Timothy van Poucke and Salome Leverashvili promoted to rank of soloist at HNB
Het Nationale Ballet dancers Timothy van Poucke (the Netherlands) and Salome Leverashvili (Georgia) have been promoted to the rank of soloist. Director Ted Brandsen has promoted the two after their striking recent performances in the ballets Sarcasmen, part of the programme Hans van Manen Variations, and Echoes of Tomorrow by Wubkje Kuindersma, part of last December’s Christmas Gala.
Ted Brandsen: “Both these dancers are tremendously charismatic, with great technical prowess and an impressive ability to focus. They are hugely talented and they belong at the top of their profession, when they dance together, but also each on their own.”
The press on Van Poucke and Leverashvili in Sarcasmen and Echoes of Tomorrow:
“An impressive performance was given by Timothy van Poucke and Salome Leverashvili, who danced Sarcasmen, the famous flirty duet in which the woman grabs the man by the crotch. Provocative as young lovers and loaded with erotic tension, these two talented up-and-coming dancers wrap each other around their fingers, and the audience as well.”
(Het Parool, March 2021)
“Especially moving was Kuindersma’s serene duet (…), thanks to an intense performance by (…) Timothy van Poucke and Salome Leverashvili. Echoes of Tomorrow sees them transform from dark shadows into passionate, flesh-and-blood human beings (…).”
(de Volkskrant, December 2020)
Van Poucke and Leverashvili both started their careers at Het Nationale Ballet in 2016, when they joined the Junior Company. In 2017 they transferred to the main company, with annual promotions to a higher rank for each. Together they danced the leading parts in classics such as Romeo en Julia (Van Dantzig) in 2019 and Don Quichot (Ratmansky) in 2018.
Timothy van Poucke
As a pupil of the Nationale Balletacademie, where he started at age 10, Timothy van Poucke danced in Het National Ballet’s great classics; The Nut Cracker, Swan Lake, Giselle, La Dame aux Camélias and Cinderella (which took him to Hong Kong and London). In 2017 Van Poucke received the incentive prize from Stichting Dansersfonds ’79. In 2018 he debuted as Basilio in Don Quichot, which helped win him the Alexandra Radius Prize – the first dancer ever to win it before achieving the rank of principal.
Salome Leverashvili
Former gymnast Salome Leverashvili was one of the most talented pupils at the State Ballet School in Tbilisi, Georgia. Her fellow Georgian Maia Makhateli, principal at Het Nationale Ballet, scouted her for the Junior Company. After transferring to the main company in 2017 she alternated with Makhateli in 2019, dancing the lead in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Frida. In 2013 Leverashvili won the international Solo Tanz competition in Berlin and a gold medal in 2016 at Rigas Pavasariscompetitie in Riga.
Photo: Hans Gerritsen