Antonio Mannino is an Italian performance artist who specializes in dance and acting.
We saw him perform in Ballet Hispanico’s triumphal performances of Carmen Maquia at The Apollo Theater in Harlem, NYC in late 2018. Recently recovered from an injury, Mannino is continuing his career in New York City.
La Scala Ballet School
At the age of 13 he won the first prize in the international ballet competition Sicilian, which allowed him to train and work with the star of Italian ballet Carla Fracci in the Nutcracker. That also led to a scholarship with the prestigious Rome Opera House Ballet school. He went on to train in the best schools — academies such as the John Cranko School in Stuttgart and the noted La Scala Ballet School in Milan, from which he graduated in 2015.
Northern Ballet in the UK
Mannino continued his training in the United Kingdom at Northern Ballet where he had the opportunity to work with both Northern Ballet and the BBC in the filming of the children’s ballet Tortoise and the Hare which was released in cinemas in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and Australia.
Teatrul de Balet Sibiu, Romania
Antonio later joined Teatrul de Balet Sibiu in Romania as a company dancer where he excelled. With the Teatrul he toured Europe and performed soloist roles in Fairy Doll, Paquita and Anna Karenina as well as corps de ballet roles in the classical repertoire in Swan Lake, Don Quixote and Giselle.
Joffrey Ballet
The following year he joined Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet Studio Company, America’s foremost ballet company, where he performed soloist and principal roles in Napoli and Viva Vivaldi. Antonio was chosen by three emerging choreographers in the Winning Works Program of the Joffrey Ballet.
In Chicago he also worked with the renowned Canadian artist Brendan Fernandes in his piece Master and the Form.
Ballet Hispánico
New York’s Ballet Hispánico offered him a contract in 2018; he toured nationally and internationally with the company performing works by well-known choreographers such as Annabel López Ochoa (Sombrerisimo) , Eduardo Vilaro (Danzón) and Michelle Manzales (Con Brazos Abiertos ) and Pedro Ruiz (Club Havana).
Antonio performed the masterpiece Carmen Maquia by the Spanish choreographer Gustavo Ramírez Sansano at New York’s storied Apollo Theatre that has seen artists like Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix and Michael Jackson.
He danced at Vail Dance Festival in Colorado, one of the biggest dance festivals in the United States alongside Isabella Boylston and Herman Cornejo, principal dancers with the American Ballet Theatre, and Fall for Dance, the main New York City dance festival that has presented over 200 companies to a cumulative audience on nearly 300,000 people. Antonio later danced at the United Nations for the Hispanic Leadership Summit.
A Young Dancer with a Bright Future
Mannino is fluent in Italian, English, Spanish and German. He worked as an interpreter for the Italian enterprise Abaco and these skills have helped in all his pursuits, especially acting. Following his injury in 2018 Antonio continued dancing for months until he underwent corrective surgery in New York in February of 2019. Antonio is thrilled to get back to work and continue his artistic journey in the United States.
Follow Antonio’s journey on www.instagram/antonio.mannino