06 Jan Gabriela Escalona
Gabriela Escalona was born in Carcas, Venezuela and trained at Academia de Ballet Nina Novak under the tutelage of former principal dancer of Ballet Ruse de Monte-Carlo Nina Novak.
In 2015, she got an invitation to the pre-professional program at the Kirov Ballet Academy of Washington DC. In 2016, she returned to Caracas to perform with Ballet Municipal El Hatillo, a regional company under the direction of Rumen Rashev, former principal dancer of the Sofia Opera. She performed the roles of Sugar Plum Fairy, Giselle, and Classical Pas Quatre, among others. In 2017, she joined the national company Teatro Teresa Carreño as a corps de ballet. Gabriela also performed in Don Quixote and The Nutcracker in soloist roles including Snow Queen and Dew Drop. In 2018, she won second place at Pura Danza International Ballet Competition in Merida, Venezuela.
In 2020 Gabriela moved to the United States and continued her career as a freelancer performer, guesting as Sugar Plum Fairy in various productions of The Nutcracker and other lead roles in various spring shows around the Atlanta area. She has also been part of new works from emerging choreographers Antwan Sessions and Gwynn Root Wolford. Most recently, Gabriela was invited to participate in the full length ballet The Olive Tree by Tara Lee for Terminus Modern Ballet company as a guest artist.
Since arriving in Atlanta in 2020. Gabriela has been focusing on teaching and is looking forward to joining the TYSOD teaching faculty for the remainder of this season.