The Royal Ballet, generally considered to be the best classical company in the world, numbers some 100 dancers from teens of countries who are based at its magnificent and newly refurbished Opera House home in London.
Among those, Brazilian-born Roberta Marquez has been dazzling audiences there in Covent Garden and the world over since she joined the company at its most exalted level of principal dancer in 2004.
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Marquez started learning ballet at age 4, and also practiced tap, jazz, Spanish and African dance. By age 7, though, she had decided to focus on ballet, and in 1994 she joined the city's Teatro Municipal company. There, she was promoted to the rank of principal dancer in 2002.