Elena Lobsanova (born ) is a Russian-Canadian ballet dancer. She joined 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 as the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...

in 2004 and was promoted to

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 male or female. The position is similar to that of '' soloist''; however, ...

in 2015. In 2020, she joined the

Miami City Ballet Miami City Ballet is an American ballet company based in Miami Beach, Florida, led by artistic director Lourdes Lopez. MCB was founded in 1985 by Toby Lerner Ansin, a Miami philanthropist. Ansin and the founding board hired Edward Villell ...

Early life and training

Lobsanova was born in Moscow. Her father was a microbiologist. As a child, she and her family moved to Toronto. She did not dance in Russia, and started her ballet training in 1996, when she was nine, at the outreach program of

Canada's National Ballet School Canada's National Ballet School, also commonly known as the National Ballet School of Canada, is a classical ballet school located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Along with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, it is a provider of professional ballet tr ...

. In fifth grade, she started attending the school full-time, where she studied both ballet and academics. In 1997 and 1998, she danced the role of Marie in

James Kudelka James Kudelka, OC (born September 10, 1955 at Newmarket, Ontario), is a Canadian choreographer, dancer, and director. He was the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada from 1996 to 2005, now serving as the National Ballet's artist in r ...

's ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...

'' with the

. At the school's spring showcase in 2004, Lobsanova was chosen to dance Odette in the second act of ''

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

''. In preparation for the performance, she was coached by

Karen Kain Karen Alexandria Kain (born March 28, 1951) is a Canadian former ballet dancer, and was the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada from 2005 - 2021. Early training and childhood Kain's mother enrolled her daughter in ballet training ...

, then the artistic associate and former principal dancer of the National Ballet.

Career

In 2004, when Lobsanova was seventeen, she was offered an apprenticeship with the National Ballet of Canada, after she completed both professional ballet training and high school. Although

Mavis Staines Mavis Avril Staines (born April 9, 1954) is a Canadian ballet dancer and teacher. Staines grew up in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. In 1972, she graduated from Canada's National Ballet School. After becoming a first soloist with the National Ba ...

, the artistic director of the school, wanted her to train for another year, Lobsanova accepted the contract. The following year, she injured her

second metatarsal bone The second metatarsal bone is a long bone in the foot. It is the longest of the metatarsal bones, being prolonged backward and held firmly into the recess formed by the three cuneiform bones. The second metatarsal forms joints with the second prox ...

. She was later promoted to second soloist. In 2009, Lobsanova and Noah Long were chosen to represent the company at the

Erik Bruhn Prize Erik Belton Evers Bruhn (3 October 1928 – 1 April 1986) was a Danish danseur, choreographer, artistic director, actor, and author. Early life Erik Bruhn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the fourth child and first son of Ellen (née Evers), ...

. In 2011, Lobsanova was promoted to first soloist. She was then chosen by

Alexei Ratmansky Alexei Osipovich Ratmansky (russian: Алексей Осипович Ратманский, born August 27, 1968) is a Russian-American choreographer and former ballet dancer. From 2004 to 2008 he was the director of the Bolshoi Ballet. He left Ru ...

to dance the world premiere of his version of ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

'' as Juliet. Later that year, she made her debut as the Sugar Plum Fairy in ''The Nutcracker'', making her the first person to have danced both Marie as a child and the Sugar Plum Fairy as an adult, breaking what was referred as the "curse of Marie" in the company, which stated that no one who portrayed Marie as a child ever danced the Sugar Plum Fairy. In 2015, she was named principal dancer. Other roles in her repertoire include Princess Aurora in '' The Sleeping Beauty'', the Sylph in Bournonville's ''

La Sylphide ''La Sylphide'' ( en, The Sylph; da, Sylfiden) is a romantic ballet in two acts. There were two versions of the ballet; the original choreographed by Filippo Taglioni in 1832, and a second version choreographed by August Bournonville in 1836. ...

'', the title role in ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance cano ...

'', Alice in Wheeldon's ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...

'', Perdita in Wheeldon's ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some cri ...

'', Kylián's ''Petite Mort'' and Ratmansky's ''Piano Concerto #1''. In 2020, Lobsanova left the National Ballet of Canada and joined the

as principal dancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lobsanova, Elena 1980s births Living people Artists from Moscow Artists from Toronto Canadian ballerinas Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian female dancers Miami City Ballet dancers National Ballet of Canada principal dancers Prima ballerinas Russian ballerinas Russian emigrants to Canada Russian expatriates in the United States Russian female dancers 21st-century Russian ballet dancers 21st-century Canadian dancers