After a year of national accolades and career milestones, six-year Atlanta Ballet dancer Mikaela Santos found herself speechless when cast as Marie, the primary female protagonist in the 2023 production of The Nutcracker.
“I was like, ‘Whoa. Is this real?’” Santos says. “It’s something I’ve always thought a lot about. I’ve watched people do it for six years, so I always asked myself, ‘Would I be able to do that?’”
A native of Manila, Philippines, Santos joined Atlanta Ballet’s fellowship program at the age of 17. Atlanta Ballet Artistic Director Gennadi Nedvigin noticed her at the 2016 World Ballet Competition in Orlando, Florida, where she was a top-15 finalist. Santos spent a year with Atlanta Ballet 2 before becoming an apprentice in 2017 and a company member in 2018.
“She was a young but determined competitor with strong technical skills that demonstrated great potential to become a professional dancer,” Nedvigin says. “After joining Atlanta Ballet 2 and now six years with the company, Mikaela has gained the confidence and artistry needed to perform a lead role. She developed her own style and personality while on stage.”
In March, Santos debuted as Kitri in Yuri Possokhov’s Don Quixote, her first full-length ballet, and was named to Dance Magazine’s annual “25 to Watch” list in July. She also was a standout in Atlanta Ballet’s production of Snowblind in February.
She will take the stage as Marie for the first performance of The Nutcracker on December 8 and in four additional performances. (Atlanta Ballet will present 19 performances of The Nutcracker from December 8 through December 26 at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, with four different casts.)
Choreographed by Possokhov in 2019 for Atlanta Ballet, this larger-than-life production features high-tech scenery…
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