When Iliana Lopez and Franklin Gamero joined Gulfshore Ballet 12 years ago, they envisioned the day they’d be able to establish a professional ballet company. That day came last year, and the results will be on display when Gulfshore Ballet performs Tchaikovsky’s “Sleeping Beauty” ballet at the Wang Opera Center on Saturday.
Artistic Director Lopez is eager for people to see what Gulfshore Ballet has accomplished.
“It is a wonderful opportunity for us to present the high standards of dance that we teach here at Gulfshore Ballet, now a professional that collaborates with the school,” said Lopez.
Zoila Pena joined Gulfshore Ballet as a principal six months ago. In that brief amount of time, she’s learned the skills needed to make her performance in the role of Aurora special.
“Since I’ve been here, even my body has changed,” said Pena through an interpreter. “Physically, I feel like I have more muscle tone … and I am moving in a different way that has helped me with my technique.”
Both are important because the challenge in “Sleeping Beauty” is portraying a character that goes from being a 15-year-old girl to an adult who ultimately weds a prince over a two-hour span.
“By learning all the technique and skills [that Iliana and Franklin have taught me], I am now able to portray this character better because I understand, and I’m now a little more mature to understand, the ways of projecting a young child and an older person, which is very, very hard to do in dance,” Pena explained.
Every ballerina needs a strong partner to be at her best. In “Sleeping Beauty,” Kaique Barbosa is the prince.
“I am a very good partner, so I can help my ballerina to be beautiful,” said Barbosa. “And my artistry is very, very strong too.”
It’s that combination of technique, artistry and strength that makes Barbosa a terrific partner.
“That’s a very, very important aspect in ballet because the ballerina always needs to look perfect,” observed Lopez. “When you have a strong, skilled partner behind you, the ballerina’s going to shine even more.”
Pena, Barbosa and the entire Gulfshore Ballet troupe will shine for audiences in “Sleeping Beauty.” Performances are at 2 and 6 p.m. on March 15.
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“Sleeping Beauty” is one of the most famous ballets in the classical repertoire.
The “Sleeping Beauty” ballet is based on Charles Perrault’s “La Belle au Bois Dormant.” Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky completed the score in just 40 days. The ballet was first performed in 1890 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, with choreography by Marius Petipa. Iliana Lopez and Franklin Gamero have placed their own imprint on Petipa’s choreography and staging for the performances at the Wang Opera Center.
“Sleeping Beauty” is the second of three ballets that Tchaikovsky scored.
Gulfshore Ballet has two complementary components: a professional ballet company and a long-standing ballet school.
“Since the inception of our time at Gulfshore Ballet, my husband, Franklin Gamero, and I have wanted to have a professional ballet company,” said Iliana Lopez. “It was part of our vision and now we’re finally there.”
Gulfshore’s students benefit in myriad ways from their interactions with the company’s professional dancers.
“They get to see the caliber of dancing that they are presenting and the way they work,” Lopez observed. “Our students are really, really lucky to have the opportunity to work every day with our professionals. They’re both beautiful, strong technicians. They’re dedicated, and they lead by example.”
Zoila Pena performs the role of Princess Aurora.
Originally from Barinas, Venezuela, Pena began studying dance at the age of 8 at Barijazz/Ballet Studio Central under the instruction of notable teachers Duce Rodriguez, Levi Mocharrafich and Hector Trejo.
After finishing her ballet training in 2017, she joined Teatro Teresa Carreno in Caracas as a soloist. She was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2022. Pena had the distinction of performing all the leading roles in the company’s repertoire, including Giselle, Coppelia, Dying Swan, the Black Swan, Don Quixote, Carmen, Paquita, Le Corsaire, Diana and Acteon, and the Nutcracker.
She has also performed leading roles in Vincente Nebrada’s “Firebird,” “Pentimento,” “Doble Corchea” and “Nuestros Valses.”
Recently, Pena won first place awards and medals at the Miami International Ballet Competition.
Since joining Gulfshore Ballet in October of 2024, Pena has learned different ways of moving.
“I learned a specific style in Venezuela, which is very classical. Here, I have learned a little bit more of the quick American style.”
“[Franklin and I] got that from our experience as dancers with Miami City Ballet, which was a traditionally Balanchine company,” Lopez pointed out.
Balanchine takes its name from George Balanchine, who is often called the father of American ballet. Widely recognized as one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th century, Balanchine co-founded New York City Ballet and served as its artistic director for more than 35 years. Over that span, he developed a neoclassical style that is characterized by free, quick, artistic movements.
Israel Kaique Barbosa portrays Prince Desiree.
Brazilian-born, Kaique trained at Balletarrj in Rio de Janeiro and was a member of its junior company. He went on to dance at Sao Paulo Dance Company, Brazilian Dance Company, Theater Municipal of Rio de Janeiro, Municipal Ballet of Natal and the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Barbosa has competed in various competitions, including Youth America Grand Prix 2014, World Ballet Competition 2015-2016 and Tanzolimp, Berlin, in 2016, where he won a gold medal in the Ensemble category.
Earlier this year (2025), Kaique and his partner won a first place gold medal in the Pas de Deux category at the Miami International Ballet Competition.
Barbosa has danced principal roles in “Le Corsaire,” “Carmen,” “Sleeping Beauty” and “The Nutcracker.” After moving to America, he joined the Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami and Sanctuary of the Arts in Miami.
Lopez and Gamero invited him to be in “Carmen,” which Gulfshore Ballet performed in Cambier Park in the 2024 Opera Naples Festival Under the Stars. He performed the role so well, that they invited him to join the company as a principal dancer.
As a principal with Gulfshore Ballet, Barbosa has appeared in “Sleeping Beauty” and “The Nutcracker.”
Barbosa characterizes himself as a very good dance partner. In addition, he has the versatility to interpret many different characters.
According to Lopez, the latter attribute is rare.
“Sometimes [playing a wide array of characters] is very difficult to find in dancers, and when we invited him to come, it was because we saw how good he was as a partner.”
Lopez also likes that Barbosa has the skill and strength to handle lifts and complex turns.
“There’s one turn that finishes on a fish dive,” Lopez elaborated. “If that partner is not good, her whole face can be on the floor, and you don’t want to see that. It’s a very dangerous move, and you only can do that if you have a good partner behind you.” A fish dive is a partnered lift in which the male dancer supports the female dancer in a retiré position with her upper body held low to the ground. This step is very common in partnering exercises and pas de deux.
The ultimate goal is for their interactions as dance partners to seem effortless. According to Lopez, that not only requires proper technique, artistry and physical strength and stamina, but long hours of rehearsal.
“There’s so many rehearsals,” said Lopez. “They’re rehearsing every single day to make that show look perfect.”
Gulfshore Ballet’s performance of “Sleeping Beauty” is the closing event in Opera Naples’ 2025 Festival Under the Stars.
For tickets, visit https://ci.ovationtix.com/36391/production/1208920.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.