Staff and Board

Staff

Ariel Serrano - Artistic Director and Co-Founder
Wilmian Hernández - Managing Director and Co-Founder
Barbara Worth - Administrative Director
Magaly Hernández - Administrative Assistant 
Camila Serrano - Administrative Assistant 

Board of Directors

Michael Shelton - Chair
Michael Marraccini - Vice-Chair
Susan Romine - Secretary
Peter Kretzmer - Treasurer
Regina Murphy
Xochitl Napoles
Terry Romine
Mary Anne Servian
John Simon
Ariel Serrano (Ex Officio)
Wilmian Hernández (Ex Officio)

Advisory Board Members

In Memorium Dr. Ramona de Saa

As Director and Professor at the National Ballet School of Cuba, Dr. Ramona de Saa brought international attention to Cuba’s ballet training methods. A founding dancer of the National Ballet of Cuba (1959), Maestra de Saa became one of the company’s most promising dancers before an injury led to her retirement in 1966. She subsequently pursued a career as a teacher, and many of her students won international fame, most notably Royal Ballet star Carlos Acosta. Her service as an Advisory Board Member holds particular meaning for Ariel Serrano, Artistic Director and co-founder of the Sarasota Cuban Ballet School. At age 10, Mr. Serrano was selected for the National Ballet School of Cuba, which provided the training needed to forge his professional career. When Ariel Serrano and Wilmian Hernández founded SCBS in 2011, Maestra de Saa adapted the national Cuban ballet curriculum created by Fernando Alonso specifically for the SCBS. This curriculum is the foundation for the Sarasota Cuban Ballet School.

Carlos Acosta

Carlos Acosta joined the Royal Ballet in 1998 and was a Principal Guest Artist from 2003 to 2016. His many roles included Siegfried (Swan Lake), Albrecht (Giselle), The Prince (The Nutcracker), and Prince Florimund (The Sleeping Beauty). Mr. Acosta was born in Havana and trained at the National Ballet School of Cuba, going on to dance with the English National Ballet, the National Ballet of Cuba and the Houston Ballet. The culture and history of his home country have been important influences, and in 2003 his show “Tocororo - A Cuban Tale”, loosely based on his childhood, broke box office records at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. After leaving the Royal Ballet, he founded the dance company Acosta Danza in Cuba in 2016. He has received many awards throughout his career, including an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance in 2007, a Prix Benois de la Danse in 2008, and an Outstanding Achievement Award at the 2014 Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. In 2014, Acosta was appointed a CBE for services to ballet. In 2018 Acosta received the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award from the Royal Academy of Dance in recognition of his standing as one of the most influential figures in dance today, and in 2019 the Critics’ Circle bestowed Acosta with their Annual Award for Outstanding Services to the Arts. Yuli, a film inspired by his life, premiered at the San Sebastián, Havana and Berlin Film Festivals to critical acclaim before its premiere and general release in April 2019. Carlos Acosta became Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet in January 2020.

Rodolfo Castellanos

Rodolfo Castellanos was born in Havana, Cuba, and studied classical ballet at the National Arts School and Methodology of Classical Dance and Pedagogy at Instituto Superior de Arte. Mr. Castellanos graduated from the National School of Dance in Havana and moved directly into the Cuban National Ballet, where he became First Dancer. He also danced with Ballet de Camagüey. After moving to Barcelona, Spain, Rodolfo taught at La Companyia and l’Institut del Teatre before relocating to the Royal Ballet School, where he is honing the skills of the second-year boys.

Alexei Dovgopolyi

Alexei Dovgopolyi was born in the Ukraine. At the age of 12, he began his ballet studies at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography, commonly known as the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. After completing his studies, Mr. Dovgopolyi was accepted into the Bolshoi Ballet, where over his career he gradually rose to the rank of Principal Dancer. He danced in the productions choreographed by Vladimir Vasiliev, Maya Plisetskaya, and Yuri Grigorovich. He also participated in the Bolshoi’s international tours all over the world and was featured in films and videos made by the Bolshoi Ballet. In 1990 Mr. Dovgopolyi joined the inaugural season of Sarasota Ballet of Florida as a Principal Dancer. He created numerous leading roles in ballets during his 20-year tenure, such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Paquita, Giselle, La Fille mal gardée, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Carmen, Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, and Apollo. Mr. Dovgopolyi now teaches master classes in many schools and companies across the US and is often invited to participate as a Guest Master Teacher for summer intensive workshops, festivals, and seminars. His specialty is teaching classical ballet technique, but he is also an expert in teaching partnering technique, coaching variations, and restaging classical repertoire.