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 The Roanoke Ballet Theatre Trainee Program is for dancers ages 17 and older who are wanting to continue refining their technique and artistic abilities while gaining performance experience in a professional company.
 

Students are selected to participate in the Trainee Program by invitation from Roanoke Ballet Theatre’s Executive Director, Sandra Meythaler and Artistic Director, Rolando Sarabia.

Ms. Meythaler was a principal ballerina with the National Ballet of Ecuador. She began dancing professionally at the age of fifteen with Compania Nacional de Dance in Ecuador and then joined the National Ballet of Ecuador in 1989. She also danced with Ballet Novo, Opera Ecuador and Koral y Esmeralda. In 2001Sandra became a part of Roanoke Ballet Theatre and was promoted to Director in 2007. She is also a professor of dance at Washington and Lee University.

 

Ms. Meythaler’s awards include:
Silver Medal – Festival International de Dance – Dijon, France – 1986, Bronze Medal – Festival de Dance –Gastrovillari, Italy – 1986, Best Performance – Festival International de Dance – Tarascon, France – 1988,Nominated Best Interpretation – Festival of Choreography – Ecuador – 1991, Award given by Hitoshi Motochino, Mayor Nagasaki – 1994, Gold Medal – Awarded by Organization MINON, Tokyo – 1994
 

Rolando Sarabia is a Cuban ballet dancer of international acclaim who has danced with companies throughout the world including the Cuban National Ballet, Houston Ballet and Miami City Ballet. He danced with American Ballet Theatre as a guest artist in 2011 and is a principal dancer with the Washington Ballet. Sarabia is often compared to the young Mikhail Baryshnikov and has been called the “Cuban Nijinsky” by The New York Times. Sarabia grew up among ballet dancers and his father was a dancer with the Cuban National Ballet. He was trained by his father, Alicia Alonso, Lázaro Carreño and Magaly Suarez at the National Ballet School in Havana. He has performed with renowned dancers including Maya Plisetskaya, Patrick Dupont, Farouk Ruzimatov, Alicia Alonso and Tamara Rojo among others. Sarabia is the recipient of the Prix Benois de la Danse, Concours International de Danse de Paris, Varna International Ballet Competition, Gold Medal USA International Ballet Com-petition, Gold Medal 1998 International Ballet Competition and Grand Prix 1998International Encounter of Ballet Academies among others.
 

 

Schedule and Tuition:
The Trainee Program begins on August 1st and runs through the beginning of June.
Dancers will train and rehearse 6 days/week totally 25+ hours per week.
Tuition for the 2022-2023 season:
$1000 deposit due upon enrollment
$6,000 paid in full by August 1st, or $650/month for 10 monthly payments.
Performance Opportunities:
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4 Main Series shows Dracula (October 28th-29th, 3 shows), Nutcracker (December 16th/17th/18th, 5
shows),
Show TBA (March), Giselle (June 12th)
- 2 Black Box performances- invited by audition to perform with the company, possibility to choreograph
- Touring Shows- invited by audition to perform with the company
- Outreach and Lecture Demonstration Performances
- Spring Recital
Weekly Classes:
- Pointe
- Ballet
- Modern
- Contemporary
- Partnering
- Variations
- Dance Composition
- Character
- Strength/Conditioning
- Various Master Classes
Past productions have included: Dracula, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Cinderella, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Giselle, Snow White excerpts from Le Corsaire, Paquita, Coppelia, La Esmeralda, La Bayadere,
Pas de Quatre, and original contemporary and neoclassical works by the directors, Sandra Meythaler, Rolando Sarabia, Renee Olson, Norbert Nirewicz.

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Admission to the Trainee program is by audition only.

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All applicants must submit the following materials:

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A headshot with ballet hairstyle
 

First arabesque photo (ladies – on pointe)

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A video or YouTube link of less than 5 minutes including class and performance work*

A resume

 

This year all auditions will be held virtually via submitted video, and may also include a follow up Zoom interview.
 

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To set up an audition please email all materials to: smeythaler@roanokeballet.org

*Audition materials will not be returned

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