PHOTOGRAPHY Ashley Batz
ART DIRECTION Juliet Belkin
STYLING Olya Dzilikhova

The S.F. Ballet’s principal dancer Dores Andre has been artfully dancing her way into our hearts. Whether she’s dancing center stage or posing in her artful Instagram posts, this Spanish ballerina  is all about art and style, pirouetting her way to stardom. 

Dores is the daughter of a professor and a doctor, originally from a seaside town in Spain. Dores caught the eye of Maria de Avila, a renowned Spanish ballerina at the local competition she entered just two years after she began dancing. De Avila invited Dores to attend her prestigious ballet academy in Zaragoza, a town eight hours from Vigo. At the age of 13 Dores first left home.

Although dancing began as a form of activity among many others her parents signed her up for, ballet became a form of life. 

Juliet: What were you like as a kid ?

Dores: I was curious and with more energy than a hummingbird on red bull.

Juliet: What's Ballet to you? 

Dores: The more I knew about ballet, the more I liked it.  It became not just a fun thing, but something that forms you, and shapes you.

Juliet: When did you join San Francisco ballet? 

Dores: I joined in 2004, after a few years of moving around looking for perfect fit. 

Juliet: What have been some of your favorite roles? 

Dores: It's hard to choose, every role has made me grow and learn, the ones that come to mind right away are the ones that were challenging, either in a  technical way or  in an artistic way, id say that in general I like telling stories, so the more dramatic the better .

Juliet: What moves you on stage? 

Droes: Music, my partner, the process , the feeling that nothing else matter sin that precise moment.

Juliet: What moves you in life? 

Dores: Curiosity and empathy.

Juliet: What do you look for in your partner? 

Dores: I like dancing with people that make the process so great you don’t ever want to end it. People  who love to learn and work.

Juliet: If you had to chose a partner to dance with, whom would you choose? 

Dores: Its imposible to choose, its like choosing a favorite organ in your own body, all different all essential .

Juliet: What’s been your best on-stage moment so far ?

Dores: So many great moments, the most memorable are sometimes the worst ones, and those are usually the funniest. Nothing better than a great fail story.  I don’t like falling, but when I do, I know I'll have a great memory to tell.

Juliet: High end designers often collaborate with SF Ballet, if you were to chose, who would you collaborate with? Why?

Dores: I really connected to Marco Marco, he’s not only so incredibly talented and charismatic , but it was really nice to see how thoughtful and caring he was.

I'd love to one day do something with him, he can make anything possible and is not afraid of anything.

Juliet: What music do you listen to today?

Dores: I've had Childish Gambino on loop for weeks now, that said, I rarely listed to hip hop, my go to is Sade or Paul Simon, I guess I listen to anything as long as it has a message I like and a sound that interest me.

Juliet: What would we be surprised to hear about you? 

Dores: That I can play the bagpipes?

Juliet: Where will we find Dores when she is not dancing? 

Dores: Drawing, talking rubbish with friends, learning new skills.

Juliet: If you could invite three famous figures to dinner, who would they be? 

Dores: Groucho Marx, Donald Glober, Tina Fey just came to mind.

Juliet: If you weren't a dancer, who would you be? 

Dores: I’d like to think I'd be some type of creative.

Juliet: In terms of career in Ballet, where do you see yourself in the next 5 years ?

Dores: I want to keep finding new ways to understand this profession  and I hope I get to perform new and old ballets that make me grow, seems simple enough just got to keep working so I can make those hopes reality.

Juliet: Piece of advice from Dores? 

Dores: Just dance and be curious , I believe its the secret to happiness. 

Juliet: What is next for Dores Andre? 

Dores: No idea, im working on many things at the moment that seem to be leading toward becoming some type of designer, but im not sure what it will look like just yet, ill just keep learning till I know for sure.