Photo of Miriam Mesa Pelly

Miriam Mesa Pelly

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Phone: 864.282.3707

Location: B-229

Miriam Mesa-Pelly began her ballet studies in 1962 with a full scholarship to attend the National School of the Arts in Havana, Cuba. In 1970, Miriam graduated with Honors and soon after joined the world renowned National Ballet of Cuba (NBC) as a member of the corps de ballet. 

During her career with the NBC, Mrs. Mesa-Pelly rose through the ranks, quickly becoming a First Soloist. She performed notable principal roles including Odette in Swan Lake, the Sylph in La Sylphide, and Kitri in Don Quixote. She also performed soloist and first soloist roles in ballets such as Swan Lake, Coppelia, Giselle, Pas de Quatre, La Fille Mal Gardée, Don Quixote, and Sleeping Beauty. Miriam is also very proud to have worked with prominent choreographers that include Alberto Alonso, Brian McDonald, and Alberto Mendez. In addition, Mrs. Mesa-Pelly was able to perform lead roles in iconic theaters around the globe that include but are not limited to The Kennedy Center in Washington DC., The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, The Opera Theater of Les Champs Elysées in Paris, The Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, The Colón Theater in Buenos Aires, Teatro de La Scala in Milan, and the Bellas Artes Theater in Mexico City.
 
During her career with NBC, Miriam also attended The Cuban Superior Institute of Arts. She graduated in 1992 with Honors and a Bachelor’s degree in Scenic Arts specializing in Ballet. This allowed her to not only teach ballet to aspiring dancers but also the methodology behind ballet technique to aspiring dance teachers. After retiring as a First Soloist from the NBC in 1994, she began teaching ballet technique, pointe work, and repertoire at the internationally-recognized Cuban National Ballet School in Havana, Cuba. She trained multiple dancers to participate in national and international competitions where some of them received Gold and Silver medals. In 1998 Miriam began teaching at the National Center for the Arts (CNA) in Mexico City, Mexico. While at the CNA, she taught both male and female ballet technique, pointe, and repertoire. She also trained dancers there to participate in ballet competitions around the world culminating in many of them also getting Silver and Bronze medals. Mrs. Mesa-Pelly then worked at “The Art of Classical Ballet” in Pompano Beach, USA and the Fomento Artistico Cordobes Ballet School in Cordoba, Mexico before joining the South Carolina Governor’s School of Arts and Humanities as a Ballet teacher in 2013. 

Mrs. Miriam is also a published author. In her book “Methodological Referencial Basis of the Classical Dance Technique;” (ISBN: 970-9703-09-9), she explains in great detail the basic steps in the ballet repertoire and the proper technique to perform them. This book was written as a methodological tool to help ballet teachers in training better understand the technique they will one day teach. Other notable achievements Miriam Mesa-Pelly has accomplished include being a member of the Jury that reviews students’ thesis defense at The Cuban Superior Institute of Arts, being an adviser to the “Mexican Implementing Committee” who assigns ballet teacher’s positions within the National Center for the Arts in Mexico City, being a juror for the Valentina Kozlova Regional International Ballet Competition in New Orleans, and  creating “The Project”; a program at the CNA that identified exceptional talent regardless of their economic situation.  The students selected for “The Project” got allocated extra-curricular training and resources with the goal of getting them scholarships and professional contracts with prestigious ballet schools and companies around the world.  This was achieved by training them to be competitive in national and international ballet competitions where such prizes are awarded. 

For virtually her entire life, Miriam Mesa-Pelly has shown unwavering passion for her craft. She has translated that passion into unforgettable performances onstage and inspiration for the next generation offstage. Evidence for this is in her many former pupils, now scattered around the world, in schools and companies (many in Soloist or Principal positions) such as the National Ballet of Canada, Cincinnati Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Juilliard, Deutsche Oper Am Rhein, National Ballet of Mexico, Monterrey Dance Company… and the list goes on.