Evgenia obraztsova biography of donald

Don Quixote
 overflows with humor, flirtation and romance. And what better character to gather romance and energy than Cupid—performed in this video by the Bolshoi Ballet’s Evgenia Obraztsova. 

Obraztsova is one of the elite few holding the dream title of prima ballerina. A native of St. Petersburg, she graduated from the Vaganova Academy and immediately joined the Mariinsky Ballet at 18 years old. This video of Obraztsova’s Cupid variation reveals her impeccable precision and artistry after only four years in the company. From her very first relevés, a lightness and upward energy shoots from her core, creating a quality that leaves the audience breathless. Six years later she would join the Bolshoi, originating new roles and challenging the classics—a definite prima ballerina of our time. Happy #ThrowbackThursday!

Russian ballet dancer Evgenia Obraztsova is a prima ballerina and principal dancer of the Bolshoi & Mariinsky ballet companies. Born in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) to a family of ballet dancers, Evgenia graduated from Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, St. Petersburg under Marina Vasilieva’s class in 2002, and joined the Mariinsky Ballet Company the same year. In 2012, she joined Bolshoi Ballet where she is currently coached by Nadezhda Gracheva.

Her repertoire for Mariinsky & Bolshoi included, among others, such roles as; Sylph (La Sylphide), Giselle (Giselle), Princess Aurora (The Sleeping Beauty), Kitri (Don Quixote), Juliet (Leonid Lavrovsky’s Romeo & Juliet), Shirin (yuri Grigorovich’s A Legend of Love), Terpsichore (Apollo), 4th Movements Soloist (Symphony in C), Ballet Imperial Tchaikovsky Pas de deux, The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, Approximate Sonata, Jerome Robbins’s In the Night, Cinderella  (Cinderella), Tsar-Maid (The Humpbacked Horse), Kitty (Anna Karenina), Anyuta (Anyuta), Leading Couples in Emeralds & Diamonds (Jewels), Prelude and the 7 Waltz (Chopiniana), Aspicia (Pharoah’s Daughter), Marie (Nutcracker),  Nikia (La Bayadere), Tatiana (Onegin), Angela (Marco Spada), Coralie ( Lost Illusions) Marguerite Gautier (Lady of the Camellias), Shireen (A Legend of Love), Jeanne (The Flames of Paris),  Ballerina (Etudes), Swanilda (Coppelia),  Hermione (The Winter’s Tale), Soloist Part 1 (Symphony in C) and Lover (Gaîté Parisienne). 

In 2006 she created the title role in Pierre Lacotte’s production of Ondine, for which she won the Golden Mask Award alongside this she she created other title roles; Flora in Marius Petipa’s The Awakening of Flora, Colombine in Mikhail Fokine’s Carnaval, Syuimbike in Leonid Yakobson’s Shurale. Obraztsova’s many other prizes include the gold medal at the 2005 Moscow International Ballet C

Evgenia Obraztsova was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) on 18 January 1984 to a family of ballet dancers. Her future career choice (which of course her parents made for her initially) was predetermined by the girl’s liveliness, energy, excellent physique and obvious artistic talent. Moreover, the world of ballet was close and intimately familiar to Evgenia from a very young age. Tied to her theater seat with a belt from a ballet robe, lest she jumped onto the stage to join the action, she saw the entire classical ballet repertoire. But by the time Evgenia had to make a definitive career choice, she also became fascinated with dramatic theater. This love for the theater developed into a lifelong romance and almost cost the world the great ballerina that Evgenia was to become. Nonetheless, the unity of music and theater, the stylistic beauty and the incomparable atmosphere of the ballet world ultimately tipped the scales in its favor. Another reason why ballet ultimately won over Evgenia was the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Evgenia still vividly remembers her first acquaintance with the Philharmonic: Evgeny Svetlanov was conducting, and the artistry that he displayed that night taught Evgenia how to truly hear and appreciate music. The Philharmonic was to become her third home for many years; it was a place where she would come every evening after her classes at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet.

During her years at the Vaganova Academy, Evgenia worked with a number of teachers who played an important role in shaping her style and personality as a ballerina. At different points in time, her class was taught by Lyudmila Sofronova, Inna Zubkovskaya and Marina Vasilieva, and each of them imparted something of her own that helped shape the overall individuality of the young ballerina. Lyudmila Sofronova, one of Vaganova’s last students, instilled into her girls the rules and the genuine feel of the St. Petersburg

That’s the way the Principal of the Bolshoi Ballet thinks. Alessandro Bizzotto caught up with her to find out why and to ask her something more about leaving the Mariinsky, dancing abroad and being a mother

She can be prudent and careful when answering your questions, ask you not to answer one or cut another one short. Yet, at the same time, her replies can surprise with assertiveness, mostly when it comes to Russian technique and style, and with a slightly snobbish attitude. No doubt everything makes you think of a diva when you deal with Evgenia Obraztsova.

Born in Saint Petersburg and graduated from the Vaganova Academy, after joining the Mariinsky she got promoted to first soloist quite quickly. Then, when her fans started waiting for a promotion to principal, the coup de théâtre: she left Saint Petersburg to join the Bolshoi already as a principal.

I read that, at the beginning of your professional path, you got to know you had been promoted from the corps to coryphée reading one of the Mariinsky brochures. Is that true? Had nobody informed you?

Yes, it is true. We were on tour somewhere and I remember we were given some brochures of the Theatre. So I took one and read that I wasn’t in the corps anymore – I had a new position. I can’t remember what exactly the new position was, maybe a coryphée or a soloist… but it doesn’t really matter, does it?

Who is the teacher of yours who had the strongest influence on your style as a dancer?

I think it was Inna Zubkovskaya, who was my biggest influence style-wise. She could foster the dancing style in her students like nobody else.

Was the competition harsh in the Mariinsky corps?

The competition is always harsh in any theatre, let alone such world-renowned ones as the Mariinsky or the Bolshoi! But I wouldn’t say that the dancers in the corps are highly competitive. The main competition starts when the strongest and most gifted ones are pro