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September 02, 2006
Jimmy Gamonet, Artistic Director, and Iliana Lopez, Ballet Mistress, Ballet Gamonet (Miami, FL), 8-18-06
Mr. Jimmy Gamonet received Gold Medals in both the Performance and Choreography categories at the 2nd International Dance and Choreography Competition in Peru in 1979 and, in 1980, and participated in the Third International Ballet Competition in Osaka, Japan. In 1983, he won the highest award for Choreography at the Dance Competition of the Americas in Miami.
The works of Jimmy Gamonet De Los Heros have been performed throughout North America, South America and Europe, and include nearly three dozen set on the dancers of Miami City Ballet during his 14-year collaboration as Resident Choreographer with the company.
Mr. Gamonet’s works have been commissioned/underwritten by AT&T, The Wolf Trap Foundation, The Catherine Filene Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, Jacob’s Pillow, Neiman Marcus, Barnett Bank of South Florida, The Firm of Steel Hector & Davis and The Windmere Corporation, among others.
Mr. Gamonet's work in ballet's neoclassical style — both abstract and narrative — has been noted and rewarded at a national and international level. He has received three separate Choreography Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, including the prestigious three-year Fellowship, awarded to artists whose “work on a level of national excellence over time extends the aesthetic boundaries of the discipline”. The State of Florida also acknowledged his accomplishments with several Choreography Fellowships. In recognition of his contributions to the art form, Mr. Gamonet was one of eight choreographers chosen for the National Repertory Program.
In 1997, Mr. Gamonet developed a course curriculum for an innovative Choreographers Workshop. His mission: to build a training program with a final goal of educating, nurturing and encouraging aspiring choreographers to continue serious work in the field of dance composition. For several years Mr. Gamonet has been a member of the National Endowment for the Arts’ Dance Advisory Panel and has served as judge panelist of the International Ballet Competition in Peru for the past 8 years.
Miss Iliana Lopez joined the Miami City Ballet as principal dancer in 1987.
Miss Lopez danced principal roles in Giselle, Swan Lake, Coppelia, Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, Theme and Variations, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Serenade, Raymonda, Nous Sommes, Partita, Transtangos, and Supermegatroid, among others, and she originated many lead roles in Ballet Gamonet's repertoire such as Carmen, Purple Bend, Concerto for la Donna, D Symphonies, Movilissima Noble, Caplet, Symphony Allemande, Prokofiev Piano Concerto, The House of Bernarda Alba, Grand Pas Classique.
In 1997 Miss Lopez appeared on the cover of Dance Magazine. In 2000 she received the National Medal of Arts "Arturo Michelena" in Venezuela, for her outstanding contribution to the arts. She appeared on the cover of Pointe Magazine in 2001 and on the cover of Dancer Magazine in 2004.
Miss Lopez was invited to the White House by President Clinton and the First Lady, following a performance gala at the Folger Shakespeare Library, and was given the Key to the City of Baton Rouge, LA in 2003. March 12, 2004 was declared Iliana Lopez Day by the City of Hialeah, FL.
Miss Lopez became a Ballet Mistress in 2004, when she retired from the stage, and now she joins long-time friend and colleague Jimmy Gamonet de los Heros at Ballet Gamonet as Ballerina and Ballet Mistress.
Posted by David Lemberg at September 2, 2006 02:46 PM Return to ARTSCAPE home page