Alexei Osipovich Ratmansky (, born August 27, 1968) is a Russian-Ukrainian-American

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

and former

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

. From 2004 to 2008 he was the director of the Moscow

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 ...

. He left Russia in 2008. In 2009 he was appointed the artist in residence at the

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant. Through 2019, it had an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spr ...

, and as artist in residence at the New York City Ballet from August 2023.

Training and performance career

Ratmansky was born in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

in Russia, Soviet Union, grew up in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, then in the Soviet Union, later the capital of independent Ukraine, and trained under Pyotr Pestov and

Alexandra Markeyeva Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus ...

at the Bolshoi Ballet School in Moscow. He graduated in 1986. He then started his professional career in Kyiv and was a principal dancer with the

Ukrainian National Ballet The Kyiv Opera group in Ukraine was formally established in the summer of 1867, and is the third oldest opera in Ukraine, after Odesa Opera and Lviv Opera. The Kyiv Opera Company perform Kyiv Opera House, named after Taras Shevchenko. Hi ...

Royal Winnipeg Ballet The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada's oldest ballet company and the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America. History It was founded in 1939 as the "Winnipeg Ballet Club" by Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally (who also fou ...

and

Royal Danish Ballet The Royal Danish Ballet ( Danish: ''Den Kongelige Ballet'') is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Danish Theatre in Kongens Nytorv, Copenhagen, Denmark. It is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world a ...

Choreographic and administrative careers

Ratmansky's choreographic career first became notable with his staging of the ballet ''

Dreams of Japan A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5–20 minutes, althou ...

'' for the State Ballet of Georgia in 1998. ''Dreams'' and ''Charms of Mannerism'', choreographed in 1997, were both created for

Nina Ananiashvili Nina Ananiashvili (born Nino Ananiashvili; ka, ნინო ანანიაშვილი; born March 19, 1963) is a Georgian ballerina and artistic director of the State Ballet of Georgia. She has been described by the ''Daily Telegraph' ...

. ''Dreams'' earned the Golden Mask Award from the

Theatre Union of Russia Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicat ...

. Ratmansky is noted for restaging traditionally classical ballets for large companies. His first three-act story ballet was ''Cinderella'', created for the

Kirov Ballet The Mariinsky Ballet () is the resident classical ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's ...

in 2002. Ratmansky's 2003 staging of '' The Bright Stream'' (also translated as "The Limpid Stream") for the

led to his appointment as artistic director of that company the following year. While there he also made a full-length production of '' The Bolt'', in 2005, and re-staged ''

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 ''

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 2007 and 2008.

The Critics' Circle The Critics' Circle is the national professional body of British critics for books, drama, film, music, dance, visual arts and architecture. It was established in 1913 as a successor to the defunct Society of Dramatic Critics, formed in 1906. The ...

in London has named the Bolshoi "Best Foreign Company" under Ratmansky's direction, in 2005 and 2007, and he received its National Dance Award for ''The Bright Stream''. After his directorship at the Bolshoi, Ratmansky agreed to become the first artist in residence for the

in 2008 after negotiations with the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...

failed over the position of resident choreographer. His ballets for the New York City Ballet include '' Russian Seasons'' and ''

Concerto DSCH ''Concerto DSCH'' is a ballet by Alexei Ratmansky choreographed for the New York City Ballet to the music of Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2 (Shostakovich), Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102 (1957). The premiere took place on T ...

'', and for the American Ballet Theatre, '' On the Dnieper'' and ''

Seven Sonatas 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has symbolic associations in religion, mythology, supers ...

''. In 2011, his choreography of Prokofiev's ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' was premiered by the

National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca, the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...

in Toronto. Its performance in London earned Ratmansky the praise from ''New York Times'' reviewer

Alastair Macaulay Alastair Macaulay is an English writer and dance critic. He was the chief dance critic for ''The New York Times'' from 2007 until he retired in 2018. He was previously chief dance critic at ''The Times'' and Literary Supplement and chief theater cr ...

of being "the most gifted choreographer specializing in classical ballet today." In 2014, Ratmansky took his career in a new direction when he reconstructed Marius Petipa's final revival of ''

Paquita ''Paquita'' is a ballet in two acts and three scenes originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to music by Édouard Deldevez and Ludwig Minkus. Paul Foucher received royalties as librettist. History ''Paquita'' is the creation of French c ...

'' from the

Sergeyev Collection The Sergeyev Collection (officially Nikolai Sergeev Dance Notations and Music Scores for Ballets) is an assemblage of materials that document the repertory of the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg as it existed at the turn-of-the 20th century. The ...

. The reconstruction was premièred in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

in December 2014, performed by the Bavarian State Ballet. In March 2015, he mounted his second Petipa reconstruction for

- '' The Sleeping Beauty'', which premièred in Orange County and was later staged at the

Teatro alla Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was a church). The premiere performance was Antonio Salieri's ''Europa r ...

. Ratmansky is currently reconstructing the Petipa/Ivanov 1895 staging of ''

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 ...

'', which was premièred in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

in February 2016. He was choreographing a new work at the Bolshoi when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022; he immediately left Russia and condemned the invasion. His parents and in-laws were still in Ukraine in August 2023, and could not leave. In January 2023 the New York City Ballet announced that Ratmansky would join them as an artist in residence in August 2023.

Choreographed works

' *1988: ''La Sylphide-88'', ''Duet-buff #1 & 2'' *1993: ''Pas de Graham'' *1994: ''The Fairy's Kiss'', ''Alborada'', ''Whipped Cream'', ''98 steps'' *1995: ''Hurluburlu'', ''Poor Little Things'' *1996: ''Sarabande'' *1997: ''Charms of Mannerism'', ''Capriccio'', ''Krakowyak'', ''Old Juniet's Carriol'' *1998: ''Dreams of Japan'', '' Middle Duet'', ''Poem of Extazy'', ''Fairy's Kiss'' (2nd version) *1999: ''Water'', ''Chrizantemums'' *2001: ''Turandot's Dream'', ''Flight to Budapest'', ''Leah'', ''The Nutcracker'' *2002: ''Cinderella'', ''Vers la Flamme'', ''The Firebird'' *2003: ''The Bright Stream'', ''Carnaval des Animaux'', ''Bolero'' *2004: ''Anna Karenina'', ''Leah'' (2nd version) *2005: ''The Bolt'', ''Jeu de cartes'' *2006: '' Russian Seasons'' *2007: ''Le Corsaire'' (after Mazilier & Petipa, with Yuri Burlaka), ''Old Women Falling Out'' *2008: ''Biset Variations'', ''Pierrot Lunaire'', ''

'', ''Flames of Paris'' (after Vainonen) *2009: ''The Little Humpbacked Horse'', ''Valse-Fantasie'', ''On the Dnieper'', ''Scuola di Ballo'', ''Seven Sonatas'' *2010: ''Don Quixote'' (after Petipa & Gorsky), ''Namouna'', ''Fandango'', ''The Nutcracker'' (2nd version) *2011: ''Lost Illusions'', ''Dumbarton'', ''Psyche'', ''Romeo & Juliet'' *2012: ''Souvenir d'un Lieu Cher'', ''Symphonic Dances'', ''The Firebird'' (2nd version), ''The Golden Cockerel'', ''Symphony No. 9'' *2013: ''24 Preludes'', ''From Foreign Lands'', ''Chamber Symphony'', ''Piano Concerto No. 1'', ''Cinderella'' (2nd version), ''Opera'', ''The Tempest'' *2014: ''Tanzsuite'', ''

Pictures at an Exhibition ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' is a piano suite in ten movements, plus a recurring and varied Promenade theme, written in 1874 by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. It is a musical depiction of a tour of an exhibition of works by architect and ...

'', ''Rondo Capriccioso'' *2016: ''Serenade After Plato’s Symposium'' *2017: ''Whipped Cream'', ''Odessa'', ''Songs of Bukovina'', *2019: ''The Seasons'' *2020: ''Voices,'' ''Of Love and Rage'' *2021: ''Bernstein in a Bubble'' *2022: ''Wartime Elegy'', ''Tchaikovsky Overtures'' *2023: ''Coppélia'' *2024: ''La Séparation,'' ''Solitude'' *2025: ''Paquita''

Reconstructions

*2014: ''Paquita'' *2015: ''The Sleeping Beauty'' *2016: ''Swan Lake'' *2018: ''Harlequinade'', ''La Bayadère'' *2019: ''Giselle''

Awards

Ratmansky received the 2005 and 2014

Prix Benois de la Danse The Benois de la Danse is a ballet competition held annually in Moscow. Founded by the International Dance Association in 1991, it takes place each year on or around April 29 and it's judged by a jury. The members of this jury change every year and ...

for choreography for, respectively, ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, Анна Каренина, p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Tolstoy called it his first true novel. It was initially released in serial in ...

'', staged for the

, and ''Shostakovich Trilogy'' and ''The Tempest'', put on for the

. He also received the 2007 Golden Mask Award for Best Choreographer for '' Jeu de Cartes'' choreographed for the Bolshoi Ballet. In 2013, Ratmansky was named as the MacArthur Fellow of the year, an award that came with "genius grant" for "working in any field, who "show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work". (http://www.macfound.org/fellows/900/) In 2020, Ratmansky was named by

Carnegie Corporation of New York The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Since its founding, the Carnegie Corporation has endowed or othe ...

as an honoree of the

Great Immigrants Award The Great Immigrants Award is an annual initiative by the Carnegie Corporation of New York to honor naturalized citizens of the United States who have made significant contributions to American society, democracy, and culture. Established in 200 ...

References

External links

ABT website

"Dance of Death" by Judith Mackrell
an article in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''
Archive film of Alexei Ratmansky's Charms of Mannerism in 1999 at Jacob's Pillow

NYC Ballet Presents Alexei Ratmansky's ''Pictures at an Exhibition''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratmansky, Alexei 1968 births Living people American Ballet Theatre Choreographers of Bolshoi Theatre Dancers from Saint Petersburg Prix Benois de la Danse winners Royal Danish Ballet principal dancers Royal Winnipeg Ballet principal dancers Russian male ballet dancers Choreographers of New York City Ballet Choreographers of American Ballet Theatre *Alexei Ratmansky MacArthur Fellows 20th-century Russian ballet dancers