Age: 20 • Home: Beachwood • Dances: Cleveland Ballet
Story by Nora Igelnik
Marla Aleyda says it wasn’t until this year – her almost fifth on-contract with the Cleveland Ballet as a company artist – did she feel like a “real ballerina.”
A lifelong dancer, she was raised in the Cleveland Ballet company. Her mother, Gladisa Guadalupe, is the ballet’s co-founder and artistic director, and when Aleyda was 18 months old, Guadalupe began bringing her daughter into the studio.
“She didn’t want to pay for a babysitter,” Aleyda jokes.
Now a lover of all things ballet, Aleyda says she hated the art form at the start of her journey.
“For the longest time I would sit during class – like, refuse to participate,” she recalls.
However, she started to get more heavily involved in ballet at around 13, when she auditioned for the School of American Ballet in New York City. But, Aleyda was not accepted.
“I was heartbroken,” she says. “But after that I was like, you know what? It’s a sign. Everything happens for a reason. And then I stuck with it, and I was like, soon enough, something will happen. And then when I was 16, I got offered a contract with Cleveland Ballet and I was like, this is it – this is what I was waiting for.”
Aside from the School of Cleveland Ballet, where Aleyda received most of her technical training, she also spent a summer at Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet in Brooklyn, N.Y. At the School of Cleveland Ballet, she was in the youth company. And during her junior year of high school, she signed a contract with the company to be a company artist.
At one point, she danced, taught ballet and attended regular high school classes at Andrews Osborne Academy in Willoughby all at once. She ended up taking advantage of Ashworth College’s online schooling to complete her studies and have enough room in her day for dance.
Now, she’s 20, and has been dancing professionally for almost five years. Aleyda says being signed so young is a rarity in the dance world.
“That is extremely rare,” Aleyda says. “This is why I never want to leave (Cleveland Ballet), for this reason.”
She explains that some larger dance companies have second company or trainee programs where they keep dancers for years, sometimes until the ages of 26 or 27, but never officially hire them.
“Which is really sad,” Aleyda says. “We see like these dancers that are stuck in these companies get burnt out and not love it anymore because no one’s giving them the opportunities that they deserve.”
Cleveland Ballet – which rehearses in Bedford Heights and performs on Cleveland’s Playhouse Square stages – employs a different type of policy, Aleyda explains.
“I’ve never seen a company hire such young dancers to be in a company,” she says. “It’s amazing because there’s also such a large mix. It’s not just older, more seasoned dancers, it’s young dancers. … Or younger dancers like myself who have been in the company for four, five-plus years. And it’s just a really good mix.”
Aleyda enjoys contemporary dance, but her favorite style is still classical ballet, she says. In fact, she was able to perform in an iconic ballet role this past December.
“I got casted in one of my dream roles in ‘The Nutcracker’ for the first time this past December,” she said. “So, I got to do ‘Sugar Plum.’ It’s every little girl’s dream.”
She is also an artistic associate at the School of Cleveland Ballet, meaning her week consists of class every morning, two sets of rehearsal and teaching at night.
“The way that I would describe all the company artists, they’re people who need to dance,” she says. “They have to be there. Like this is what makes them them. And that’s just another beautiful thing. We all want to be there, and the reason why we’re there is because we love it.”
Although Aleyda loves ballet and has devoted her young life to it, her future plans do not completely revolve around it. She also has other career interests, like opening a medical spa.
“I love making people feel good,” she says. “That also comes with performing and everything, you know? But making other people feel beautiful, I love that. So, I would love to get my esthetician license or something like that.”
Aleyda also says she wants to lead children in dance therapy, bringing together her passions for dance and helping others. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in psychology to achieve this dream.
“I know that children just want to communicate, and of course they don’t have the tools to do that,” she adds. “So, I feel that (dance therapy) would be something really great for children and for the parents … and hopefully, that’ll start something.”
“Since a very early age, Marla showed a natural talent for movement. She possesses a very innate natural quality of movement that is only seen in very matured dancers. Her magnetic performance quality is almost feather like. Her musicality is precise, her execution is captivating, and her overall performance has a fierce characteristic.”
Gladisa Guadalupe, artistic director, Cleveland Ballet (and Aleyda’s mother)
On view
Performances at Playhouse Square’s Connor Palace, 1615 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. Visit clevelandballet.org for tickets and more information.
“Carmen & Other Works”: Sept. 22-23
“The Nutcracker”: Dec. 14-23
“Aurora: A Sleeping Beauty Story”: April 26-27, 2024
