Learn About Atlanta Ballet's New Hires & Dancer Promotions
The dancers are back in the studio learning choreography for the 2016|2017 Season, and there are some new faces among them. Please join us in welcoming our new dancers and artistic staff and congratulating the dancers who were promoted for this season!
New Additions:
Roman Rykine, Ballet Master
Atlanta Ballet is thrilled to introduce Roman Rykine as Ballet Master for the Company. Roman joins Atlanta Ballet from Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, where he taught for the past 5 years.
Roman graduated from the Rudolph Nureyev State Ballet Academy in his hometown of Ufa, Russia. He was a principal dancer with the Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, English National Ballet, and the Bashkir State Opera and Ballet Theatre. One of the exceptional dancers of his generation, Roman danced most of the major classical roles in works including La Fille mal gardée, Sleeping Beauty, La Sylphide, Raymonda - Act III, La Bayadère - Act III, Giselle, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, and Les Sylphides. His repertoire also included many contemporary and neoclassical roles.
Roman was awarded the gold medal and first prize at the International Ballet Competition in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1993. He was awarded a bronze medal at both the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi in 1994 and the Rudolph Nureyev International Ballet Competition in Budapest, Hungary in 1993. Roman also holds the honorary title of “Artist of Merit of the Republic” from the Government of Ufa, Russia.
During his career, Roman was fortunate to learn from a multitude of teachers, choreographers, and coaches, including Yuri Gregorvich, Natalia Makarova, Nacho Duato, Yuri Possokhov, Christopher Wheeldon, Peter Martins, Helgi Tómasson, James Kudelka, Hans van Maanen, and Jorma Elo, among others. Roman toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States and was a guest artist with various ballet companies. He retired from the stage in 2010 and turned his focus to teaching. Roman was a guest faculty member at the Boston Ballet School before joining the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School in January 2012.
Roman will be a tremendous addition to the artistic team, and we are very fortunate to have him join us at Atlanta Ballet.
Monika Haczkiewicz, Company dancer
Monika Haczkiewicz was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV. Throughout her training, she has danced at Nevada Ballet Theatre, Kwak Ballet Academy, Tara Foy’s Elite Ballet, Nevada School of Dance, and Royal Winnipeg Ballet. In 2015, Monika competed in the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP), where she ranked second place in the senior division in the Las Vegas Semi-Finals. She made it to the competition’s final round, where she was able to perform at the Lincoln Centre in New York City as one of the nine girls representing the United States. For the 2015-16 season, Monika received a full-tuition Nijinksky Dance Scholarship to Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Professional Division Program, where she performed the lead in Paquita with the Professional Division in addition to the Paquita pas de trois.
Anderson Souza, Company dancer
A native of South Brazil, Anderson Souza received his training under Jorge Teixeira at the Conservatorio Brasileiro de Danca. After graduating at the age of 17, Souza joined the Cia Brasileira de Ballet in Rio de Janeiro, where he danced principal and soloist roles in many well-known productions and competed in national and international dance competitions, including the Beijing International Ballet Competition. There, Souza also traveled with the Company to perform in presentations in countries such as Colombia, China, Israel, and France. In 2013, Souza joined Gelsey Kirkland Ballet as a company dancer, where he continued performing lead roles that earned praise from national critics, including The New York Times. Some of Souza’s most important roles to date include Wedding Procession choreographed by Leonid Jacobson, Sleeping Beauty (Bluebird), Don Quixote (Basilio, Espada), Cavalry Halt (Phillip), The Nutcracker (Prince), and Swan Lake (Prince Siegfried), among others. Anderson is a fan of all of the arts, and – when he is not dancing – enjoys spending time with friends and family.
Promotions:
Olivia Yoch and Ransom Wilkes Davis were promoted from apprentices to Company members.
Kristen Marshall, Laura Morton, and Keith Reeves were promoted from Fellowship members to apprentices.
Click here for the bios for the full Company and apprentices.