DIANA ALBRECHT

Second Soloist, Boston Ballet

Heritage: Paraguayan
Age: 30

 

Recognitions:

• Recipient of the National Award of Dance

• Featured as one of the “25 to Watch” by Dance Magazine, 2008

• Classified in the Top Twelve Senior Division at Youth America Grand Prix, 2005.

 

By: Frank Morris

                                                                                                           

First position, second position, plie, relevé, rond de jambe.

These terms — and moves — are all too familiar to Diana Albrecht, the 30-year-old Latina who’s been dancing with the Boston Ballet since 2011.

“I’m passionate about it,” the Brighton resident said. And it’s something other young Latinos all over the globe are passionate about, too.

"Latinos are actually a big part of the ballet community,” Albrecht said. “I think most of the companies around the world have Latinos, which I think is great. The ballet world is very diverse, and that is something I think is not very well known. Usually, companies want talent from around the world, and we all contribute to making the company better."
 

Albrecht says she’s been dancing for as long as she can remember.

“I had dolls that were made out of fabric, so you could stretch their legs really high up. I would tie them to a chair like they were holding a barre and I would teach them ballet — so many memories,” she recalled.

Falling in love with ballet when she was 11 years old, Albrecht moved from her home country of Paraguay to Brazil when she was 16 to dance for a small ballet company in Rio de Janeiro. Two years later, she went on to train at San Francisco Ballet School and the Washington School of Ballet on scholarship. She was with the Washington Ballet for six years before ending up at the Boston Ballet.

“I was very shy, and one thing led to another, but through ballet, I found my voice,” she said.

Albrecht, was promoted to second soloist last year, and her Boston Ballet repertoire includes George Balanchine’s Symphony in Three Movements, John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet, Rudolf Nureyev’s Don Quixote, Jose Martinez’s Resonance; Sir Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella, Jerome Robbins’ The Concert; and Mikko Nissinen’s Swan Lake to name a few.

She has performed leading roles in George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, Christopher Wheeldon’s There Where She Loved, Mark Morris’s Pacific, Twyla Tharp’s Baker’s Dozen, Edwaard Liang’s Wunderland, Christopher Bruce’s Rooster, Anna Marie Holmes’ Le Corsaire and Don Quixote, and Septime Webre’s The Nutcracker, among others.

"For me, I think a lot [of my success] was setting small goals that lead to bigger goals,” Albrecht said. “I think working hard every day always leads to a reward and unexpected things, and I would say that you need to find something you love and you enjoy to do it.”

And though ballet is extremely competitive, “I think that by not giving up, you know for sure you will succeed, and you will find your happiness,” she said. “With daily goals, you find success.”