SarahAnne Perel is an American ballerina. Since 2024, she has danced with the
Miami City Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet. Perel was formerly a dancer with
Carolina Ballet
Carolina Ballet is one of America's arts organizations, programming traditional ballets and new works by contemporary choreographers. The Ballet was launched as a professional company in 1998 under the direction of Founding Artistic Director Rober ...
and
Los Angeles Ballet
Los Angeles Ballet (LAB) is a classical ballet company based in Los Angeles. While rehearsals take place at the Los Angeles Ballet Center, the company tours its performances to venues across the metropolitan area, including the Dolby Theatre, Pas ...
.
Early life, education, and training
Perel grew up in New York.
From 2004 to 2014, she attended the
School of American Ballet
The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the age of six, with professional voc ...
.
[ During her time as a student at the ]School of American Ballet
The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the age of six, with professional voc ...
, she performed with the New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...
in productions of ''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 ...
'', ''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 ...
'', and '' Circus Polka'' and attended summer intensives at San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fra ...
, Miami City Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet
Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is an American ballet company based in Seattle, Washington. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States, with 11,000 subscribers in 2004.
The company consists of 49 dancers and hosts ...
.[ Perel studied under ]Suzanne Farrell
Suzanne Farrell (born August 16, 1945) is a former American ballerina and the founder of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Farrell began her ballet training as a child in Cincinnati. In 1960, she received a ...
at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. for three summers.[
She graduated from the School of American Ballet and the ]Professional Children's School
The Professional Children's School (PCS) is a not-for-profit, college-preparatory school geared toward working and aspiring child actors and dancers in grades four through twelve. The school was founded in New York City in 1914 to provide an ac ...
in 2014.[
She earned a bachelor of arts degree from ]Duke University
Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...
, where she majored in international and comparative studies and minored in dance and Spanish language.[ While in school, she participated in ]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 residency at Duke University as well as Alonzo King / LINES Ballet's and Ballet X's residencies.[ She was a recipient of the Clay Taliaferro Award in 2018 and the Julia Wray Award in 2020 from Duke's dance department.][
She served as the artistic director of Devils en Pointe, a student-run ballet organization at Duke University, and performed in the organization's productions of ''The Nutcracker'', '' The Sleeping Beauty'', '']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 ...
'', and ''Pandora's Box''.[
]
Career
In 2014, Perel joined the corps de ballet at Los Angeles Ballet
Los Angeles Ballet (LAB) is a classical ballet company based in Los Angeles. While rehearsals take place at the Los Angeles Ballet Center, the company tours its performances to venues across the metropolitan area, including the Dolby Theatre, Pas ...
and danced with the company until 2018.[ While dancing with Los Angeles Ballet, she performed in works by ]George Balanchine
George Balanchine (;
Various sources:
*
*
*
* born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...
, Sir Frederick Ashton, Colleen Neary, and Thordal Christensen including ''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 ...
'', ''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 ...
'', and '' Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2''.[ She danced the Rose lead in '' Waltz of the Flowers'' with Los Angeles Ballet at the ]Dolby Theatre
The Dolby Theatre (formerly known as the Kodak Theatre) is a live-performance auditorium in the Ovation Hollywood shopping mall and entertainment complex, on Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue (Los Angeles), Highland Avenue, in the Holly ...
.[ She also taught ballet at the Los Angeles Ballet School.][
In 2018, upon invitation by ballet mistress Debra Austin, she joined ]Carolina Ballet
Carolina Ballet is one of America's arts organizations, programming traditional ballets and new works by contemporary choreographers. The Ballet was launched as a professional company in 1998 under the direction of Founding Artistic Director Rober ...
as a guest artist.[ In 2020, she joined the corps de ballet at Carolina Ballet.][ She danced in Carolina Ballet's production of ''The Nutcracker'' for three seasons and performed 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 ...
'' and George Balanchine's ''Serenade
In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honour of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Ital ...
''.[ While dancing at Carolina Ballet, she also worked as a dance teacher at Triangle Day School and Barriskill Dance Theater School in ]Durham, North Carolina
Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...
and tutored Spanish-speaking students at Durham School of the Arts.[
In 2023, she was featured in '']Dance Magazine
''Dance Magazine'' is an American trade publication for dance. It was first published in June 1927 as ''The American Dancer''. ''Dance Magazine'' is currently part of Dance Media, led by longtime arts publisher Joanna Harp as president, and has mu ...
''.
In 2024, she joined the corps de ballet at Miami City Ballet. In November 2024, she performed in Miami City Ballet's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...
'' as a member of Queen Tatiana's retinue.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perel, SarahAnne
Living people
21st-century American ballet dancers
American ballerinas
American ballet teachers
Carolina Ballet dancers
Dancers from New York (state)
Duke University alumni
Los Angeles Ballet dancers
Miami City Ballet dancers
School of American Ballet alumni
Date of birth missing (living people)
Year of birth missing (living people)