- April 22, 2026
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Like many performers, ballerina Margaret Barbieri got typecast early in her career. Born in South Africa to Italian parents, Barbieri was identified as a “romantic” dancer when she went to study at the Royal Ballet School in London. But that wasn’t a bad reputation to have. It helped her win romantic roles in “Giselle,” “Swan Lake” and other ballets.
That’s why Barbieri was surprised when she was cast against type as the Black Queen in Dame Ninette de Valois’ production of “Checkmate.”
She landed the role in 1982, after receiving a note on yellow paper summoning her to de Valois’ office at the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet. Barbieri initially assumed the worst because the missive that dancers nicknamed “the yellow peril” was often the harbinger of bad news.
De Valois, whom everyone called “Madam,” was a stickler for discipline, so Barbieri thought she had done something wrong. If a dancer racked up too many violations of the company’s rules, Madam would banish them to ballet’s answer to the penalty box, or worse, chuck them out of the company altogether.
Fortunately for Barbieri and for Sarasota balletomanes, the reason for the meeting was to inform Barbieri there had been a change. Even though she had not originally been cast as the Black Queen in Sadler Wells’ upcoming production of “Checkmate,” the role was to be hers after all.
The movements, gestures and attitudes de Valois created for the Black Queen when she choreographed “Checkmate” in 1937 to music by Arthur Bliss were imparted directly to Barbieri, who is today the assistant director of Sarasota Ballet.
Born Edris Stannus in County Wicklow, Ireland, de Valois lived to be 102. The French-sounding monicker Ninette de Valois was the stage name of the dancer, choreographer and founder of what would become the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet.
Today Barbieri is passing down the knowledge she gained from de Valois to the dancers in Sarasota Ballet’s production of “Checkmate,” which it will perform at the Sarasota Opera House from May 1-2.
Given the majestic setting of the 100-year-old Opera House, it’s fitting that “Checkmate” is part of a program called “Foundations of Royalty.” The program also includes Sir Peter Wright’s “Summertide” and Sir Frederick Ashton’s “Birthday Offering.” Barbieri is staging all three pieces.
The last time Sarasota Ballet performed “Checkmate” was in 2017. The lavish production, which was also staged by Barbieri, starred Danielle Brown as the Black Queen and principal dancer Ricardo Rhodes as her enemy, the Red Knight.
Brown has retired, and this time around, the Black Queen will be danced by Sierra Abelardo. Her real-life partner, Samuel Gest, will star as her opponent, the Red Knight, whom she first checkmates and then ultimately kills in the chess-inspired ballet.
“Ricardo is a very good Red Knight, but he is also dancing in ‘Summertide’ and ‘Birthday Offering’ on the first night (Friday), and he can’t do all three roles,” says Barbieri.
Sarasota Ballet typically alternates its principals during three performances in its two-day run. Rhodes will reprise his role as Red Knight for at least one of the shows.
Nearly all of the Sarasota Ballet’s members will be on stage for “Checkmate.” The Black Queen is such a demanding role that it will also be performed by Brooke Wilson, in addition to Abelardo.
“I have to tell you that the Black Queen in ‘Checkmate’ is one of the heaviest roles in the ballet repertoire,” says Barbieri. “I used to come off stage and quickly swallow a glucose sweet that dissolves quickly before going on again. You’re already exhausted, but you’ve got this heavy solo to do.”
After finishing her performance in “Checkmate,” Barbieri says she was “completely shattered.” Playing the evil, scheming Black Queen, who first bewitches the Red Knight before stabbing him, is not just physically demanding, but emotionally draining, she says.
“You have to be powerful for the role, and Sierra is very powerful,” Barbieri says. “You’ve also got to have good technique. I wasn’t sure if she had the sensibility to interpret the role, but when we did photographs at the beginning of the season, I could see from the photos that she could be good.”
“Playing the Black Queen is unlike anything I’ve ever done before,” Abelardo says. “Maggie’s been very helpful with getting into the character.”
Both Abelardo and Gest are among the next generation of stars that Webb and Barbieri are cultivating at Sarasota Ballet. Will they replace the husband-and-wife team of Macarena Giminez and Maximiliano Iglesias in the hearts of Sarasota audiences? Time will tell.
Giminez left at the end of the 2025 season to become principal dancer at the Miami City Ballet, and Iglesias followed her.
Both natives of Argentina, Giminez and Iglesias joined the Sarasota Ballet as principal dancers in 2022 from the Ballet Estable del Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.
The departure of Giminez and Iglesias has opened up opportunities for Webb to cast Abelardo and Gest in crowd-pleasing pairings. Of course, dancers don’t have to be romantically involved to deliver an enchanting pas de deux, but it doesn’t hurt.
This is Abelardo’s fourth season with Sarasota Ballet. A native of Cincinnati, she joined the company as a member of the corps de ballet in 2022. She since has risen through the ranks, being promoted to first soloist in 2024 and junior principal this season.
Gest was previously a dancer with the National Theatre of Belgrade before joining the Sarasota Ballet in August 2021 as a member of the corps de ballet. He was born in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and was raised in Indiana. Gest trained at the National Ballet School of Canada, and, like Barbieri, is a graduate of the Royal Ballet School.
During a roundtable interview that included Gest and Abelardo, who bear a remarkable resemblance to one another, Barbieri recalled that she and Webb originally discovered Gest through an online audition in 2020. However, they weren’t able to hire him immediately because of the shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I actually graduated (from the Royal School of Ballet) during COVID,” Gest says. “It was a rocky time for getting jobs. I ended up finding a job in Serbia. I was there for less than a year, but I wanted a change, so I sent my material everywhere. That’s how I ended up in Sarasota.”
The 2026-27 season will mark Webb’s 20th anniversary at Sarasota Ballet. Under his leadership, the company has championed the works of Sir Frederick Ashton, considered the father of English ballet.
Webb and Barbieri are intimately familiar with Ashton’s works since they danced them with Sadler’s Wells (now the Birmingham Royal Ballet) and the Royal Ballet in London. Barbieri and Webb married in 1982.
Barbieri joined Webb on Sarasota Ballet’s management team in 2012, staging ballets and overseeing the Margaret Barbieri Conservatory, the pre-professional training program named in her honor. In 2016, the couple invited Joseph Volpe, the former general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, to become executive director of Sarasota Ballet.
Like other professionals who have retired to Sarasota, Volpe was coaxed out of retirement by the opportunity to help elevate the arts in the town known as Florida’s “Cultural Coast.”
Together, the troika has raised Sarasota Ballet’s national and international profile. The company has traveled to the Jacob’s Pillow dance festival in Massachusetts twice, New York City's Joyce Theatre and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In 2024, the company performed in the Royal Ballet’s “Ashton Celebrated” program to rave reviews from London critics.
Looking ahead to next season, Barbieri says she can’t wait to stage Ashton’s “The Two Pigeons” again. It was last performed by Sarasota Ballet in 2017.
“I’ve been fortunate because I’ve danced both of the lead roles, the gypsy girl and what used to be called the white girl, now the young girl,” she says.
There will be some departures of company members at the end of this season, Barbieri said, but didn’t specify names.
Sarasota Ballet guest principal dancer Misa Kuranaga, who is also a principal with the San Francisco Ballet, will be returning for a second season, Barbieri says.
Veteran principals Rhodes and Ricardo Graziano will both be back on stage for the 2026-27 season.
Fans of romantic pairings will welcome the return of Ashton’s version of “Romeo and Juliet” in 2027. Sarasota Ballet’s production of Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers was a triumph for Giminez and Iglesias in 2025.
Of course, there are no casting guarantees at Sarasota Ballet. But we’re keeping our fingers crossed that Abelardo and Gest get the starring roles in “Romeo and Juliet” and that their real-life love story has a happy ending.
