Marianela Nunez

Marianela Núñez is a principal dancer of The Royal Ballet whose command of the classical ballerina repertory, dramatic range and sustained international career have made her one of the defining ballet performers of her generation. Born on 23 March 1982 in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, Argentina, she began dancing at three and entered the Teatro Colón Ballet School at six. By fourteen she had joined the Teatro Colón company, taking corps and soloist work and touring both with the company and as a guest alongside Maximiliano Guerra—early professional experience that would distinguish her later rise through the international ranks.

Núñez entered The Royal Ballet Upper School in London in 1997 at fifteen and joined The Royal Ballet itself in 1998. Her promotion was swift: First Soloist in 2000, Principal in 2002 at twenty. That rapid advancement followed years of training and performance in Buenos Aires rather than an overnight discovery. She has performed leading roles across the work of Ashton, Balanchine, Cranko, MacMillan, Robbins, McGregor and Wheeldon, while creating roles in works including *Infra*, *Carbon Life*, *DGV: Danse à Grande Vitesse*, *Aeternum*, *Asphodel Meadows*, *Human Seasons*, Carlos Acosta's *Carmen* and *Multiverse*. This breadth places her career at the meeting point of repertory preservation and contemporary creation.

Recognition has accumulated across both performance and formal honour. Núñez was named Best Female Dancer at the Critics' Circle National Dance Awards in 2005, 2012, 2018 and 2022. She received Argentina's Konex de Platino in 2009 and the María Ruanova Award in 2011, then won the 2013 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance for performances in *Viscera*, *Aeternum* and "Diana and Actaeon." In the 2025 New Year Honours, she was appointed OBE for services to dance. Alongside her London career, she has appeared with Vienna State Opera Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, La Scala, Teatro Colón, Ballet Argentino de La Plata and Australian Ballet.

In 2018, after twenty years with The Royal Ballet, Núñez marked the milestone with a performance of *Giselle*. By 2026, she had remained with the company for twenty-eight years. That year she curated and headlined *Marianela – Timeless*, her first self-directed Royal Opera House programme, pairing selected repertory with colleagues who had shaped her working life.