Pacific Northwest Ballet announces new hires

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Artistic Director Peter Boal has announced the hiring of six new dancers to join the company’s ranks in the upcoming 2015-2016 season. Guillaume Basso, Henry Cotton, Cecilia Iliesiu, Miles Pertl and Madison Sugg will all be joining PNB as members of the corps de ballet. Furthermore, Boal also hired Angeli Mamon as an apprentice, making her the first female student from Pacific Northwest Ballet School’s DanceChance program to join the company. Get to know PNB’s new corps dancers below.

First up, dancer Guillaume Basso is from Dijon, France. He trained with Sylvain Boniface at the Conservatory of Dijon and with Bernard Boucher at the Paris Opera Ballet School, and he attended a summer course at Houston Ballet School. After joining Houston Ballet II in 2010, he joined the Joffrey Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2012.

While a member of Houston Ballet II, Basso performed leading and featured roles in: Jules Perrot and Jean Coralli’s Giselle; John Neumeier’s Nijinsky; Marius Petipa’s Paquita, Raymonda and Swan Lake (Black Swan pas de deux); Ben Stevenson’s The Nutcracker; and Stanton Welch’s Blue, Brigade and Long & Winding Road. At Joffrey Ballet, he performed leading and featured roles in: Gerald Arpino’s Viva Vivaldi, George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Alexander Ekman’s Episode 31, Robert Joffrey’s The Nutcracker, and Yuri Possokhov’s RAkU. Basso was a semi-finalist in the 2010 Prix de Lausanne and 2014 Jackson International Ballet Competition. He has also performed as a guest artist with the Grand Theatre of Dijon.

Next, new hire Henry Cotton is from Portland, Oregon. He began his training at The Portland Ballet and continued at San Francisco Ballet School. He attended summer courses at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School and the School of American Ballet. He then joined San Francisco Ballet as a trainee in 2013, and joined Oregon Ballet Theatre as an apprentice in 2014. While a trainee at SFB, Cotton performed and toured with the company, working with numerous choreographers, including Christopher Wheeldon.

Cotton has performed roles in Helgi Tomasson’s Giselle and Nutcracker and Wheeldon’s Cinderella. At OBT, he performed works by Balanchine, Nacho Duato, Nicolo Fonte, James Kudelka and Ben Stevenson. Cotton has also performed as a guest artist with The Portland Ballet, performing Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, among other works. In 2014, he performed in the 10th anniversary festival of Men in Dance.

Thirdly, dancer Cecilia Iliesiu is from New York, New York. She studied at the School of American Ballet and also with Francois Perron and Deborah Wingert at Studio Maestro. She attended summer courses at Boston Ballet School, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Chautauqua Institute, San Francisco Ballet School and William Forsythe’s ART of workshop under Kathryn Bennetts.

Iliesiu joined Carolina Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2009 and was promoted to soloist in 2014. At Carolina Ballet, Iliesiu danced leading and featured roles in George Balanchine’s Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, The Four Temperaments, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Rubies; Marius Petipa’s Giselle; Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free; Christopher Stowell’s Rite of Spring; and Robert Weiss’ Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. She also originated numerous roles in ballets by Zalman Raffael and Robert Weiss.

Next, Miles Pertl is from Seattle, Washington. He trained at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, International Ballet Academy in Kirkland, Washington and the John Cranko Schule in Stuttgart, and he attended summer courses at San Francisco Ballet School. He joined Stuttgart Ballet as an apprentice in 2010 and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2011. He next joined Het Nationale Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2012.

While a member of Stuttgart Ballet, Pertl performed leading and featured roles in Bridget Breiner’s Double Bass Concerto, Marco Goecke’s Black Breath, and Kenneth MacMillan’s Concerto. At Het Nationale Ballet, he performed leading and featured roles in Juanjo Arques’ Roulette; Frederick Ashton’s The Dream (Lysander); George Balanchine’s Agon, Serenade and Symphony in C; Jorma Elo’s Shape; Michel Fokine’s Les Sylphides; and Petipa’s Giselle (Peasant pas de deux) and Raymonda. In 2007, he won the Youth America Grand Prix Semi-Finals in San Francisco and Youth America Grand Prix Finals in New York. He’s also performed as a guest artist for gala performances in England, Italy, Moscow and New York. He’s choreographed works for the Noverre Society in Stuttgart, Danza Estate in Gubbio, Italy, and New Moves in Amsterdam.

Another local, dancer Madison Sugg is from Gig Harbor, Washington. She trained on scholarship at Tacoma City Ballet and PNB School and attended summer courses at ABT. She participated in PNB School’s exchange with the Palucca University of Dance in Dresden, where she also performed with Dresden Semperoper Ballett.

Sugg joined Ballet West as an apprentice in 2014. At Ballet West, she performed roles in Balanchine’s Square Dance, Willam Christensen’s The Nutcracker, and Adam Sklute’s Giselle and Swan Lake.

Lastly, new hire Angeli Mamon is also from Seattle, Washington. She trained on scholarship at PNB School, beginning as a DanceChance student in 2003. She attended summer courses at PNB School, Miami City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet School, and the School of American Ballet. In 2014, she participated in PNB School’s exchange with the Palucca University of Dance in Dresden, where she was also a guest apprentice with Dresden Semperoper Ballett.

While a student at PNB School, Mamon performed corps de ballet roles in company performances of Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Serenade, Peter Boal’s Giselle, Alexei Ratmansky’s Don Quixote and Kent Stowell’s Nutcracker. She also originated a leading role in a ballet by Kyle Davis for PNB’s annual NEXT STEP choreographers’ showcase and performed leading roles in dances from Le Corsaire for PNB School’s Annual School Performance.

For more information on PNB, its upcoming season or newly hired dancers, visit http://www.pnb.org.

Photo (top): Madison Sugg in PNB studios. Photo by Michael Sugg. Photo (left): Miles Pertl dancing with Victoria Ananyan and Jurgita Dronina at the Het Nationale Ballet. Photo by Angela Sterling. Photo (right): Cecilia Iliesiu in The Four Temperaments with Carolina Ballet. Photo by Denise Cerniglia.