Guest Artist
Andres Felipe Figueroa

Mr. Figueroa was born in Cali, Columbia and graduated from the Instituto Colomobiano de Ballet Clasico, Incoballet in 2001. He danced for Incoballet as a Principal Dancer and participated in many international dance festivals, including the prestigious Festival Internacional de Trujillo in Lima, Peru, where he was awarded a Silver Medal in 2003. Among the principal roles he has danced are La Bayadere, Coppelia, Le Crosaire, Don Quixote, Tschaikovsky Pas De Deux, and The Nutcracker. This is Andres' second year with the Ballet Gamonet Maximum Dance in Miami.

Zachery Hench - "Prince of Confection"

Originally from Loysville, Pennsylvania, Zachary Hench began his training at the age of seven at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, where he studied for eight years. From there, he went on to train at the Kirov Academy in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Hench became a member of Boston Ballet II in 1993 and was invited to join Boston Ballet as a member of the Corps de Ballet in 1994. He was promoted to Soloist in 1996 and Principal in 1998. While there, he danced many principal classical roles including Siegfried in Swan Lake, Albrect in Giselle, Conrad in Le Corsair, Ivan in Christopher Wheeldon's The Firebird, Cavalier and Snow King in The Nutcracker, and featured roles in George Balanchine's Symphony in C, Serenade, Who Cares, Tarantella, Divertimento 15, and Valse Fantasie. He also danced leading roles in contemporary works such as Mark Morris' Malestrom, Merce Cunningham's Breakers, Wheeldon's Corybantic Ecstasies, Twlya Tharp's Waterbaby Bagatelles, Lila York's Celts and Ode to Joy, and Eliot Feld's Contrapose.

In 2000, Mr. Hench joined San Francisco Ballet as a Soloist, and was promoted to Principal in 2003. His repertoire of principal roles grew to include Albrecht in Helgi Tomasson's Giselle, Don in Espada, Tomasson's Prism, Jerome Robbins' Fanfare, and Balanchine's Ballo Della Regina, Allegro Brillante, and Diamonds and Emeralds in Jewels. His featured roles in contemporary ballets include Wheeldon's Continuum and Polyphonia, Peter Martins' The Waltz Project, Robbins' Glass Pieces, Nacho Duato's Without Words, and Mark Morris' A Garden.

He joined Pennsylvania Ballet as a Principal Dancer in April 2004 and danced the role of Siegfried in Christopher Wheeldon's new Swan Lake in June 2004.

Julie Diane - "Princess of Confection"

Originally from Summit, N.J., Julie Diana befan taking ballet at age seven with the New Jersey Ballet in West Orange, N.J. She trained there for five years before moving on to study at the School of American Ballet for four years. Her training was also supplemented with several years of summer intensives at The Joffrey Ballet School.

Ms. Diana joined San Francisco Ballet as a member of the Corps de Ballet in 1993 and was promoted to Soloist in 1997 and to Principal in 2000. Her Principal roles in the classical repertoire include the title roles in Giselle and Romeo and Juliet, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Sugarplum Fairy and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, and Odette in Helgi Tomasson's Swan Lake, Act II. She has also danced many leading roles in such Balanchine works asSymphony in C, Allegro Brilliante, Jewels, Symphony in Three Movements, Serenade, Apollo, Who Cares? and The Four Temperments.

Ms. Diana has also danced in several contemporary ballets including Jerome Robbins' In The Night and Glass Pieces; William Forsythe's The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude; Peter Martins' The Waltz Project; Christopher Wheeldon's Continuum, Polyphonia, Sea Pictures and Rush; Nacho Duato's Without Words; and Mark Morris' A Garden, Sandpaper Ballet and Pacific. She received the Isadora Duncan Award for her performances in Robbins' Dances at a Gathering and Kenneth MacMillan's The Invitation.

Ms. Diana joined Pennsylvania Ballet as a Principal Dancer in September 2004.