Western Ballet Company

Alexi Zubiria joined the International Ballet of Caracas, under the direction of Vicente Nebrada and Zandra Rodriguez, where he quickly rose through the ranks of the company, being named Principal Dancer in 1981. As a member of both the Ballet Nuevo Mundo and the International Ballet of Caracas, Zubiria has toured the world. His talents made him an extremely versatile dancer, proficient in classical, neo-classical and modern styles of dance.

Alexi competed in the II U.S. International Ballet Competition held in 1982 in Jackson, Mississippi; and there he won the Silver Medal. His early classical training was further influenced by the teachings of Hector Zaraspe, Ballet Russe ballerina Nina Novak and Jose Pares. By this time, his artistic experience had been greatly impacted by having worked directly with choreographers Alvin Ailey, John Buttler, Margot Sappington, Choo-San Go, Vicente Nebreda and Hans Van Mannen.

Further, Alexi accepted a position as a soloist with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he remained from 1983 through 1985. There he had the opportunity to work directly with Rudolf Nureyev, Roland Petit, Peter Schaufuss and Valery Panov in their own works. At the Deutsche Oper Berlin he also danced numerous works by different choreographers that include Bejart, Bournonville, McMillan, and Jiri Kilian. Zubiria has performed in numerous dance festivals throughout France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States. One of the most memorable artistic experiences of his career was to have performed with the Ballet National de Marseille at Le Palais des Congres de Paris. There he danced Roland Petit's Le Chat Bote (Puss in Boots) in the role of the cat, with Dominique khalfouni and Peter Schaufuss.

In 1986 Alexi joined the San Francisco Ballet as a soloist, where he danced until 1994. Throughout this time, Zubiria's repertoire included the male lead in Balanchine's Theme and Variations, the Pas de Deux from Le Corsaire and the Cavalier in Christensen/Tomasson's Nutcracker. Zubiria's other works with the San Francisco Ballet include leading roles in Lew Christensen's Divertissement d'Auber and Tomasson's Bizet Pas de Deux. He also danced in Paul Taylor's Sunset.

Alexi is currently the Artistic Director at Western Ballet, http://www.westernballet.org. He is also in the faculty of Alonso King's Lines/ San Francisco Dance Center (http://www.sfdancecenter.org/) where he teaches the intermediate and advanced ballet classes. Alexi also holds a position with Agilent Technologies as a Bioinformatics Specialist.