Central Welcomes New Tutors to the Artistic Team

Leading Ballet Central 2024 will be Ben Warbis. Ben is a contemporary dancer who has spent most of his career as part of Michael Clark Company, with whom he has performed extensively across Europe, Australia, and America, as well as at London’s Barbican (2009-2020). For stage, Ben has also worked with choreographers including Robert Cohan, Hubert Essakow, and Yolande Yorke-Edgell, as well as with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Lea Anderson, and Alex Reynolds within the realms of film. He will be teaching third year contemporary and leading the Ballet Central Company for the 2024 tour.

Joining Ben teaching the third-year students will be Mariana Gomes. Mariana will teach third year ballet drawing from extensive classical performance experience. After seeing Mariana Gomes dance at the Bolshoi Theatre’s School in Brazil, legendary dancer Vladimir Vasiliev recommended her to the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. After a year’s internship there, Artistic Director Alexei Ratmansky offered her a contract and she became the first Brazilian to join the famed company. She danced for 17 years as a first artist in 35 ballets, including classical, neoclassical, and modern choreography. Mariana also danced many solo roles in La Sylphide, The Nutcracker, Don Quixote and other ballets.

Yolandi Moreira will also be joining Central’s artistic staff this year as a pointe and coaching tutor for first and second-year students. In 2000, she joined the Ballet Theatre Afrikan Company (BTA) as a principal dancer. In 2001 Yolandi became the youngest Giselle ever in South Africa when she appeared as a guest artist with the South African Ballet Theatre (SABT). She joined SABT in April 2008 as a soloist and made her debut with the company as Queen of the Dryads. Since 2012 Yolandi has focused on preparing students for entry into vocational schools and putting them through their dance examinations in the Cecchetti method, as well as coaching in the RAD method and rehabilitating injured dancers with intense body conditioning and floor barre training.