Maia Wilkins
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Maia Wilkins joined The Joffrey Ballet in1991 after dancing as a member of Joffrey II and attending The Joffrey School on scholarship. She was born and raised in Truckee, California, began her dance training in tap at age six, but the opportunity to study ballet did not come until she was eleven. Ms. Wilkins received her formative training under Maggie Banks at the Nevada Festival Ballet School. She has also studied with Stanley Holden in Los Angles, the School of American Ballet, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Luigi, and Tina Bernal in New York.
Ms. Wilkins loves performing Arpino ballets including: Sea Shadow, Light Rain, L´Air d´Esprit, and Secret Places. Ms. Wilkins had the honor of having Gerald Arpino create Ruth: Ricordi per Due on her. Other principle roles with The Joffrey Ballet include: John Cranko´s Romeo & Juliet (Juliet) and The Taming of the Shrew (Kate); Ruth Page’s Frankie and Johnny (Frankie); Kurt Jooss’ The Green Table (the Young Girl); Nijinsky’s Le Sacre Du Printemps (the Chosen One); Martha Graham’s Appalachian Spring (the Bride); George Balanchine´s Tchaikovsky´s Pas de Deux and Tarantella; Antony Tudor’s Lilac Garden (Carolyn); and Robert Joffrey’s Astarte.
Ms. Wilkins received the Ruth Page Dance Achievement Award in 1999 for her artistry and in 2001 for the role of Kate in The Taming of the Shrew. She was one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch for 2002”. In the same year, The Chicago Tribune named her one of the top ten artists in Chicago.
Ms. Wilkins enjoys traveling around the globe performing The Joffrey Ballet’s wide range of repertoire. She loves sharing time both on stage and off with her husband and fellow Joffrey dancer, Michael Levine.