Laurretta Summerscales (born 1993) is a British

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

. She is a principal dancer with Bavarian State Ballet and previously with the

English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scott ...

Early life

Laurretta Summerscales grew up in

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

, Surrey, England. Her mother runs the Karen Clarke Theatre School in Surrey (where Summerscales sometimes teaches), and her father works in information technology. She began dancing at the age of three, at her mother's school. Summerscales began her training at the English National Ballet School in 2007, having won a scholarship to study there, she was 16 at the time. Also in 2007, Summerscales was a finalist for the Young British Dancer of the Year competition.

Career

In 2009, at age 18, Summerscales was offered a contract to join the

, 18 months after she started training at the English National Ballet School and a year before she was supposed to graduate. Five months after she joined the company, she danced her first principal role, Myrtha in ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' ( , ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (; ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet () in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first perfor ...

'', and found out she had to dance the role two days before the performance. ''The Evening Standard'' called her "the rising star of English ballet", and speculated that she might be "the new

Darcey Bussell Dame Darcey Andrea Bussell (born Marnie Mercedes Darcey Pemberton Crittle; 27 April 1969) is a retired English ballet dancer, ballerina and a former judge on the BBC television dance contest ''Strictly Come Dancing''. Trained at the Arts Educ ...

". Summerscales was promoted to first soloist at the end of the 2012/13 season, and made her debut as Odette-Odile in ''

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 ...

'' in 2013. She was named a principal dancer in January 2016. In September 2017, she joined the Bavarian State Ballet in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

as a Principal dancer. In 2018, she left the English National Ballet and began to dance full-time in Munich.

Selected repertoire

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

in '' Alice's Adventure in Wonderland'' *Nikiya in ''

La Bayadère ''La Bayadère'' ("the temple dancer") ( ru. «Баядерка», ''Bayaderka'') is an 1877 ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by the French choreographer Marius Petipa to music by Ludwig Minkus and libretto by . The ba ...

'' *Giselle and Myrtha in ''

'' ( Mary Skeaping) *Myrtha in ''Giselle'' ( Peter Wright) *Myrtha and Bathilde in ''Giselle'' ( Akram Khan) *Odette/Odile in ''

'' *Clara/Sugar Plum in ''

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 ...

'' (

Wayne Eagling Wayne Eagling (born 27 November 1950) is a Canadian ballet dancer, now retired. After more than twenty years as a popular member of The Royal Ballet in London, he became well known as an international choreographer and company director. Early li ...

) *The Ballerina/Louise in ''The Nutcracker'' *Marie in ''The Nutcracker'' (Andrey Petrov) *Madora and Gulnara in ''

Le Corsaire ''Le Corsaire'' is a ballet typically presented in three acts, with a libretto originally created by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges loosely based on the poem '' The Corsair'' by Lord Byron. Originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to ...

'' *

Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist Ro ...

in ''

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 ...

'' (

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev (17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet-born ballet dancer and choreographer. Nureyev is widely regarded as the preeminent male ballet dancer of his generation as well as one of the greatest ballet dancers of all ...

) *Swanilda and Prayer in ''

Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Éti ...

'' *Lise in ''

La Fille Mal Gardée LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

'' *Carmen in ''Carmen'' (

Carlos Acosta Carlos Yunior Acosta Quesada (born 2 June 1973) is a Cuban-British ballet director and retired dancer who is director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. He danced with many companies, including the English National Ballet, National Ballet o ...

) *Kitri in ''

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 ...

'' *Tatiana and Olga in '' Onegin'' *Anna and Kitty in ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, Анна Каренина, p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Tolstoy called it his first true novel. It was initially released in serial in ...

'' *Rubies in ''

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 ...

'' *

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer * Saint Helena (disambiguation), this includes places Places Greece * Helena ...

in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (

John Neumeier John Neumeier (born February 24, 1939) is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director. He was the director and principal choreographer of Hamburg Ballet from 1973 to 2024 and the artistic director of the ballet at the Hamburg State ...

) *Lilac Fairy in '' The Sleeping Beauty'' *Pas de trois in '' Suite en Blanc'' *Firebird and The Purist Lady in ''

The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (; ) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Michel Fokine, who c ...

'' *''

In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated IN, In or in may refer to: Dans * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independen ...

'' *''Petit Mort'' *''Fantastic Beings''

Personal life

In summer 2017, she married fellow English National Ballet dancer Yonah Acosta, originally from Cuba, and the nephew of

. They lived in Woking during their time in ENB. They are now based in Munich, Germany.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Summerscales, Laurretta Living people English National Ballet principal dancers People from Woking British prima ballerinas English expatriates in Germany 21st-century British ballet dancers 1993 births