As the Milwaukee Ballet prepares to open its 47th season with a new production of Scheherazade, audiences will see a new dancer on stage in the role of "The Moon Prince." Jonathan Batista comes to Milwaukee from the Cincinnati Ballet. Meanwhile, a more familiar face, Rachel Malehorn, is featured in the second ballet of the double bill, Angels in the Architecture.
This is the beginning of Malehorn’s tenth season with the ballet, but she started performing in the city well before that. "I actually have been dancing here in Milwaukee, in some capacity, since the year 2000," says Malehorn. "It's fun for me to have seen all the ways that Milwaukee has grown as a city and to see how Milwaukee Ballet has grown as a company, too."
Batista has been a bit more nomadic. He's originally from Brazil, and trained for four years in London, but after an injury put his career on hold for a couple years, he headed back to the Americas. He started off at the Miami City Ballet, then headed to National Ballet of Canada, before joining the Boston Ballet and then the Cincinnati Ballet.
The leading artist says he's been enjoying his time in Milwaukee. "It's been really great, I think. I love the city, you know, I love the studios and I really enjoy the people," says Batista. "There's a sense of togetherness in the company, so that's a really good thing."
Malehorn agrees. "It's much better than in an environment where there's just like, harsh competition or like, a lot of criticism," she says. "I think it's a really good community atmosphere at Milwaukee Ballet."
Scheherazade & Angels in Architectureopen October 20, and will run through the weekend.
