On Saturday, September 10, after the performance of "The Twilight Houses", the artistic director of the Estonian National Ballet, Linnar Looris, announced two new soloists: Anna Roberta and Ali Urata. On September 13, Patrick Foster received the title of soloist. Until now, all three danced as demi-soloists in the ranks of the Estonian National Ballet.
Anna Roberta finished Tallinn Ballet School in 2017 with honours (the class of Kaja Kreitzberg) and joined the Estonian National Ballet in the same year. She has attended several masterclasses and participated successfully in international competitions. Anna Roberta has won international recognition by receiving Grand Prix and 1st place at the Liepaja Ballet Competition and 3rd place at the Tallinn International Ballet Competition. In 2020, she received the Colleague Award of the Estonian National Opera and Eesti Postimees enlisted her in the list of “100 Faces” as a “Rising Star”. In 2021, she received the MyFitness Dance Award.
Ali Urata began his dance studies in Narumi Ballet Studio in Japan (2005–2008), continued at Novosibirsk Ballet Academy (2008–2010) and finished at Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich (2011–2014). He joined the Estonian National Ballet in 2014. In 2021, he received the MyFitness Dance Award.
Patrick Foster trained at the Australian Ballet School, the School of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and graduated from Canada’s National Ballet School in 2014. He has been a dancer with the National Ballet of Canada (2014–2015) and Zürich Ballet (2015–2017). Since 2017, he is a dancer with the Estonian National Ballet. He has won the Jeff Melanson Prize for Artistic Achievement and the Peter Dwyer Award for Artistic Achievement (both in 2013), MyFitness Dance Award (2018), 3rd prize at the Tallinn International Ballet Competition (2018).
Congratulations!