Maria Aleksandrovna Alexandrova (; born 20 July 1978) is a Russian

principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be either gender. The position is similar to that of ''Soloist (ballet), solois ...

of the

Bolshoi Ballet The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest Ballet company, ballet companies. In the early 20th century, it ca ...

, People’s Artist of Russia.

Biography

Alexandrova was born in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, and attended the Moscow Choreographic Academy. She won a gold medal at the Moscow International Ballet Competition in 1997 and shortly thereafter joined the Bolshoi Ballet, quickly making her debut as Myrtha in ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' ( , ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (; ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet () in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first perfor ...

''. In June 2000, she played a double role in ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'' as street dancer for the first act and as soloist in third. By 2004, she had become a principal dancer, and since then she has performed in such ballets as '' The Sleeping Beauty'' and played the title character in

Alexei Ratmansky Alexei Osipovich Ratmansky (, born August 27, 1968) is a Russian-Ukrainian-American choreographer and former ballet dancer. From 2004 to 2008 he was the director of the Moscow Bolshoi Ballet. He left Russia in 2008. In 2009 he was appointed the ar ...

's ''Leah'' and Carmen in '' Carmen Suite''. In 2005 and 2007, she performed numerous

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

ist roles and made her debuts as Odette-Odile in ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

'', Medora in ''

Le Corsaire ''Le Corsaire'' is a ballet typically presented in three acts, with a libretto originally created by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges loosely based on the poem '' The Corsair'' by Lord Byron. Originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to ...

'' and the Pupil in ''

The Lesson ''The Lesson'' () is a one-act play by French-Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco. It was first performed in 1951 in a production directed by Marcel Cuvelier (who also played the Professor). Since 1957 it has been in permanent showing at Pari ...

''. In 2008, she participated in the premiere of Ratmansky's ''

Flames of Paris ''Flames of Paris'' or ''The Flames of Paris'' () is a full-length ballet in four acts, choreographed by Vasily Vainonen with the stage director Sergei Radlov to music by Boris Asafyev based on songs of the French Revolution. The libretto by N ...

'', in which she played the heroine Jeanne. In 2009, she danced in the premiere of ''

Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Éti ...

'' as Swanilda, made her debut as Nikiya in ''

La Bayadère ''La Bayadère'' ("the temple dancer") ( ru. «Баядерка», ''Bayaderka'') is an 1877 ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by the French choreographer Marius Petipa to music by Ludwig Minkus and libretto by . The ba ...

'' and danced the title role in the premiere of '' Esmeralda''. The same year, she also traveled to

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

where she appeared again in ''Swan Lake'' and ''Don Quixote'', both of which were performed at the

Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre The Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre (the official title is the Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre ()) is a theatre in Novosibirsk and Siberia. It is located at the center of Novosibirsk at Lenin square. The building was c ...

. In 2010, she made her debut as the Countess in

Roland Petit Roland Petit (13 January 192410 July 2011) was a French ballet company director, choreographer and dancer. He trained at the Paris Opera Ballet school, and became well known for his creative ballets. Life and work The son of shoe designer Ro ...

's ''Queen of Spades''. On 2 August 2013, during a performance by the Bolshoi Ballet at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Alexandrova injured her leg while performing Gamzatti in ''La Bayadère'' and had to leave the stage without finishing her act. She returned to the Bolshoi stage on 28 February 2014 in a performance of Mats Ek's ''Apartment''. In 2015, Alexandrova had participated in a film called '' Bolshoi Babylon''. On 2 February 2017, it was officially announced that Alexandrova decided to resign from the Bolshoi Ballet. "Bolshoi Theater has confirmed resignation of one of the ballet company stars, internationally acclaimed prima ballerina Maria Alexandrova. The resignation was voluntary" said

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...

. "On January 19, 2017, People's Artist of Russia Maria Alexandrova filed a request for voluntary resignation," a spokesperson for the theater said. "This was Ms. Alexandrova's personal decision." Alexandrova explained she will continue to dance within the context of other projects. Alexandrova was a leader of the Bolshoi Theatre's performer's union, and on 14 September 2014 she ran unsuccessfully for

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

to the

Moscow City Duma The Moscow City Duma (, commonly abbreviated to ) is the Regional parliaments of Russia, regional parliament (city duma) of Moscow, a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject and the capital city of Russia. As Moscow is one of Federal cities ...

as a candidate from the

Communist Party of the Russian Federation The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF; ) is a communist political party in Russia that officially adheres to Marxist–Leninist philosophy. It is the second-largest political party in Russia after United Russia. The youth o ...

, finishing second in the 41st electoral district.

References

External links

Page Alexandrova's on Bolshoi Theatre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexandrova, Maria 1978 births Living people Bolshoi Ballet principal dancers Honored Artists of the Russian Federation Moscow State Academy of Choreography alumni Dancers from Moscow People's Artists of Russia Russian ballerinas 21st-century Russian ballet dancers

Biography

See also

References

External links