Latest news with #Boada
Int'l Business Times
19-05-2025
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
Entrepreneurship, Creativity And Passion for Wine: Andre Boada's Journey to Business Owner, Speaker And Thought Leader
Sight, smell, swirl, sip, and savour are the universal five Ss of wine-tasting, allowing curious explorers and aficionados to experience the full richness of vinification. For sommeliers, these steps offer a blueprint to sharing their wealth of knowledge with others. But for Andre Boada, they are just the beginning. Because for this oenophile, the art of wine transcends notes, acidity, or minerality; it's about the industry as a whole. Boada, an advanced sommelier with an extensive background in branding, combines his two passions to deliver insight-powered, result-driven strategies for sales and marketing within all channels of wine spirits. On a mission to push the envelope of innovation and creativity, he employs his commitment to excellence as the Founder & Wine Specialist at VinoCadre, co-founder at Six Twists Sparkling, freelance wine writer, international wine judge, keynote speaker, and business consultant. Raised in Napa, California, Boada's love for wine has been nurtured by his European parents, who, ever since he can remember, would cook delectable dinners and lunches to enjoy them with a complimentary glass of wine. "It was less about drinking wine, more about appreciating it," he recalls. Unbeknownst to him at the time, his familial roots would later lay the foundation of his career. Surrounded by the opportunities of Napa-Sonoma, he made strides in the industry quickly. From spearheading brand development for one of the largest wine producers in the US to working with local artisan wineries, his experience is truly all-encompassing. His network grew rapidly, boasting connections with world-class chefs, vintners, winemakers, sommeliers, and everyone in between. As his career developed, so did his appreciation for wine, and Boada wanted to take his passion further. In 2015, in Saint Helena, California, he founded VinoCadre, a wine consulting company providing a unified marketing platform that recognizes professionals and engages consumers. Focused on B2B collaboration and wineries' execution, its services include brand development, strategic consulting, luxury partnerships, and private VIP wine country experiences, among others. Led by professionals who understand the industry's complexity, it's no wonder that the company expanded, now kicking dirt in the Texas Hill Country. Its foray into Texas was shaped by both the rising prominence of wine in the region and Boada's personal experiences. While living in California, he was approached by a friend's winery and asked to bolster operations. Leveraging 'gap analysis,' he was able to identify opportunities that weren't being maximized, quickly turning their trajectory. This same philosophy has been implemented on a global scale, whether during public speaking events or business consulting, Boadas' experiences have led him all throughout Europe, South America, North America, and more. Serendipitously, another friend was looking at wine opportunities in the state. When he asked Boada to come on board and help him build it out, he didn't hesitate. The partnership culminated in Six Twists Sparkling, a bespoke champagne lounge offering a dazzling array of sparkling wines from around the globe. While VinoCadre was the natural next step in Boada's career, Six Twists was more of a leap of faith. "Texas is still an emerging wine market, and that's always uncertain," explains the co-founder. "But, looking back, it was worth it." To truly understand the value of this champagne lounge, it's worth exploring its 6-twist philosophy. As Boada says, "It takes six twists to unlock the muselet (the metal cage surrounding the cork). Each twist should symbolize positivity, gratitude, and celebration. That's the energy we hope to evoke when guests visit Six Twists Sparkling. So that, every time they're here, they're reminded of the beauty of life." Beyond his businesses, Boada remains dedicated to mentoring up-and-coming stars in the industry, equipping them with the tools and knowledge to not only succeed but also add value. With dreams of becoming a wine master, he indulges in blindly tasting around 100 wines a week, every day refining his palate to identify the type of grapes, their origin, the wines' body and notes, and even their price. VinoCadre A proprietary app providing real-time pairing recommendations is also in the works. Now in its very nascent stage, it will allow users to seek professional assistance while hosting dinner parties or eating out by analyzing food and wine selection and creating the most compatible pairings. Reflecting on his unique story, from his family dinner table to redefining the industry standard, he says: "Having a career that honors the experiences that shaped you is incredibly rewarding. A lot has changed since these seeds were planted by my parents, but no matter where in the world I am, wine always brings me home."
CBS News
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Boston Ballet's "Vestris" allows male dancers to dream big and take center stage
When you go to the ballet, you often see female dancers in the spotlight. But in one special piece, it's the male dancer who is all alone and center stage. For the first time in six years, Boston Ballet is bringing "Vestris" back, as part of their Winter Experience program. It features a single male dancer on stage for several minutes. "The minute you put that costume on and you hear the music, you know that you're filling some big shoes," says Boston Ballet Associate Director Joan Boada. He has spent weeks working with the men who portray Vestris, in the piece originally created for Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1969. Principal dancer Derek Dunn says, "Anything that was created on Bridgenikov is like iconic. It's something that I think a lot of dancers inspire or aspire to perform. But it's quite a complex piece. There are a lot of different elements to it." Inspired by the famous French dancer Auguste Vestris, the role requires much more than just great ballet technique. Boada tells us, "It's a little more mental than physical in the demand because you have to play different characters as you play the role of Vestris." Soloist Daniel Durett explains, "One second, you are smiling and having a good time. The next second, you're angry, you're on the floor at one point. It's a rollercoaster of emotions for sure." Dunn says Vestris is a welcome return. "I first performed this role in 2019. And so I think I was about 24-years-old. I think what's nice coming back to it is being able to kind of build on the things that I worked on before and being able to kind of explore even further into these characters." With his performance, Durett became the first black man ever to dance the piece on a professional stage. He says, "When Mikko told me that I was doing Vestris, my reaction was, 'Really? Oh.' To have this opportunity to show myself and to show more artistry and technical aspects of my dancing? I'm very honored." "Especially for younger dancers to see a male dancer kind of in that spotlight and doing a solo like this? Hopefully is really inspiring," Dunn says. "We're just artists, we're just humans, we're just performing, so I want all the boys to dream big and do what they want," Boada agrees. "This solo is unlike anything I've ever done before in the sense that a lot of times with ballet you are inviting the audience to kind of observe the world you create on stage. And with this solo, you're, as the dancer, kind of inviting them in, and you're breaking down that boundary, and you're looking for their reactions, and you're feeding off of their reactions," Dunn continues. "And so it does feel almost like a duet with the audience, and so I would hope that people come into the theater excited to watch and feel like they can also energize the dancers as they do this piece." You can see "Vestris" as part of Boston Ballet's Winter Experience through March 30th at the Citizen's Opera House in Boston.
Miami Herald
19-03-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Ransom's Boada and Lourdes' Fique are the Miami-Dade Girls' Soccer Coaches of the Year
One of the two best teams in Miami-Dade County was a familiar face. The other was a newcomer to the upper echelon of Florida girls' soccer. After guiding each of their teams to the final four this year, Lourdes Academy's David Fique and Ransom Everglades' Antonio Boada are the Miami Herald's Miami-Dade County Girls' Soccer Coaches of the Year. After a one year absence from the state championship, Lourdes returned to the title game for the fifth time in six seasons and got to the Class 5A championship by dominating all other competition in Miami. The Bobcats went 9-0-1 against their Miami-Dade opponents and only lost two games all year, both to eventual team state champions. Fique, the Herald's Miami-Dade County Girls' Soccer Coach of the Year for Classes 7A-4A, has now been to the state championship in three of his four seasons as Lourdes' coach. He has been one of the Herald's Miami-Dade Girls' Soccer Coaches of the Year in all four seasons leading the Bobcats. Fique was an assistant coach at Lourdes prior to taking over as coach in 2021 and was part of the Bobcats' last state title in 2020. Boada, meanwhile, got the Raiders to the state semifinals for the first time by steadying Ransom Everglades through the expected ups and downs. After they slumped through a three-game winless streak to start 2025, the Raiders went undefeated the rest of the way until falling in the Class 2A semifinals. This is Boada's first time as one of the Herald's Girls' Soccer Coaches of the Year. Boada, the Herald's Miami-Dade County Girls' Soccer Coach of the Year for Classes 3A-1A, has turned Ransom Everglades into a perennial postseason fixture in his three years running the program. This year was a culmination, but also maybe the start of something new.
