Yanela Piñera

Introducing Yanela

Born in Cuba, Yanela graduated from the National Ballet School in Havana in 2004. She danced with the National Ballet of Cuba for 11 years where she was promoted to Principal Dancer at the age of 22. She joined Queensland Ballet as a Principal Artist in 2015.

She has performed on many of the most important stages around the world, The Coliseum in London, the Bolshoi Theatre and Kremlin Theatre in Moscow, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, among others. Yanela has also performed as a guest Principal Dancer with Kremlin Ballet, Texas Ballet Theatre, Gala Les Etoiles and other Dance Festivals and Galas worldwide.

Repertoire Highlights

'Odile/Odette' in Swan Lake 
'Kitri' in Don Quixote 
'Giselle' in Ai-Gul Gasina's Giselle 
'Queen of the Willis' in Ai-Gul Gasina's Giselle 
'Princess Auroa' in The Sleeping Beauty 
'Juliet' in Kenneth MacMillans’ Romeo and Juliet 
'Nikiya' in Greg Horseman’s La Bayadère
George Balanchine‘s Theme and variations
'Ballerina' in Harald Lander's Etudes
'Bethena Waltz Couple' in Kenneth MacMillan's Elite Syncopations
'Titania' in Liam Scarlett's A Midsummer Night's Dream
'Hermia' in Liam Scarlett's A Midsummer Night's Dream
'Carmen' in Carlos Acosta's Carmen
'Liz' in Marc Ribaud's La Fille Magarde
'Cinerella' in Ben Stevenson's Cinderella
'Principal Rhapsody in Blue' in Derek Deane's Strictly Gershwin
Jerome Robbin’s In the Night
'Snow Queen' in Ben Stevenson's The Nutcracker
'Sugar Plum Fairy' in Ben Stevenson's The Nutcracker
'Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil' in Liam Scarlett's Dangerous Liaisons
'Cecile' in Liam Scarlett's Dangerous Liaisons
'Waltz Couple' in George Balanchine's Serenade

Professional Accolades

Gold medal at the international ballet comp in Havana 2000. 
Silver Medal at the international ballet competition in Varna Bulgaria 2004.
Gold medal and Best Artist award 2004, International ballet Comp Havana. 
Nominated for Most Outstanding Dancer by the Critics Dance Australia, 2017

Did you know…

Yanela loves to bake in her spare time, with cheesecakes being her culinary specialty.

One of her biggest dance inspirations is her Cuban ballet teacher, Loipa Araujo, who aimed to pass down her love and passion for the art form to her young students.