Ambra Vallo

Born in Naples, Ambra Vallo trained at the Royal Ballet School of Flanders. At 17 she became a Soloist with the Royal Ballet of Walloons and the Royal Ballet of Flanders. She joined English National Ballet in 1993 and was soon promoted to Senior Soloist. Ambra joined Birmingham Royal Ballet in 1996 and like all of the Company's Principals has great versatility. She excels in dramatic roles, such as Juliet, Giselle and Roxane in Cyrano, shone as the vivacious Swanilda in Coppélia and Lise in La Fille mal gardée, and the effervescent Titania in The Shakespeare Suite was created for her. Recent creations of great individuality have also included the Wild Girl in Beauty and the Beast and Pimpinella in Kim Brandstrup's Pulcinella. Ambra has won a number of prestigious prizes and awards, and is also much in demand as a guest artist in her native Italy. Recently she has danced the title role in Giselle, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Queen Isabella in Bintley's Edward II and Swanilda in Coppélia, during the Company's 2008 tour to Japan.


REPERTORY INCLUDES
Frederick Ashton: La Fille mal gardée (Lise), The Two Pigeons (Young Girl), Enigma Variations (Dorabella), Symphonic Variations, Voices of Spring and The Walk to the Paradise Garden
George Balanchine: Apollo (Polyhymnia), The Four Temperaments (Sanguine Variation), Concerto barocco, Serenade, Symphony in Three Movements, Tarantella, Tchaikovsky pas de deux and Western Symphony
David Bintley: Arthur (Guinevere), Beauty and the Beast (Belle, Wild Girl), Cyrano (Roxanne), Edward II (Isabella), Far from the Madding Crowd (Bathsheba), Hobson's Choice (Vickey Hobson, Salvation Army), Carmina burana (Lover Girl), The Seasons ('Spring'), Choros, Dance House and David Bintley and Galina Samsova's production of Giselle (Giselle)
Kenneth MacMillan: Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), Elite Syncopations ('Calliope Rag') and Solitaire (Girl, Polka Girl)
Hans van Manen: Five Tangos
Twyla Tharp: In the Upper Room
Peter Wright's productions of Coppélia (Swanilda), The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy), The Sleeping Beauty (Aurora), and Peter Wright and Galina Samsova's production of Swan Lake (Odette/Odile)

With other companies: Don Quixote (Kitri), Cinderella (title role), Bournonville's Napoli (title role), Le Corsaire, Diana and Actaeon pas de deux, Paquita, La Bayadère, Études (leading role), Graduation Ball and Square Dance

CREATED ROLES
David Bintley: Beauty and the Beast (Wild Girl) The Protecting Veil ('Annunciation') The Shakespeare Suite (Titania)
Kim Brandstrup: Pulcinella (Pimpinella)
Luciano Cannito: Te voglio bene assaje
Stanton Welch: Powder
Lila York: Sanctum

AWARDS
First Prize Luxemburg International Grand Prix; Gold medal Rieti International Competition; Silver medal at Houlgate (France); Positano Critics' Circle Award, 1991, most talented upcoming dancer; Positano Critic's Circle Award, 2002, best performance; Danza & Danza (Best female dancer, critics' award, 2004).

GUEST APPEARANCES
All the major theatres in Italy, including Arena di Verona; Teatro di San Carlo, Naples; Teatro alla Scala, Milan; Opera di Roma; and in Bordeaux and Cuba.