In “Afro-Puerto Rican dancer Helga Paris-Morales at London’s Black Company Ballet,” Black Art in Puerto Rico blog announced this week that Puerto Rican dancer Helga Paris-Morales has been selected by London dance company Ballet Black as a new artist for the 2022-2023 season.
London’s Ballet Black Company has selected young Afro-Puerto Rican ballerina Helga Paris-Morales as the newest member of its Young Artist category for the 2022-2023 season.
Helga Yarí Paris-Morales, who was born in San Juan Puerto Rico in 2000, grew up with the music and dance of her birth, bomba and plena. When she was seven, Helga and her family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she began training at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. From 2008 to 2016 she studied tap, musical theater and classical ballet. Helga participated in intensive summer programs and received scholarships at the American Ballet Theatre, the Joffrey Ballet, the Kansas City Ballet, and the Cincinnati Ballet.
In 2016, Helga was selected by Julie Kent, former Principal Dancer and Artistic Director of the Washington Ballet, to attend the Washington Ballet School’s pre-professional training program and apprentice program. She was promoted in 2018 to TWB’s Studio Company and has held various roles within the company’s repertoire including Allegro Brillanteby George Balanchine; sleeping Beauty, by Julie Kent; and works by Johnathan Heginbotham.
Helga was commissioned in 2020 to choreograph a ballet and direct a film for the Washington Ballet about her new works. Season of Joy. Since then, she has created numerous works for the company and the school. Helga joins Cassa Pancho’s Ballet Black for its 2022/23 season as a new artist.
[Photo above by Jorge Colón.]
Translated by Ivette Romero. For the original article, see https://puertoricoblackart.blogspot.com/2022/08/la-bailarina-afropuertorriquena-helga.html
See more about Ballet Black at https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/25/arts/dance/ballet-black-london.html
