Daniel Camargo (born September 1991)
[ is a Brazilian ballet dancer. He joined the ]Stuttgart Ballet
Stuttgart Ballet is a leading German ballet company. Dating back to 1609, then the court ballet of the dukes of Württemberg, the modern company was founded by John Cranko and is known for full-length narrative ballets. The company received the ...
in 2009, and was promoted to principal dancer in 2013. In 2016, he left to join the Dutch National Ballet
The Dutch National Ballet ( Dutch: Het Nationale Ballet) is the official and largest ballet company in the Netherlands. Its forerunners were Ballet Der Lage Landen, Ballet of the Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam Ballet, and Netherlands Ballet (Nederl ...
, before leaving in 2019 to pursue a freelance career. In 2022, he joined the American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant. Through 2019, it had an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spr ...
.
Early life and training
Camargo was born in Sorocaba
Sorocaba () is a municipality in the interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. With over 723,000 inhabitants, it is the seventh-largest city in the state and the second-largest outside the Greater São Paulo region, ranking behind only Cam ...
.[ He started ballet at age nine, at the encouragement of his two sisters' dance teacher. A year later, he moved to the ballet school at Teatro Guaíra, ]Curitiba
Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...
. At age twelve, Camargo competed at the Youth America Grand Prix
Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) is a non-profit international youth ballet and contemporary dance competition and scholarship program established in 1999.
Overview
Each year, over 10,000 dancers participate in the competitions and auditions YAGP ...
(YAGP), winning the second prize in the junior section. He returned to YAGP a year later, again winning the second prize, as well as a scholarship to the summer intensive programme at the Harid Conservatory
The HARID Conservatory is a ballet professional-training school for high-school age students. It was established in 1987 and is located in Boca Raton, Florida. A four-year curriculum is offered that includes ballet and related dance courses. Acad ...
in Florida.[ He was also offered a scholarship to attend the summer course at the ]American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant. Through 2019, it had an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spr ...
's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School
The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre (ABT/JKO School) is the associate school of American Ballet Theatre located at 890 Broadway, within the Flatiron District of Manhattan, New York City. The school comprises a children ...
, but the trip was cancelled at the last minute as his chaperone became unavailable.[
After his second YAGP, he was also approached by Tadeusz Matacz, the director of the John Cranko School in ]Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
, to attend the school on scholarship. He began training there in autumn 2005, at age 14, even though he initially could not speak German and English, the two languages used at the school.[ He trained in various ballet styles, including the Russian ]Vaganova method
The Vaganova method is a ballet technique and training system devised by the Russian dancer and pedagogue Agrippina Vaganova (1879–1951). It was derived from the teachings of the ''Premier Maître de Ballet'' Marius Petipa, throughout the lat ...
and the French style
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
** French people, a nation and ethnic group
** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices
Arts and media
* The French (band), ...
. For his graduation, he danced Uwe Scholz's ''Notations I-IV'', a 40-minute long solo.[
]
Career
In 2009, after graduating, Camargo joined the Stuttgart Ballet
Stuttgart Ballet is a leading German ballet company. Dating back to 1609, then the court ballet of the dukes of Württemberg, the modern company was founded by John Cranko and is known for full-length narrative ballets. The company received the ...
as a member of the corps de ballet. In 2010, he won the Deutscher Tanzpreis
The Deutscher Tanzpreis (German Dance Prize) is a prestigious prize for artistic dance in Germany. It has been awarded annually since 1983.
The ''Deutscher Berufsverband für Tanzpädagogik'' awarded the prize until 2012. From 2013 to 2017, it wa ...
"Future" prize.[ In 2011, Camargo and colleague Elisa Badenes represented the company at the Erik Bruhn Prize. They performed the Act III pas de deux from '']Don Quixote
, the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...
'', and ''Little Monsters'', which Demis Volpi choreographed for the competition. Both Camargo and Badenes won the inaugural Audience Choice Award. In 2012, when staged his production of ''Don Quixote'' for the company, Camargo, who had reached the rank of demi-soloist, was chosen to dance the lead role of Basilio on opening night, rather than any of the principal dancers.[ Later that year, he was promoted to soloist.] Camargo was promoted to principal dancer in 2013, at only age 22.[
In 2016, Camargo left Stuttgart to join the ]Dutch National Ballet
The Dutch National Ballet ( Dutch: Het Nationale Ballet) is the official and largest ballet company in the Netherlands. Its forerunners were Ballet Der Lage Landen, Ballet of the Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam Ballet, and Netherlands Ballet (Nederl ...
as a principal dancer. He later stated that the move was due to the performance schedule at Stuttgart Ballet limited his ability to perform internationally as a guest, and his desire for new experience after spending 11 years in Stuttgart.[ At the two companies, his repertory include classical ballets, works by ]John Cranko
John Cyril Cranko (15 August 1927 – 26 June 1973) was a South African ballet dancer and choreographer with the Royal Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet.
Life and career
Early life
Cranko was born to Herbert and Grace Cranko in Rustenburg in ...
, Hans van Manen
Hans Arthur Gerard van Manen (; born 11 July 1932) is a Dutch ballet dancer, choreographer and photographer.
He studied under Sonia Gaskell and Françoise Adret. Van Manen wrote many ballets. He worked for the Dutch National Ballet from 1973 to ...
, Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television.
Among his nu ...
, Glen Tetley
Glen Tetley (February 3, 1926 – January 26, 2007) was an American ballet and modern dancer as well as a choreographer who mixed ballet and modern dance to create a new way of looking at dance, and is best known for his piece ''Pierrot Lunair ...
, Alexei Ratmansky
Alexei Osipovich Ratmansky (, born August 27, 1968) is a Russian-Ukrainian-American choreographer and former ballet dancer. From 2004 to 2008 he was the director of the Moscow Bolshoi Ballet. He left Russia in 2008. In 2009 he was appointed the ar ...
, among others.[ He also created roles for ]Wayne McGregor
Sir Wayne McGregor, CBE (born 12 March 1970) is a British choreographer and director who has won multiple awards. He is the Artistic Director of Studio Wayne McGregor and Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet. McGregor was appointed Comma ...
, Jorma Elo
Jorma Elo is a contemporary choreographer.
Early life
He was born 30 August 1961 in Helsinki, Finland. His father, Jaakko Elo, is a urological surgeon, mother Ruth Elo née Carlstedt, a dentist. Jorma Elo's partner since 1994 is Nancy Euveri ...
and Christian Spuck.[ He was nominated for the ]Prix Benois de la Danse
The Benois de la Danse is a ballet competition held annually in Moscow. Founded by the International Dance Association in 1991, it takes place each year on or around April 29 and it's judged by a jury. The members of this jury change every year and ...
in 2018 and 2019.[ In July 2019, he left the Dutch National Ballet to pursue a freelance career, in order to have more control over his schedule and what project to pursue.][
In 2020, when the ]COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
began, Camargo took time off from ballet. In 2021, he was invited by Septime Webre, the artistic director of Hong Kong Ballet
The Hong Kong Ballet () is a classical ballet company founded in 1979.
History
The company was created in 1979.
Since 1997, The Hong Kong Ballet has concluded more than 30 tours to 10 countries in North and South America, Europe and Asia.
...
, to dance with the company as a guest artist.[ He created roles in Webre's new '']The Nutcracker
''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...
'' and ''Romeo + Juliet''.[ He also danced in '' The Sleeping Beauty'' and "Emerald" and "Diamond" from Balanchine's '']Jewels
A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...
'' with the company. That year, he also appeared in two films, including '' Coppelia'', an adaptation of the classical ballet of the same name, in which he portrayed Franz, and ''Birds of Paradise
The birds-of-paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes. The majority of species are found in eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and eastern Australia. The family has 45 species in 17 genera. The members of this ...
'', Sarah Adina Smith's ballet-themed film.[
In July 2022, Camargo joined the ]American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant. Through 2019, it had an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spr ...
as a principal dancer, after dancing with the company as a guest artist during its Metropolitan Opera House season that began in June. He was approached by Ratmansky, ABT's artist in residence, when the company was dealing with injuries within its ranks while Camargo began seeking consistency following the pandemic. During the season, he danced in ''Don Quixote'', ''Swan Lake
''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...
'', MacMillan's ''Romeo and Juliet
''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...
'', as well as the New York premiere of Ratmansky's ''Of Love and Rage'' as Dionysius. He officially joined the company towards the end of the season.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Camargo, Daniel
1991 births
Living people
People from Sorocaba
Brazilian male ballet dancers
Stuttgart Ballet
Dutch National Ballet principal dancers
American Ballet Theatre principal dancers
Brazilian expatriates in Germany
Brazilian expatriates in the Netherlands
Brazilian expatriates in the United States
21st-century ballet dancers