The Metropolitan Ballet of Minneapolis/St.Paul, Minnesota

The Company

About the Metropolitan Ballet

The Metropolitan Ballet, a Twin Cities organization since 2002, is a group of artists with a mission of uniting the communities of dance, music and theater in staging high impact works in the performing art of dance with an emphasis on accessibility, diversity and affordability.

The company's inaugural production of Prokofiev's Ballet Romeo and Juliet was a rave sell out in 2004 at O'Shaughnessy Auditorium with a seating capacity of nearly 2000. This collaboration uniting dancers, actors and The Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies (GTCYS) demonstrated that there is a great demand for large scale ballet productions here in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

The Metropolitan Ballet is committed to it's mission of uniting the communities of dance, music and theater in staging high impact works in the performing art of dance with an emphasis on accessibility, diversity and affordability. Audiences were enthralled with A Classic Gala at the PANTAGES in 2005, which included a celebrity cast and live music. The 2006-2007 full season at The State Theatre concluded with a critically acclaimed restaging of Romeo & Juliet, Agnes DeMille’s RODEO and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The Metropolitan Ballet's 2008 Season included a critically acclaimed GALA at the PANTAGES featuring GISELLE act II and excerpts from Don Q, Esmeralda, Le Corsaire and Carmina Burana. The season finished with a full production of NUTCRACKER and The Mouseking with The KENWOOD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA bringing Tchaikovski's score to life.

Founder / Artistic Director
Erik Sanborn, Founder/Artistic Director of the Metropolitan Ballet Company. Mr. Sanborn, a native of Minnesota, has performed several principal roles including the Nutcracker Prince and Cavalier, Arabian Prince, Snow Cavalier, Blue Bird Pas de Deux, Head Rancher in Rodeo, Prince Florimund in Sleeping Beauty, Fall Pas de Deux in Cinderella and the male lead in CAAM’s Butterfly Lovers choreographed by world renown Chinese Choreographer, Shen Pei. His careers have taken him through 25 countries in Europe, South America, Africa and the Middle East. Film experiences include principal and feature roles in works with B.B.D.O., Digital Video Works, an ABC Movie with Kate Jackson, Northwest Tele-productions, Goib-Hamburg Germany and Anheuser Busch. Erik was a celebrity guest of the Special Olympics event with Tommy DePaolo and Tippy Hedgrin and has been the subject of interviews with numerous programs including NBC Television, PM Magazine and Twin Cities Live. While living in Europe he worked with Talents International Krystel Flath Agency for clients such as OTTO Versand, Neckermann Versand and Vitamin-Genus. Print works include GQ Magazine, Esquire, and Seventeen Magazine. Theater experience principal roles in "Fanny’s Funny Farm" the "Braxton Theater" and the Chimera Theater, Collings Fine Arts, the North-East Play House. Commercial work with Carmichael Lynch, Young Rubicam and Saffer-Cravit are other credits to his career. Mr Sanborn has produced and directed several large productions at The State, Pantages and NORTHRUP theatres including Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer's Night's Dream, Agnes DeMille's RODEO, The Nutcracker and two Classic Ballet Gala events. His accomplishments also include choreographing several works including The Nutcracker and The Mouse King, Paloma, and creating and producing the 2006 Premier of Dracula, A Ballet of Passion, Life and Death. Erik is also an accomplished pianist and dedicates his efforts in the fine arts in the spirit of his late daughter Anna.

Ballet Masters
Tatiana Berenova, Tatiana Berenova Born in Gorky, Russia, Tatiana received her training with Ludmila Bogomolova in the Moscow Choreographic Ballet Academy, the official school of the world renown Bolshoi Ballet. During a very interesting and successful career as an international ballerina, Ms. Berenova attained the rank Prima Ballerina at the National Academic Bolshoi Ballet Theatre of The Republic of Belarus and the Moscow Renaissance Ballet , she was a guest principal dancer with The Mariinski Theatre , The Bolshoi Theatre , The National Ballet Of Denver, Philadelphia Ballet , Moscow Imperial Ballet and many others Russian and American Ballet theatres and companies. Her repertoire includes principal roles in 52 ballets Classical and contemporary choreographers . In 1995, Ms. Berenova was awarded the Grand First Prize and Gold Medal at the Third International Ballet Competition in Luxembourg. During her professional career, Ms. Berenova has worked with legend of Russian Ballet Maya Plisetskaya and great masters of Russian Ballet such as Raisa Struchkova, Nikolai Fadeyechev, Nina Ocipyan,Irina Kolpakova , Michael Lavrovsky as well as many other international ballet stars. Ms. Berenova has toured North America, Europe, and Asia :as -England, France , India, Germany, Norway, Spain, Luxembourg , China, Turkey, Yugoslavia, Italy, Thailand, Denmark, Hong Kong, Taiwan and United States and has performed as a guest artist with many of the world's leading ballet companies. Her TV appearances include international networks such as CBS and a 25-min film entitled " The Dance of Tatiana Berenova" created by Belarus National Television. As a Guest Star Ms. Berenova has also participated in numerous worldwide Festivals and Ballet Galas including " Gala di Balletto " in Spinea ,Venezia / Italy , "Gala des Etoiles" (Gala of the Stars ) /Luxembourg , "A Night of Stars" /United States , series of Gala perform in Paris , Moscow( at the Bolshoi Theatre) and in St.Petersburg (at theMariinsky Theatre). Ms. Berenova has always received great acclaim from dance critics and the public : in Spain her portrayal of Carmen in Alberto Alonso's " Carmen-Suite" received critical acclaim , during her China and Taiwan " Swan Lake " tour Chinese critics described : " her movements as light, fluent and graceful, just like a true swan . Her steps flowed like poetry, and her passion and energy traveled straight from her heart to the hearts of her audience."



Ramon Thielen, born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, began his ballet studies in the Casa de la Cultura Julio Garmendia with Nery Johnson and later continued in the Gustavo Franklin Ballet School in Caracas. In 1987 he joined the Ballet Metropolitano de Caracas and later the Ballet Nuevo Mundo de Caracas, directed by Zhandra Rodriguez, where he was promoted to Principal Dancer in 1990. In 1991 he joined the San Jose Cleveland ballet where for seven years he performed many principal roles in the classical and contemporary repertoire. Mr. Thielen joined The Dance Theater of Harlem in 1998 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 1999. He is the first Hispanic male Principal Dancer at the institution in 36 years. Some of his principal roles include: Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Carmina Burana, Raymond (in the ballet movie The Blue Suede Shoes), Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Diana and Acteon and Apollo. He has been a guest artist with many international companies, and has toured many countries, including: Venezuela, Colombia Curacao, USA, England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Russia, Australia and China.