Luxury watch and jewellery brand Backes & Strauss has continued to work with the English National Ballet, and has named Shiori Kase, Laurretta Summerscales, and Jinhao Zhang as its new ambassadors, succeeding Tamara Rojo, the ballet company’s artistic director.
First soloist Kase began dancing in her native Tokyo before joining English National Ballet in 2009, and will appear in its productions of The Nutcracker, Le Corsaire, and Swan Lake. Summerscales was promoted to first soloist in 2013 after joining English National Ballet in 2009, and made her début with the role of Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis, in Giselle at the London Coliseum. Finally, Shanghai-born Zhang joined in 2014 and won English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer competition in 2015.
Rojo noted, ‘I am thrilled that Backes & Strauss have chosen three of our rising stars to be the faces of our partnership. Developing outstanding talent within the company is vital to English National Ballet. I am grateful to Backes & Strauss for their support of Shiori, Laurretta and Jinhao, and for their long-standing commitment to English National Ballet.’
Vartkess Knadjian, CEO of Backes & Strauss, said, ‘We are proud to welcome Shiori, Laurretta, and Jinhao as brand ambassadors. We anticipate that the dancers’ strive for excellence and perfection will have an immeasurable impact on the brand both in the UK and internationally throughout the year.’