Xiomara Reyes (born October 28, 1973, in Havana, Cuba) is a former principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. After retiring from performing she was appointed the Head of School of The Washington Ballet School.
Training and Career
Born in Cuba, Reyes trained at Havana Vocational School of Ballet and the Cuban National Ballet School, where she studied with Loipa Araujo. While in school, Reyes performed lead roles in The Three Musketeers at 15, Don Quixote at 16, and Coppelia at 17. Following graduation, she danced as a soloist with La Joven Guardia, the second company of Cuban National Ballet, under the direction of Laura Alonso who continued to cast her in leading roles with the ensemble. Soon afterwards she joined Cuban National Ballet. In 1994, after two years with the company, she was invited to perform as Giselle with the Royal Ballet of Flanders. Reyes accepted the offer and spent her next seven years dancing in Belgium, rising to the rank of first soloist. During this period Reyes was a frequent participant in major ballet competitions throughout the world resulting in her winning the gold medal for the Best Soloist at the International Ballet Competition of Chiclayo, Peru; Best Couple Prize at the XIV International Ballet Competition Varna; Silver Medal at the Cinquième Concours International de Danse de Paris; and Second Prize at the International Ballet Competition of Luxembourg. She also performed with Jeune Ballet de France, Balleto Del Sud, Nafsika Dance Theater, the International Dance Festival in Korea, Bashkirian State Ballet, and with numerous companies throughout Europe and The United States.
Career with ABT
In 2001, Reyes was invited to join American Ballet Theatre as a Guest Artist, after which she was appointed a soloist with the company. In 2003, following a succession of rave reviews and major role debuts - including from The New York Times' Jennifer Dunning for her performance as Kitri alongside Angel Corrella in Don Quixote - Reyes was promoted to principal dancer. During her time at ABT, her regular partner was Herman Cornejo, though she also danced alongside Julio Bocca, Jose Manuel Carreno, Vladimir Malakhov, Ivan Vasiliev, and Gennadi Saveliev.
While with the company, Reyes was noted for dancing an exceptionally diverse repertoire which included a leading role in Allegro Brillante, Nikiya and a Shade in La Bayadère, the first and fourth movements in Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, Cinderella in Cinderella, Swanilda in Coppélia, Medora, Gulnare, and an Odalisque in Le Corsaire, a leading role in Désir, Who Was She? in Dim Lustre, Kitri and Amour in Don Quixote, Sibyl in Dorian, Titania in The Dream, Anne in Christopher Wheeldon's VIII, Lise in La Fille mal gardée, the peasant pas de deux, Moyna, and Giselle in Giselle, Le Grand Pas de Deux, His Memory and His Experiences in Here After, the Two of Diamonds in Jeu de Cartes, Prudence in Lady of the Camellias, Manon in Manon, Valencienne in The Merry Widow, Clara and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, the Debutante in Offenbach in the Underworld, Desdemona is Othello, Olga in Onegin, the Ballerina in Petrouchka, the Youngest Sister in Pillar of Fire, Raymonda in Raymonda, the Cowgirl in Rodeo, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Princess Aurora and Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty, the Young Girl in Le Spectre de la Rose, Zina in The Bright Stream, the pas de trois and the Hungarian Princess in Swan Lake, the third movement in Symphony in C, the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, and leading roles in Brief Fling,T he Brahms-Haydn Variations, Clear, Études, Glow - Stop, The Leaves Are Fading, Overgrown Path, Petite Mort and Without Words. Additionally she created leading roles in Alexei Ratmansky's Seven Sonatas and Ann Reinking's Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison.
Of her performances alongside Herman Cornejo with ABT in London, Mark Monahan wrote for The Daily Telegraph, "Accompanied by the bewitching Xiomara Reyes – spring-loaded ballon, gossamer hands – he unleashes a fearsome barrage of grand technical brilliance, as controlled as it is exuberant. Together, this extraordinary hispanic duo make the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux blaze from the stage – you grin helplessly, and can barely resist the impulse to get up and join them." Clement Crisp, writing for The Financial Times commented, "I much admired the way Xiomara Reyes and Herman Cornejo dealt with the ensuing Tchaikovsky pas de deux by Balanchine, which was to take no prisoners. Bravura. Lots of pirouettes; lots of steps cut dazzlingly in the air; lots of charm. And lots and lots of deserved applause."