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Marianela NúñezOBE
as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty
Born	(1982-03-23) 23 March 1982 (age 42) Buenos Aires, Argentina
Citizenship	Argentina United Kingdom
Education	Teatro Colón Ballet School The Royal Ballet School
Occupation	Ballet dancer
Spouse	Thiago Soares ​ ​(m. 2011; div. 2015)​
Career
Current group	The Royal Ballet
Former groups	Colon Theater Ballet

Marianela Núñez (born 23 March 1982) is an Argentine-British ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet, London.

Early life

Marianela Núñez was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has three older brothers. Her mother sent her to ballet classes when she was three. At first, she took dance classes at her teacher's garage. At age five, Núñez decided to focus on ballet. She entered Teatro Colón Ballet School at age six.

Career

At age 14, halfway through her training, Colon Theater Ballet's lead Maximiliano Guerra chose Núñez to dance with him, and the company selected Núñez to join the company. She danced with the company in both Buenos Aires and on tour, and danced with the company's lead in various roles. In 1997, at age 15, she auditioned for The Royal Ballet when the company was on tour in Los Angeles, even though she didn't speak English. She was offered a contract, but UK employment law prevented her from working in the UK until age 16. She attended The Royal Ballet School instead, and was guaranteed she would be offered a contract the following year. She was promoted to First Soloist, the second highest rank of the company, in 2000.

In 2001, Núñez replaced the injured Leanne Benjamin as Kitri in Don Quixote, with Carlos Acosta as Basilio. She was promoted to principal dancer the following year. She has danced leading roles in both classical and contemporary works by choreographers including Frederick Ashton, John Cranko, Kenneth MacMillan, Wayne McGregor and Christopher Wheeldon. In 2013, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance for Viscera, Aeternum and 'Diana and Actaeon' from Metamorphosis: Titian 2012.

In 2018, following a performance of Giselle, Núñez celebrated her 20th anniversary at The Royal Ballet. Artistic director Kevin O'Hare declared her "one of the greats of her generation". Present were Lady Sarah Chatto, Peter Wright, Monica Mason, and The Argentine ambassador to the UK Renato Carlos Sersale di Cerisano.

Outside the Royal Ballet, Núñez has made many guest appearances worldwide, including in Austria, U.S., Italy, Argentina and Australia. She has performed in La Scala Theatre Ballet many times, and is a frequent collaborator of Roberto Bolle. She has also returned to Colón Theater Ballet, where her career started.

Reviews

On Don Quixote, The Guardian wrote she is "a brilliant exponent of rubato dancing, stretching chosen phrases to breaking point and then flying through the music with ecstatic abandon."

Reviewing Núñez's guest appearance in American Ballet Theatre's Cinderella, the New York Times, noted: "effortless attack and enthusiastic impetus made the sequence thrilling."

The Times also praised Núñez's portrayal of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, she "has a pure line, a melting plasticity and a smooth legato quality. Her Odette was lyrical and sorrowful; her Odile steely and sexy."

On Núñez as Nikiya in La Bayadère, The Independent noted she "has luscious musical phrasing and floating line."

Personal life

Núñez married fellow principal at the Royal Ballet, Thiago Soares in 2011 in Buenos Aires. The couple separated in 2014 and announced their divorce in January 2016, but remain friends and continue to dance together.

Núñez is a naturalised British citizen.

Selected repertoire

Núñez's repertoire with The Royal Ballet includes:

• Kitri/Kiteria - Don Quixote
• Swanhilda - Coppélia
• Princess Aurora and the Lilac Fairy - The Sleeping Beauty
• Sugar Plum Fairy - The Nutcracker
• Nikiya and Gamzatti- La Bayadère
• Olga and Tatiana - Onegin
• Sylvia - Sylvia
• Lise - La fille mal gardée
• Odette/Odile - Swan Lake
• Juliet - Romeo and Juliet
• Giselle and Myrtha - Giselle
• Cinderella in Cinderella
• Monotones I
• Mitzi Caspar in Mayerling
• Hermione in The Winter's Tale
• Manon in Manon
• Alice in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
• Ballo della Regina
• Dances at a Gathering
• Natalia Petrovna in A Month in the Country

Created roles

• Infra
• Asphodel Meadows
• "Diana and Actaeon" (Metamorphosis: Titian 2012)
• Human Seasons
• Tetractys
• Carmen (Carlos Acosta)
• Multiverse

Awards

• Best Female Dancer at the Critics' Circle National Dance Awards, 2005, 2012, 2018 and 2022
• Konex de Platino for Best Dancer of the Decade in Argentina, 2009
• María Ruanova Award, 2011
• Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance, 2013

References

1. ^ "Marianela Nuñez". Royal Opera House. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
2. ^ "Portrait of the artist: Marianela Nuñez". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
3. "Dancer Marianela Nunez: 'The Royal Opera House and the Royal Ballet are my home and my family'". The Stage. 13 February 2018. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
4. ^ "Portrait of the artist: Marianela Nuñez". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
5. "In conversation with Marianela Nuñez". Gramilano. 9 July 2020. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
6. "Royal Ballet Principal Marianela Nuñez on Her Signature Role: Don Quixote's Kitri". Pointe Magazine. 19 May 2020. Archived from the original on 28 May 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
7. "Olivier Awards 2013: The results in full". The Telegraph. 28 April 2013. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
8. "Marianela Nuñez celebrates 20 years with The Royal Ballet with a traditional flower throw". Royal Opera House. 7 February 2018. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
9. "Distinguieron a Marianela Núñez por su contribución extraordinaria al Royal Ballet". La Nación (in Spanish). 2 February 2018. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
10. ^ ""Choreographically, it is heaven!" Marianela Núñez on dancing Tatiana". Bachtrack. 5 February 2020.
11. ^ "Don Quixote review – the evening belongs to Marianela Nuñez". The Guardian. 29 November 2014.
12. ^ "Review: Marianela Nuñez Enchants as Cinderella With American Ballet Theater". The New York Times. 5 July 2015. Archived from the original on 27 February 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
13. ^ "In Royal Ballet's New 'Swan Lake,' It's the Hero's Tragedy". The New York Times. 18 May 2018. Archived from the original on 25 December 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
14. ^ "La Bayadère, Royal Opera House, London review: A night of powerful personalities and blazing dancing". The Independent. 6 November 2018. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
15. Bryant, Miranda (16 January 2015). "Dancing with my husband happens naturally…we understand each other". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
16. Patrick Kidd (16 January 2016). "Diary (TMS): Covent Garden's first couple split, Bowie's parliament flop, Friends star misses out and Yes, prime minister". The Times. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
17. The Royal Opera House Magazine, January 2016, Page 22-26.
18. "Marianela Núñez on one of her fav ballets, La Fille mal gardée, and life under lockdown". DanceTabs. 10 June 2020. Archived from the original on 19 May 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
19. "Marianela Núñez excels in the Royal Ballet's Coppélia". Financial Times. 2 December 2019. Archived from the original on 3 November 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
20. ^ "5 Lessons We Could All Learn from Marianela Nuñez". Dance Magazine. 9 August 2018. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
21. "Sylvia review – lustful hunters and weapons-grade dancing". The Guardian. 1 December 2017.
22. Mackrell, Judith (10 March 2010). "La Fille Mal Gardée Review 2010". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
23. "Romeo and Juliet review 2008". The Guardian. 15 June 2008. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
24. "Royal Ballet – Monotones I & II, The Two Pigeons – London". DanceTabs. 20 November 2015. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
25. "The Royal Ballet opens the new season with Mayerling". Bachtrack. 9 October 2018. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
26. national, ballet. "El cuento de invierno". web ballet canada. dance. Archived from the original on 2 November 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
27. "Manon review – touching greatness, three times over". The Guardian. 15 April 2018.
28. "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". Dancing Times. 30 March 2011. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
29. "Royal Ballet – La Sylphide & Ballo della Regina – London". DanceTabs. 25 May 2012. Archived from the original on 30 August 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
30. "The week in dance: The Cellist/Dances at a Gathering; Message in a Bottle – review". The Guardian. 23 February 2020.
31. "Scènes de ballet/A Month in the Country/ Rhapsody review – an outstanding Ashton triple bill". The Guardian. 1 May 2022.

• Argentine ballerinas
• 1982 births
• Living people
• People from San Martín, Buenos Aires
• Principal dancers of The Royal Ballet
• 21st-century British ballet dancers
• 21st-century Argentine dancers
• Laurence Olivier Award winners
• People educated at the Royal Ballet School
• Argentine emigrants to England
• Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
• British ballerinas
• Officers of the Order of the British Empire