Sicilian ballet dancer Raffaele Zarrella trained at Teatro San Carlo and the Vienna State Opera Ballet Academy, and graduated from the Académie Princesse Grace in Monaco under director Luca Masala.
A winner and finalist of the world-renowned Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP), he received scholarships to the Royal Ballet School, English National Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School and ABT Summer Intensive. He has performed on major stages in New York, Miami, London, Cape Town, Toronto, Lisbon, Nice, Monte Carlo, Prague, Naples, Udine and more.
During his years with the Vienna State Opera and Volksoper he performed in productions including Max und Moritz, The Nutcracker (Pas de Trois), Sylvia as Amor, Coopélia as Geselle, Harlequinade Pas de Deux, and Balanchine’s Who Cares?, as well as works by Seregi, Mirzoyan and Balanchine after Petipa. In Monte Carlo he appeared in Maillot’s Opus 40, Verbruggen’s Totally Folk and gala performances at the Salle Garnier.
He also danced Tadzio in Death in Venice at Theater an der Wien, and appeared at international galas in Miami, Cannes and Monaco, performing variations and pas de deux from the classical repertoire including Flame of Paris, Don Quichotte and others.
Before joining Slovenské Divadlo Tanca, he performed with Ballet du Capitole in Toulouse and the Sorbische National Ensemble in Germany. He is currently a soloist with SDT, performing principal roles including José in Carmen, Vták in Vták Ohnivák, Mercutio in the ballet Rómeo + Júlia, Captain Phoebus in Zvonár u Matky Božej and Salieri in Amadeus.
He has also appeared in numerous musical theatre productions including Rasputin, Cyrano z predmestia, Voda a krv nad vodou, Na skle maľované, The Duchon’s, West Side Story, the musical Rómeo a Júlia and Vyznanie.
