Maria Alexandrova - prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater: biography, achievements, personal life

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Maria Alexandrova is a famous Russian dancer of our time. She is the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre. Played over 60 games. For merits in the field of culture, she was awarded the title of People's Artist. Has many prestigious awards.

Dancing in the life of a ballerina

Maria Alexandrova was born on July 20, 1978 in the Russian capital. From childhood, she felt a craving for dancing, which was realized in her participation in the activities of the Kalinka children's dance ensemble. The ensemble was very popular in Moscow and beyond.

But for a talented girl, this was not enough. She became interested in ballet, and in 1988 Masha entered the Moscow State Academy of Choreography (MGAH). In the lower grades, Lyudmila Kolenchenko was engaged in her training. Classical dance in the middle classes was taught by Larisa Dobzhan, in the senior classes - by Sofya Golovkina, rector of the academy.

During her studies at the Moscow State Academy of Arts, Maria participates in the productions of The Nutcracker, Chopiniana, etc. By the way, very often her stage partner was Nikolay Tsiskaridze, a well-known dancer today.

While still a student at the academy, Aleksandrova becomes a finalist in the Eurovision Song Contest for young dancers.

While completing her studies at the Alexandrov Academy, she participates in various international festivals, one of which is the Moscow Ballet Competition in 1997, which brought the aspiring ballerina a gold medal, first prize and, most importantly, an invitation to the Bolshoi Ballet troupe (BT).

At the Bolshoi Theater

At the Bolshoi Theater, a young but talented dancer was immediately entrusted with the performance of solo parts.

Already in October 1997, Maria Alexandrova performed the solo part in Fantasies on a Theme of Casanova. The performance was highly appreciated by the audience, and soon the young ballerina was already on tour in New York as part of the BT troupe. It is interesting that at that time Alexandrova was listed in the theater as a corps de ballet dancer.

The beginning of the 1998/1999 season was marked for Maria by the first step on the career ladder: she was transferred from corps de ballet dancers to luminaries. It should be noted that this category of dancers is always in the foreground of the stage.

Alexandrova's performances in her new status were noticed by well-known critics. She is awarded the prize of the magazine "Ballet". The successful performances of the artist in several new ballet productions contributed to her official transfer to the soloists of the Bolshoi Theater. Tatyana Golikova becomes Alexandrova's tutor.

It is worth noting that the resulting tandem still works today.

Repertoire of the prima of the Bolshoi Theater

Alexandrova's repertoire includes more than sixty parts of productions, in particular:

• Don Quixote (Nureyev International Ballet Festival, 2001);
• La Bayadère (VII International Ballet Festival, 2007);
• "Esmeralda" (2009);
• The Taming of the Shrew (2014);
• Giselle (2015) and others

Despite the fact that Alexandrova is the prima ballerina of BT, she does not refuse to perform on the sidelines. In her opinion, an artist should play whatever he likes.

Personal life of a ballerina

Maria Alexandrova is an actress whose personal life has been in the background for a long time, and her career is in the foreground. In addition, the creative schedule did not leave her time for this, although a strong family was present in her dreams. However, the men who came across on the path of life did not meet the needs of the girl.

Maria tries not to advertise her personal life. However, something nevertheless became known, and above all - about her chosen one. The husband of Maria Alexandrova is an artist, his name is Sergey. This is a blue-eyed brunette, with whom they started a family in 2005. According to the ballerina herself, a complete idyll and mutual understanding reign in the family.

Awards and merit

For such a short period of stage activity, Maria Alexandrova was awarded a number of prestigious awards.

• In 1997, participation in the Moscow Ballet Competition brought the talented ballerina the first prize in the Best Soloist nomination and a gold medal.
• In 1999, Ballet magazine awarded the young ballerina the Soul of Dance prize in the Rising Star nomination.
• In 2004, Alexandrova received an award in the Golden Mask theater competition for her role in The Bright Stream.
• In 2005, the ballerina became an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, and in 2009 - a People's Artist of Russia.

Alexandrova about ballet

Maria Alexandrova is a ballerina whose name is known not only in Russia. They like to go to it in America and Japan. Alexandrova is considered an intellectual and emotional ballerina, and her thoughts on ballet confirm this.

First of all, the famous artist believes that dance should serve as a tool to improve our world. And this should happen when humanity no longer has words. The language of dance can work miracles, enrich a person spiritually.

And Aleksandrova is proud of Russian ballet dancers who, despite their complexities of character, can still use this instrument. Of this she is absolutely certain.

As you know, Western choreographers are very fond of expressing protest phenomena in society in their productions, that is, they bring political motives into them. Maria Alexandrova has a different opinion. Politics, according to the dancer, should not be present in the ballet. This art exists to create a vivid image of the human soul on stage, and not tear it apart with political problems.