Rolando Yanes
Milwaukee Ballet School and Milwaukee Ballet II Director

Rolando Yanes is a native of Villa Clara, Cuba. He received training at the Professional School of the Arts and the Vocational School of Ballet in Santa Clara, Cuba. While in Cuba, Mr. Yanes was a principal dancer with Joven Guardias Centro ProDanza under the direction of Lauren Alonso and Ballet de Camaguey. In 1995, he was awarded the Silver Medal at the prestigious International Ballet Competition in Brasilia, Brazil. Mr. Yanes came to the United States in 1996 as a principal dancer with Milwaukee Ballet Company.

As a principal dancer with Milwaukee Ballet, Mr. Yanes expanded his diverse classical and contemporary repertoire dancing leading roles in such ballets as Romeo & Juliet, Swan Lake, Coppelia, The Nutcracker, and Giselle. His powerful technique and unparalleled partnering skills led to principal roles in La Esmeralda, Spartacus, Troy Game, Who Cares?, Diana and Acteon, and Le Corsaire, as well as major works from leading choreographers like George Balanchine, Choo-San Goh, Robert Joffrey, and Kathryn Posin, among others.

Mr. Yanes is in great demand as a guest artist. He has performed with numerous companies including performances of La Fille Mal Gardee with Ballet Taller de San Juan (Puerto Rico) and The International Ballet Festivals in Havana, Cuba and Maracaibo, Venezuela. Mr. Yanes has also performed with the Rockford Ballet, Pamiro Opera (Green Bay), the Florentine Opera, and on international tours to Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Jamaica.

This marks Mr. Yanes’ fifth year as the director of Milwaukee Ballet II, the official pre-professional program of the Milwaukee Ballet. In addition to performing with Milwaukee Ballet Company, young dancers will continue their development as they perform classical and original choreography in performances and community outreach events in and around Southeast Wisconsin.

Since 2004, Mr. Yanes has been directing Milwaukee Ballet School. His original choreography has been performed by Milwaukee Ballet School’s pre-professional summer program students and Milwaukee Ballet II.

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