Moves at WA and Qld Ballet companies
Qld Ballet says farewell to two beloved artists of the company. Principal Artist Laura Hidalgo will retire from the stage
following an international career that saw her grace Queensland’s stages when she joined QB in 2015. Laura has danced all the major roles in classical and contemporary repertoire to critical acclaim. She will be remembered most for the title roles of Mertuil in Dangerous Liaisons, which was created for her and The Firebird both choreographed by Liam Scarlett.
Company Artist Tonia Looker will also retire from the stage after her career in Royal New Zealand Ballet and QB. She will take up a new role in QB’s Foundation team.
Joining QB in 2021 as First Company Artist is former Australian Ballet and National Ballet of Canada dancer Joe Chapman.
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Four West Australian Ballet dancers have been promoted: Nikki Blain, Jesse Homes and Mayume Noguromi have each been promoted to the rank of Demi-Soloist while Julio Blanes has been promoted to Soloist.
Blanes, originally from Cuba, joined the company in mid-2018. Both Homes and Blain joined WAB as Young Artists in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Noguromi joined the company’s corps de ballet in 2019.