Vadim Muntagirov is a Russian ballet dancer. He is currently a principal dancer at

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...

in London and previously a lead principal dancer at the English National Ballet.

Early life

Muntagirov, was born in

Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk; , is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, seventh-largest city in Russia, with a population ...

, Russia. His parents and elder sister are ballet dancers. At age nine, he entered Perm State Choreographic College, where his parents and sister trained, and trained there for six years. In 2006, after he won a scholarship at the

Prix de Lausanne The Prix de Lausanne () is an international dance competition held annually in Lausanne, Switzerland. The competition is for young dancers seeking to pursue a professional career in classical ballet, and many former prize winners of the competition ...

, despite not speaking English, he chose to relocate to London and trained at The Royal Ballet School. He planned to stay for a year, but Gailene Stock, then-director of the school, convinced him to continue his training there. He graduated in 2009.

Career

In 2009, after Muntagirov graduated, he joined the English National Ballet as First Artist. During his first season, he danced Albrecht in '' Giselle'' and the Prince in ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

''. In 2010, Muntagirov was promoted to First Soloist. He was chosen to perform Prince Siegfried ''

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 ...

'' with guest star Polina Semionova, but he rehearsed the role with Daria Klimentová, 19 years his senior. However, Semionova had to withdraw from opening night as she did not have a visa, so Klimentová stepped in and performed. The performance received critical acclaim, and their partnership was compared to

Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, DBE ( Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn (), was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with th ...

and

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev (17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet-born ballet dancer and choreographer. Nureyev is widely regarded as the preeminent male ballet dancer of his generation as well as one of the greatest ballet dancers of all ...

's partnership. The rehearsals and performance was featured in the BBC4 documentary ''Agony and Ecstasy: A Year with English National Ballet''. Since then, the two were paired together frequently. Klimentová noted it is a partnership she waited 20 years for. Muntagirov was promoted to Principal in 2011 and Lead Principal in 2012. He performed lead roles such as Conrad in '' Le Corsaire'', the poet in '' Les Sylphides'' and the title role in ''

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

'', and originated the role of the Prince in Wayne Eagling's ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

''. In 2013, he won the Prix Benois de la Danse for the Prince in '' The Sleeping Beauty''. In January 2014, Muntagirov announced that he would join

as a Principal Dancer. He made his debut in the company as the Prince in ''The Sleeping Beauty'', with Akane Takada as Princess Aurora. Later that year, he returned to ENB to dance at Klimentová's final performance, which was ''

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 ...

''. At the Royal Ballet, he danced lead roles such as Solor in '' La Bayadère'', Des Grieux in '' Manon'', Colas in ''

La Fille mal gardée LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

'' and the Young Man in '' The Two Pigeons''. In 2019, he won his second Prix Benois de la Danse, this time for Prince Siegfried in ''Swan Lake''. Muntagirov is a Permanent Guest Artist in the National Ballet of Japan, and had made guest appearances with

Paris Opera Ballet The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded a ...

, Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg and

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 ...

in Washington D.C.. Muntagirov had also taught in Klimentová's masterclass in Prague. In June 2020, in the first series of performance since 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 ...

's closure due to the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic, which was broadcast online, Muntagirov performed

Frederick Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (17 September 190418 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Determined to be a dancer despite the oppositio ...

's ''Dance of the Blessed Spirits'', which he learned from

Anthony Dowell Sir Anthony James Dowell (born 16 February 1943) is a retired British ballet dancer and a former artistic director of the Royal Ballet. He is widely recognized as one of the great ''danseurs nobles'' of the twentieth century. Early life and tr ...

in 2016.

Selected repertoire

English National Ballet

*Albrecht in '' Giselle'' *The Prince in ''

'' *Prince Siegfried in ''

'' *The poet in '' Les Sylphides'' *Romeo in Rudolf Nureyev's ''

'' *''

'' *The Prince in '' The Sleeping Beauty''

Created roles

*The Prince in Wayne Eagling's ''

The Royal Ballet

*Basilio 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 ...

'' *Albrecht in '' Giselle'' *Prince Siegfried in ''

'' *Aminta in '' Sylvia'' *Prince Florimund in '' The Sleeping Beauty'' *Prince in Peter Wright's ''

'' *Colas in ''

'' *The Young Man in '' The Two Pigeons'' *Lensky in '' Onegin'' *Romeo in Kenneth MacMillan's '

'' *Des Grieux in '' Manon'' *Jack/Knave of Hearts in ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'' *Florizel in ''

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 criti ...

'' *Franz in Coppélia *Don José in ''Carmen'' *Lt Colonel Vershinin in '' Winter Dreams'' *"Diamonds" in '' Jewels'' *'' Symphonic Variations'' *'' Tchaikovsky Pas de deux'' *''Within the Golden Hour'' Sources:

Awards

*Laureate at

*Second place and silver medal at Arabesque competition *First place and gold medal at Vaganova Prix competition *First place at '' Youth America Grand Prix'' *2010 Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Male Performance (Classical) *2015 and 2018 Best Male Dancer at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards *2013 and 2019 Prix Benois de la Danse *2021 Dancer of the Year, Dance Europe Sources:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muntagirov, Vadim Principal dancers of The Royal Ballet Russian male ballet dancers People educated at the Royal Ballet School 1990 births Living people Prix Benois de la Danse winners People from Chelyabinsk English National Ballet principal dancers Russian expatriates in England Perm State Choreographic College