Rolando Sarabia Oquendo

He began his studies at the Provincial Ballet School «Alejo Carpentier» in La Habana, and completed them at the National Ballet School. He was trained by Rolando Sarabia (his father), Alicia Alonso, Lázaro Carreño and at the National Ballet School of La Habana.

During his time as a student he participated in numerous academic and competitive encounters, both in Cuba and in countries in America, Europe and Asia, in which he obtained the highest awards, among them: In 1994 he was awarded the Gold Medal and the Revelation of the Mercosur Competition in Brasil, Grand Prix (International Meeting of Ballet Academies, Cuba, 1995 and 1998; XIX International Ballet Competition of Varna, Bulgaria, 1998; and VIII International Dance Competition of París, 1998) and Gold Medals (III Mercosur Festival, Brasil, 1995; First International Dance Competition "Alicia Alonso", Cuba, 1996 and VI International Ballet Competition of Jackson, Estados Unidos, 1998).

In 1998 he joined the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, where he was rapidly promoted to principal dancer. Among his awards are also several Special Prizes, among them: the "Revelation Award", Brasil, 1995; "Award for Young Promise of World Ballet", Italia, 1995. In addition, "Nina Ricci" Prize, Varna, Bulgaria, and the Prize of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, both in 1998. In 2001 he received in Italia the Labot Reggio Danza Prize. Since 1999 he has been part of the cast of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, under the artistic-technical direction of Alicia Alonso. With this company he has conducted international tours and with which he performs various leading roles in the romantic, classical and modern repertoire.

His repertoire includes the leading roles of classical works, as well as contemporary works by Cuban and foreign choreographers. In addition to his IBC EE.UU. Gold Medal in Jackson, Mississippi, Rolando won the Grand Prize at the International Meeting of Academies, Cuba (1995 and 1998), the Grand Prize at the International Ballet Competition 1998 in París, the Gold Medal at the International Competition in Nagoya, Japón and Grand Prize at the International Ballet Competition 1998 in Varna, Bulgaria.

Sarabia left Cuba in 2003. He joined the Houston Ballet as a principal dancer and in 2007 - to the Miami City Ballet, where he remains as a principal dancer. Sarabia has performed in galas with famous dancers such as Maya Plisetskaya, Patrick Dupont, Farouk Ruzimatov, Alicia Alonso, Tamara Rojo, Mary Carmen Catoya among others. His explosive performance style Sarabia, earned him comparisons with Nijinsky and Baryshnikov.