Payload Logo
← All dancers

Marcelino Sambé

The Royal BalletPrincipalPortuguese

Notable roles

Prince Siegfried · Albrecht · Des Grieux · Romeo · Crown Prince Rudolf · Pedro (Like Water for Chocolate)

Marcelino Sambé was born in Lisbon to a Guinean father and Portuguese mother, and discovered ballet at age eight. He won a Prix de Lausanne scholarship and joined The Royal Ballet in 2012, becoming a Principal in 2019 — the second Black male dancer to reach that rank in the Company after Carlos Acosta. He created the lead role of Pedro in Christopher Wheeldon's Like Water for Chocolate.