Artistic Staff

Michael Pink, Artistic Director

Michael Pink is the longest serving artistic director in Milwaukee Ballet’s history. Since arriving in 2002, he has demonstrated his commitment to the future of dance through new work, education, and collaboration. His artistic vision for Milwaukee Ballet continues to excite and challenge.
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Denis Malinkine, Rehearsal Director

A native Russian, Denis Malinkine graduated from the esteemed Bolshoi Ballet Academy. He soon joined the Moscow Classical Ballet in 1985 and participated in many of the Company’s tours, including: the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, among others. In 1990 he joined the National Ballet of Portugal.

In 1993, Malinkine was invited by Christopher Gable to join England’s Northern Ballet Theatre. As a principal, he created the title role in the landmark production of Dracula by Michael Pink and Christopher Gable, and the roles of Captain Phoebus in Pink’s Hunchback of Notre Dame and Albrecht in Northern Ballet Theatre’s Giselle. He expanded this experience in the genre of Dance Drama in productions of Romeo & Juliet, Christmas Carol, Cinderella, Swan Lake, The Brontes, and Carmen.

Malinkine has worked with Atlanta Ballet since 1999, where he created the role of Romeo in Michael Pink’s Romeo & Juliet. During his career, he has appeared in classical ballet performances, and in productions by George Balanchine, Kenneth MacMillan, Lila York, and many others.

Malinkine has acted as guest artist and assistant to Mr. Pink in performing and remounting these works for Atlanta Ballet, Boston Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Ballet Internationale and the Norwegian National Ballet. He also assisted John McFall in his work for Peter Pan with Ballet Internationale.
Luz San Miguel, Rehearsal Director

Sponsored by Jane Bell

Born in Madrid, Spain, Luz San Miguel received her training at Carmina Ocana Ballet School and on a scholarship at the Municipal Institute of Ballet in Antwerp, Belgium. Prior to joining Milwaukee Ballet, she danced with BalletMet Columbus, Charleston Ballet Theater, Tulsa Ballet, and in Germany’s Dresdner Ballet and Leipziger Ballet. She also performed as a guest artist in Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, and several cities in the United States. San Miguel has performed leading roles in ballets by John Cranko, George Balanchine, John Neumeier, Nacho Duato, Anthony Tudor, Stanton Welch, Uwe Scholz, Glen Tetley, Paul Taylor, Lila York, and Jerome Robbins, among others. During her time with Milwaukee Ballet, San Miguel has performed roles such as Lucy in Dracula, Clara and Marie in The Nutcracker, Odile and Odette in Swan Lake, Kitri and Matador Lady in Don Quixote, Tinker Bell in Peter Pan, Swanhilda in Coppélia, Juliet in Romeo & Juliet, Mimi in La Bohème, Snow White in Mirror Mirror, and the title roles in Cinderella, Esmeralda, and Giselle.
Mireille Favarel, MBII Artistic Director

Sponsored by Catherine L. Davies

Mireille Favarel was born in Toulon, France. After studying with Rosella Hightower at the Centre de Danse International in Cannes, Lydia Menchova from the Bolshoi, Robert Bestonso from the Royal Ballet and Raymond Franchetti from the Paris Opera, Favarel began her professional career at 17 with Ballet du Rhin in Strasbourg (now the Ballet of the Opéra national du Rhin). She subsequently joined Royal Ballet of Flanders in Belgium as a soloist, where she performed her first principal role as Swanhilda in August Bournonville’s Coppélia at 19. Favarel later joined Ballet der Deutsch Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, Germany as a soloist, under the direction of Paolo Bortoluzzi as well as Ballet du Nord in Roubaix, France, under the direction of Alphonso Cata as a principal dancer.

In addition to appearing with the Ballet du Nord during many of its international tours, Favarel represented France in the first New York International Ballet Competition. She was invited to perform in the gala performance for the next competition, and later returned as a coach and teacher for the NYIBC.

Favarel joined Milwaukee Ballet as a principal dancer in 1989, where she performed all of the major roles in the company repertoire. The most memorable are her interpretations of Swan Lake, Romeo & Juliet, Coppélia , and Giselle. In 1990, dance critic Tom Strini named her “Dancer of the Year” for her work in Swan Lake, Serenade, and Coppélia . During her time with Milwaukee Ballet, many choreographers created works for her, including Kathryn Posin’s Tehillim and Bach’s Lunch, as well as Simon Dow’s Spartacus. In May 2000, Favarel gave her farewell performance and became Ballet Mistress for the Company.

Mireille Favarel is currently Artistic Director of Milwaukee Ballet II (MBII). She also teaches and coaches Milwaukee Ballet Company and MBII. Favarel is a frequent guest teacher at major ballet schools and companies in Bulgaria, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas, and in her native country of France. In March of 2012, Favarel staged Kathryn Posin’s Scheherazade for the National Ballet of Bulgaria, in Sofia. She staged Scheherazade again for Milwaukee Ballet in 2016. She continues to perform character roles for Milwaukee Ballet, most recently as James’ mother in La Sylphide and the Queen in Swan Lake.

Email: [email protected]
Calvin Hilpert, MBII Rehearsal Director

Raised in Round Rock, Texas, Calvin Hilpert began his dance training at 11 with the local ballet studio, Metamorphosis Dance Academy. One year later he was offered a full scholarship to the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater School where he trained and performed with the school and company for three years. At 15, Calvin accepted a full scholarship to continue his studies at the San Francisco Ballet School (SFBS) where he had the pleasure of working extensively with the company in multiple productions. Following his year at SFBS, Calvin was offered a contract to dance with KUNST-STOFF dance company where he danced on multiple international tours. At 17, he was invited to be a guest at the Palucca Hochschule für Tanz in Dresden, Germany where he began to expand his contemporary dance knowledge. While at the school in Dresden he accepted a contract to dance with the Saarländisches Staatstheater, after which he returned to KUNST-STOFF as an Artistic Contributor as well as dancer. During this time, he received extensive mentorship in classical and contemporary pedagogy and was given the opportunity to assist and co-teach with his mentor at the University of Utah. After multiple seasons with KUNST-STOFF dance company, Calvin took a step back from performance to focus on teaching and creation before returning to the stage with the Budapest Dance Theatre. As a result of injury, he retired from performance fully and began directing the ballet program for a dance school outside of Austin, Texas. His choreography has been performed in festivals and showcases throughout Europe and the United States and has been teaching classical ballet and contemporary dance for the past 8 years.

Email: [email protected]