Jurgita Dronina
Jurgita Dronina | |
---|---|
![]() Dronina and Olaf Kollmannsperger in Romeo and Juliet (2007) | |
Born | |
Occupation | Ballet dancer |
Spouse | Serguei Endinian |
Children | 1 |
Current group | National Ballet of Canada |
Former groups | Royal Swedish Ballet Dutch National Ballet English National Ballet |
Dances | Ballet |
Jurgita Dronina (born 27 March 1986) is a Russian-Lithuanian ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada, having previously danced with Royal Swedish Ballet, Dutch National Ballet and English National Ballet.[1][2]
Early life
Born in Saratov, USSR, Dronina and her family moved to Vilnius, Lithuania when she was four. She started out studying ballroom dancing, and then moved on to gymnastics. When she was nine, a choreographer suggested that she try ballet.[3] She attended the Čiurlionis School of Art in Vilnius and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich.[1][4]
Career
In 2005, Dronina joined the Royal Swedish Ballet in Stockholm, after she was spotted by the company's then-director, Madeleine Onne, at several competitions.[3] She became a soloist in 2007. She has danced leading roles included Nikiya in La Bayadère (2006) and Juliet in MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet (2007).[5] In 2009, when she was returning from Verona where she had danced Kitri in Don Quixote, she was asked at the last minute to perform Odette/Odile in Swan Lake as the scheduled performer was ill.[6] She completed the assignment so successfully that she was promoted to principal dancer,[7] at age 22.[3]
In 2010, after she had again performed the role of Kitri as a guest artist in Amsterdam, artistic director Ted Brandsen was so impressed he offered her a contract with the Dutch National Ballet.[8] As she was looking for a broader variety of works, she accepted the position. In 2011, she received the Dutch Zwaan (swan) award for her Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty.[9]
In 2015, after Dronina contacted Karen Kain, the director of the National Ballet of Canada, she joined the company as a principal dancer. Dronina said she made the move as she wanted to have a good balance between classical works and new productions, and she believed Toronto is more suitable for her family.[1][3] In 2017, after dancing Mary Skeaping's Giselle with the English National Ballet as a guest artist, she joined the company as a lead principal, but remained a principal dancer at the National Ballet of Canada.[2] She spent her first six months with the English National Ballet in London, but then settled in Toronto.[10] In 2020, the English national Ballet announced that Dronina will not return to the company in the 2020–21 season, but confirmed Dronina will continue to perform in Canada.[11]
Dronina was a resident guest principal with Hong Kong Ballet between 2015 and 2017, which was directed by Onne. She had host and danced in a gala in Lithuania, her home country.[1][3] She was awarded the Knight's Crosses of the Order for Merits to Lithuania in 2018.[12] The same year on October 25 she was awarded the Baltic Assembly Prize for the Arts.[13]
Critical reception
Reviewing La Sylphide, The Globe and Mail called her "an irresistible performer" and "there is sensuality in her movement that teeters between the creature and the woman."[14] On her performance in Swan Lake, The Guardian wrote "her execution impeccably clean, not an ounce of energy wasted – there is something unreal about her."[15]
Selected repertoire
Dronina's repertoire includes:[1][2]
- Nikiya in La Bayadère
- Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty
- Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (Rudolf Nureyev)
- The title role in Giselle
- Odette/Odile in Swan Lake
- Kitri in Don Quixote
- Medora in Le Corsaire
- Sylvia in Sylvia (John Neumeier)
- The title role in Cinderella (Christopher Wheeldon)
- Hermione in The Winter's Tale
- The Sylph in La Sylphide
- Pinocchio
- A Streetcar Named Desire
- La Dame Aux Camellias
- Swanilda in Coppélia
- The Firebird
- Tchaikovsky pas de deux
- 2nd Movement of Symphony in C
- Diamonds & Emeralds in Jewels
- Sugar Plum/Clara in The Nutcracker
- Les Sylphides
- Song of the Earth
- Manon in Manon
Personal life
Dronina is married to former Dutch National Ballet dancer Serguei Endinian, their son was born in 2012.[16] The family resides in Toronto.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Jurgita Dronina". National Ballet of Canada. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ a b c "Jurgita Dronina". English National Ballet. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f "What It Takes to Glow like Jurgita Dronina". Dance Magazine. 25 July 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Jurgita Dronina". English National Ballet.
- ^ "Jurgita Dronina". The Ballerina Gallery. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
- ^ "Russian ballerina Jurgita Dronina is National Ballet's newest star". The Toronto Star. 2015-11-13. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2022-06-02.
- ^ "The Hong Kong Ballet announces New Guest Principal Dancer Jurgita Dronina". Hong Kong Ballet. Archived from the original on 21 May 2020.
- ^ "The Hong Kong Ballet announces New Guest Principal Dancer Jurgita Dronina | Media | Meet HKB | HK Ballet". www.hkballet.com. Retrieved 2022-06-02.
- ^ "Jurgita Dronina". Dutch National Opera. Archived from the original on 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
- ^ "Jurgita Dronina: 'I'm always in shape because I'm always dancing and there is no time to not be good'". Dansportalen. 13 May 2019.
- ^ "Promotions and departures for the Company's 2020/2021 Season". English National Ballet. 1 September 2020.
- ^ "Jurgita Dronina Awarded The Order Of Merit To Lithuania". Broadway World. 10 July 2018.
- ^ "Lithuanian ballet dancer among Baltic Assembly Prize laureates". www.baltictimes.com. Retrieved 2022-06-02.
- ^ "National Ballet of Canada's La Sylphide is a magical, almost disorienting, experience". The Globe and Mail. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Swan Lake review – pretty on top but nothing below the surface". The Guardian. 4 January 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Meet National Ballet's newest star". The Hamilton Spectator. 2015-11-12. ISSN 1189-9417. Retrieved 2022-06-02.
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- 1986 births
- Living people
- Russian ballerinas
- Lithuanian ballerinas
- Prima ballerinas
- People from Saratov
- Dancers from Vilnius
- National Ballet of Canada principal dancers
- English National Ballet principal dancers
- Dutch National Ballet principal dancers
- Royal Swedish Ballet dancers
- 21st-century Russian ballet dancers
- University of Music and Performing Arts Munich alumni
- Lithuanian people of Russian descent
- Lithuanian expatriates in Sweden
- Lithuanian expatriates in the Netherlands
- Lithuanian expatriates in Canada
- Russian expatriates in Sweden
- Russian expatriates in the Netherlands
- Russian expatriates in Canada
- Knight's Crosses of the Order for Merits to Lithuania