MoCo is thrilled to welcome Kathleen Breen Combes, Principal Dancer with Boston Ballet, and Yury Yanowsky, retired Principal Dancer with Boston Ballet, to the stage in this year’s production of The Nutcracker! It is a valuable opportunity for MoCo students to dance alongside these talented professionals; learning from and being inspired by them.
Kathleen & Yury on stage in MoCo’s ‘The Nutcracker’.
Kathleen Breen Combes trained with Magda Aunon at the Fort Lauderdale Ballet Classique, the HARID Conservatory and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and in 2002 she joined the Washington Ballet. She joined Boston Ballet in 2003 and was promoted to second soloist in 2005, soloist in 2007, and to principal dancer in 2009. Since joining Boston Ballet, she has performed a broad variety of works, including lead roles in Jorma Elo’s Carmen, August Bournonville’s La Sylphide (Effie), James Kudelka’s Cinderella (Stepsister, Moss Fairy), Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen, Dewdrop), William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, Maina Gielgud’s Giselle (Giselle, Myrtha, Peasant pas de deux), Asaf Messerer’s Spring Waters pas de deux, Christopher Wheeldon’s Polyphonia, Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room, Helen Pickett’s Etesian, Eventide and Tsukiyo, Jirí Kylián’s Falling Angels, Petite Mort, and No More Play, George Balanchine’s Serenade, La Valse, The Four Temperaments, and Diamonds. Breen Combes was awarded the Lefkowitz Award for Special Achievement at the New York International Ballet Competition at Lincoln Center in 2003 and she was featured on the cover of Dance Magazine in 2007.
Yury Yanowsky was born in Lyon, France and grew up in Madrid and Las Palmas, Spain. He began his ballet training with his parents, Carmen Robles and Anatole Yanowsky, and also studied at the National Ballet of Cuba. Yanowsky joined Boston Ballet’s corps de ballet in 1993, was promoted to soloist in 1995 and to principal in 1999. His Boston Ballet repertoire includes Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, Rudolf Nureyev’s Don Quixote, John Cranko’s The Taming of the Shrew and Onegin, Val Caniparoli’s Lady of the Camellias and Lambarena, Stanton Welch’s Madame Butterfly, Maina Gielgud’s Giselle, Jorma Elo’s Carmen and Le Sacre du Printemps, Jirí Kylián’s Sarabande, No More Play and Petite Mort, Christopher Wheeldon’s Corybantic Ecstasies and Polyphonia, William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, Helen Pickett’s Etesian, George Balanchine’s Rubies, Prodigal Son, The Four Temperaments and Stars and Stripes, Asaf Messerer’s Spring Waters, Peter Martins’ Distant Light, and Marius Petipa’s Raymonda Act III. In 1992 he won first prize at the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland and the Silver Medal at Varna International Ballet Competition, and in 1994 he won the Silver Medal in the Senior Division at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi. Throughout his career, Yanowsky has participated in numerous international ballet galas.
Ms. Breen Combes and Mr. Yanowsky’s performance is made possible by MoCo’s Professional Series, a special fund at MoCo Arts that allows our students unique and valuable opportunities to work alongside professionals in their field including guest appearances in MoCo performances, workshops in our studios, and more. The best part, MoCo students never pay an additional fee for these valuable experiences.
