The Sarasota Ballet’s Principal Victoria Hulland to Retire

April 13, 2022 – Sarasota

The Sarasota Ballet announces today that Principal Dancer Victoria Hulland, having enjoyed a dance career spanning a decade and a half with the Company, will be retiring with the completion of the 2021 – 2022 Season.

“It’s truly difficult to express just how significant Victoria’s presence has been these past fifteen years and how much I will miss her and her sublime dancing,” says Margaret Barbieri, Assistant Director of The Sarasota Ballet and former Principal of The Royal Ballet. “She was a part of our first audition for the Company when Iain joined in 2007, and it was immediately apparent that there was something special about her. Both Iain and I were immediately drawn to her and from that moment on, she’s been such an important part of this Company. Among the myriad roles she has danced with us, of special note was that of the principal role in Sir Peter Wright’s Giselle – when I first coached her for our Company’s performances in 2009, she tackled the emotional depths of the character with aplomb, accompanied by a youthful innocence. When the production returned in 2019, and again only a few months ago, Victoria’s approach to Giselle manifested an innate maturity and grace coming from the experience she accrued over the years. Bearing witness to Tori’s journey through her dance career as well as her personal accomplishments has been a remarkable privilege, and I wish her great happiness in the next chapter of her life.”

Hulland began her career with The Sarasota Ballet upon the opening of the 2007 – 2008 Season, hired as a corps de ballet dancer. After two years of performing a breadth of ballets including several featured roles, she was promoted to the rank of Principal, where she would continue to flourish and dance roles spanning the Company’s repertory. Lead and featured roles include Sir Frederick Ashton’s Marguerite and Armand, Enigma Variations, A Wedding Bouquet,The Two Pigeons,Symphonic Variations, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Les Patineurs, Birthday Offering, Illuminations, Monotones II, Jazz Calendar, The Dream, Apparitions; George Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes,Apollo,Emeralds,Rubies,Divertimento No. 15, Serenade, The Four Temperaments; Sir Matthew Bourne’s Boutique; Dame Ninette de Valois’ The Rake’s Progress, Checkmate; Michel Fokine’s Les Sylphides, Petrushka; Marcelo Gomes’ Dear Life…; Ricardo Graziano’s Shostakovich Suite, Before Night Falls, En las Calles de Murcia, In a State of Weightlessness; Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Concerto, Summer Pas de Deux; Rudolf Nureyev’s Raymonda Act III; Anna Pavlova’s The Dragonfly Solo; Paul Taylor’s Airs; Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room; Will Tuckett’s Changing Light, The Secret Garden; Antony Tudor’s Lilac Garden, Gala Performance; Christopher Wheeldon’s The American; and Sir Peter Wright’s Giselle.

Director of The Sarasota Ballet, Iain Webb, remarks: “Victoria has consistently maintained uncommon professionalism and poise throughout her career. The grace of her onstage presence and her beautiful dancing has enraptured tens of thousands over the years; in particular, Victoria’s characterization of many of Ashton’s roles has been exemplary. In addition, her offstage dedication to her craft has served as an inspiration to younger dancers within the Company and Conservatory. Her impact as a dancer and role model over these past fifteen years has been enormous, and her presence will be dearly missed.”

“I have had fifteen of the most wonderful years with The Sarasota Ballet,” says Victoria Hulland. “This Company has become my second family and will always hold a precious place in my heart. I am extremely grateful to Iain and Maggie for nurturing me as an artist, giving me once in a lifetime opportunities, and providing an environment where I could grow as a dancer and a person. I have had a career I honestly never imagined possible for me and for that I am beyond thankful. I am going to miss performing for the gracious audience we have here in Sarasota, but I also feel very fulfilled and am excited about starting on a new adventure. Thank you to Iain, Maggie, Joe, my ballet masters and mistresses, and to my fellow Company members for your support and love both on and off stage. It has been an honor and a blessing to work with such a special Company.”

Ballet enthusiasts can enjoy Hulland’s farewell performances in Serendipitous Movement 29-30 April at the Sarasota Opera House.

Serendipitous Movement
29 – 30 April 2022
Sarasota Opera House

Friday, 29 April at 7:30 PM
Saturday, 30 April at 2:00 PM
Saturday, 30 April at 7:30 PM

Serenade
Choreography by George Balanchine
Score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

The Letter V (Company Premiere)
Choreography by Mark Morris
Music by Joseph Haydn

Elite Syncopations
Choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan
Music by Scott Joplin et al.