Cuban born Oscar Valdés returns to Perth to join West Australian Ballet as full-time Company member
With jumps that defy gravity and perfectly placed turns that never end, Oscar Valdés will be joining West Australian Ballet’s full-time ranks as a Soloist from April 2017. Ballet bad-boy Valdés wowed Perth audiences and critics alike in 2015 as he performed in WAB’s Embraceable You – A Celebration of Balanchine as a guest artist.
Originally connecting with Valdés through numerous international industry networks, Artistic Director Aurélien Scannella is eager and excited to share the Cuban dancer’s extraordinary stage talents and persona with WAB audiences.
“For many decades Cuba has produced incredible ballet dancers who have shined all around the globe and Oscar Valdes is a perfect product of that amazing Cuban school. I am thrilled to welcome him back to Perth for the joy & excitement of our public.” Scannella said.
Valdés says his previous experience with the Company is what drew him back to the world’s most isolated city (and the world’s most geographically isolated ballet company!). “Aurélien can be strict at work and that’s good because he likes things done well, but he’s also the kind of person who shows you confidence and security and I think that’s important for a dancer. For me it is so important to feel the Company is like a family or a home. This is how I felt with WAB.”
Valdés joins WAB after a successful stint as a Coryphée with the Dutch National Ballet, one of the World’s most prestigious ballet companies, the official and largest in the Netherlands.
With the addition of a Cuban-born Valdés, WAB now represents 8 nationalities in its Company ranks.
BIO
Born in Cuba, Oscar Valdés trained at the Academy of Arts in Camaguey. In 2010 he won the Silver Medal at the International Ballet Competition in Havana Cuba and the Grand Prix and Popularity Prize the following year. He has also won the Gold Medal at the Cape Town International Ballet Competition in South Africa (2012), the Gold Medal at the International Ballet Competition of Milano and the Prize Dance Capri International for Best Talent. Oscar has worked with the Theatre Opera Rome, Ballet de Camaguey in Cuba, and Dutch National Ballet.
@oscarstarballet
