very much. She looked like a real ballerina in the making and had a rather luscious quality besides. At one point in Act II, her use of her upper body -- a really poised epaulement giving her a very three-dimensional, womanly quality -- specifically made me think she would be a lovely Raymonda, so I'm interested to learn that she had performed Raymonda (or, I assume, Raymonda excerpts) when very young. The Don Quixote was still not a fully 'finished' performance, but I would be happy to see more of her...

I read reviews of the Makarova Sleeping Beauty in which Nunez danced the Lilac Fairy and they praised her performance, but they were mostly concerned with the production. I believe she also danced Aurora, but never read anything about that. (If you check older threads on the Royal Ballet, you will see some mention of her dancing as well.) I actually first heard about her on this board when some students from the Royal Ballet school mentioned her dancing. That may have been before she was even officially in the company.

[Jane Simpson]

She did a very promising Aurora. I like her a lot - she dances 'big', with an open expansive style which I find very attractive. At the moment she's still doing first sketches of her roles and there's a lot of detail to be filled in, and although she is very strong and confident technically I feel she maybe hasn't yet got a real confidence in herself as an artist. I'm looking forward to her Nikiya next month.

She's been rather overshadowed by the rise of Cojocaru, which works both ways - she can get on with developing her roles without the glare of publicity which surrounds Cojocaru, but on the other hand there are perhaps heavier expectations on her because of the Cojocaru phenomenon. It's almost impossible to believe, watching her, that she's actually the younger of the two - she looks far the more mature - and she's a very different dancer and at a different stage of her development.

[mandy1313]

I also saw the same run of Don Quixote about two years ago as well as Coppelia around the same time. She was wonderful. Although, I had rather odd seats for Don Quixote and ended up almost looking down on her, I left absolutely amazed at her performance. She had so much personality on stage. She didn't go out of character for a second. I can't imagine what she looked like at 13!

[silvy]

Regarding Marianela, from what you tell me, and from what I recall, I see she still looks much more mature than her age. I had always viewed her as a child prodigy, because she had so much authority for her age, though her body was still that of a child's. As I see from her photos now, she seems to have grown into a beautiful young woman.

I remember her doing the Act III Raymonda variation (the one with the million pas de bourres courus), and she already had a great deal of authority.

Thank all of you for your feedback on latest developments at the Royal Ballet.

Silvy