NILAS MARTINS - Guest Dancer (California Riverside Ballet The Nutcracker 2006)

Nilas Martins is a principal dancer with New York City Ballet.  Born in Copenhagen, Mr. Martins received his early dance training at the Royal Danish Ballet School starting at age seven.  As a student he performed with the Royal Danish Ballet in such works as John Neumeier’s Romeo and Juliet; August Bournon¬ville’s Konservatoriet, A Folk Tale, and Napoli; and Glen Tetley’s Firebird. In 1984, he moved to New York and en¬rolled at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet. At SAB’s annual Spring Workshop performances he danced in George Balanchine’s Cortège Hongrois and Who Cares?, Jerome Robbins’ The Concert, and Bournonville’s Konservatoriet.  In June 1986 he became an apprentice with New York City Ballet, and in September of the same year he was made a member of the Company’s corps de ballet.  During the 1991 spring season he was promoted to the rank of soloist, and in February of 1993, he was promoted to principal dancer.

Since joining New York City Ballet, Mr. Martins has danced featured roles in Balanchine’s Agon, Allegro Brillante, Apollo, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, Chaconne, Concerto Barocco, Cortège Hongrois, Divertimento No. 15, Duo Concertant, The Four Temperaments, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Glinka Pas de Trois, Haieff Divertimento, Diamonds from Jewels, Kammermusik No. 2, Liebeslieder Walzer, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Monumentum pro Gesualdo, Orpheus, Raymonda Variations, Robert Schumann’s “Davidsbündlertänze,” Scotch Symphony, Serenade, Square Dance, Sonatine, Stars and Stripes, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Swan Lake, Symphony in C, Symphony in Three Movements, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3, Union Jack, Vienna Waltzes, Walpurgisnacht Ballet, Western Symphony, and Who Cares?; Peter Martins’ Adams Violin Concerto, Ash, Concerti Armonici, Beethoven Romance, Delight of the Muses, Fearful Symmetries, Jazz (Six Syncopated Movements), Jeu de Cartes, Reliquary, The Sleeping Beauty, Slonimsky’s Earbox, Stabat Mater, Swan Lake, Tanzspiel, Todo Buenos Aires, and The Waltz Project; Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering, Fanfare, The Four Seasons, Glass Pieces, The Goldberg Variations, Mother Goose, and Opus 19/The Dreamer; Robbins and Twyla Tharp’s collaboration, Brahms/Handel; and Susan Stroman’s “Makin’ Whoopee!” (Edward Meekin) from Double Feature.  Principal roles were created for Mr. Martins in Boris Eifman’s Musagète; Miriam Mahdaviani’s Appalachia Waltz; Mr. Martins’ Guide to Strange Places, Morgen, and Thou Swell; Trey McIntyre’s Steel and Rain; Kevin O’Day’s Badchonim and Open Strings; and Richard Tanner’s Ancient Airs and Dances and Schoenberg/Wuorinen Variations.

Mr. Martins appeared on the “Live From Lincoln Center” broadcast of Ray Charles in Concert with the New York City Ballet, in a role created for him by Peter Martins from A Fool for You.  He also danced the role of “Hot Chocolate” in the film version of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, produced by Elektra Entertainment/New Regency Enterprises, and released in November 1993 by Warner Brothers.  In addition, he has appeared on PBS’s “Dance in America” telecast of “Dinner With Balanchine,” which was the finale to the Company’s eight-week Balanchine Celebration in June 1993, and in May of 2004 he appeared in the Live From Lincoln Center broadcast of “Lincoln Center Celebrates Balanchine 100,” dancing in “The Man I Love” from Who Cares?.

In 1995, Mr. Martins choreographed and composed his first piece, Maiden Melody, for the School of American Ballet’s New Choreography Workshop.