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"Prima ballerina literally translates to “first principal dancer” from Italian and, in the United States, is better known as someone who is a female principal dancer. These dancers are the best in their companies who perform the lead roles in ballets, along with their male counterparts".
Full NameFirst NameLast NameEleonoraAbbagnatoStellaAbreraDianaAdamsAmandineAlbissonPrima ballerina assoluta is a title awarded to the most notable of female ballet dancers. To be recognised as a prima ballerina assoluta is a rare honour, traditionally reserved only for the most exceptional dancers of their generation.
- Anna Pavlova, Russia. Watch this video on YouTube. This Russian ballerina took the world by storm in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was born in Russia on 12 February 1881 and attended the Imperial School of Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre starting in 1891.
- Margot Fonteyn, England. Watch this video on YouTube. Her official name was Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias but she was popular by her stage name, Margot Fonteyn.
- Alicia Alonso, Cuba. Watch this video on YouTube. The Cuban ballet dancer is celebrated as one of the greatest ballerinas of all time. She rose to the role of prima ballerina, doubled as a choreographer, and co-founded the Alicia Alonso Ballet Company in 1948 alongside her husband.
- Maya Plisetskaya, Russia. This all-time ballerina legend started ballerina schooling at nine years at The Bolshoi Ballet School. At eleven years, she started performing at the Bolshoi Theatre.
Apr 19, 2017 · Here are my Top 10 Prima ballerinas: Polina Semionova – until 2016 American Ballet Theatre then maternity leave! I wish Polina a big toi, toi, toi for her comeback on 26 April 2017 in Berlin – her first performance after the baby break!
- Vaslav Nijinsky
- Anna Pavlova
- Galina Ulanova
- Rudolf Nureyev
- Margot Fonteyn
- Mikhail Baryshnikov
- Natalia Makarova
- Anthony Dowell
- Gelsey Kirkland
- Sylvie Guillem
Nijinsky was a Russian dancer and choreographer of Polish descent, celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterisations. Deborah Bull says: “Through the Ballets Russes’ tours abroad between 1909 and 1929, Western audiences had their first-ever taste of Russian ballet. In no one was the brilliance of the dancers’ te...
A Russian prima ballerina, recognised for the creation of the role ‘The Dying Swan’, Pavlova became the first ballerina to tour ballet internationally. Deborah Bull says: “An iconic ballerina, Pavlova was not only a sublime artist but also a great innovator, making use of the new invention of film and exploiting her fame to take ballet to new audie...
Acclaimed Russian dancer Galina Ulanova was transferred by Stalin to the Bolshoi Theatreto be prima ballerina assoluta for 16 years. “Ulanova’s performances with the Bolshoi during its first-ever performances in the West – at the Royal Opera House in 1956 – changed ballet in Britain forever.”
Nureyev, portrayed in 2018 biographical film The White Crow starring Oleg Ivenko and Ralph Fiennes, was a Soviet-born dancer whose expressive skills, provided a new role for the male dancer who previously served primarily as support to the women. “Nureyev’s defection to the West in 1961 represented the ‘second coming’ of the Russian dancers and set...
Fonteyn spent her entire career as a dancer with The Royal Ballet, eventually being appointed Prima Ballerina Assoluta by HM The Queen. “She defined the image of the ballerina for most of the 20th century. Fonteyn and Nureyev were ballet’s golden and most glamorous couple.”
After defecting from Russia, Baryshnikov later became artistic director of the American Ballet Theatre. In 1977, he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in The Turning Point. “Famed for his partnership with Natalia Makarova. Through movies such as The Turning Point,Baryshnikov took ballet to a massive audience. He has continued to...
Russian ballerina Natalia Makarova performed with the American Ballet Theatre in New York and the Royal Ballet. “Another defector from Soviet Russia,” Bull says. “Post-Makarova, high extensions (getting your leg up as high as possible) became an essential job requirement.”
Anthony Dowell is most noted for the role of Oberon in The Dream by Sir Frederick Ashton and for his filmed performance as Siegfried in Swan Lakewith Natalia Makarova in 1980. “Not the first British male dancer, but the first world class male star to be trained and developed through the Royal Ballet School and company established by Dame Ninette de...
After joining the New York City Ballet at 15, Kirkland was promoted to soloist in 1969 and principal in 1972. She went on to create leading roles in many of the great 20th-century ballets. “From baby ballerina at New York City Ballet, to the cover of Timemagazine, Kirkland had a relatively brief career in the 1970s and 80s but she had a major impac...
The top-ranking female dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet from 1984 to 1989, Guillem later became a principal guest artist with the Royal Ballet in London. “Sylvie broke the mould and redefined what a ballerina could be, post-Fonteyn. She excelled in the classical repertoire and then forged new pathways in collaborations with contemporary choreogra...
Jan 7, 2019 · Prima ballerina literally translates to “first principal dancer” from Italian and, in the United States, is better known as someone who is a female principal dancer. These dancers are the best in their companies who perform the lead roles in ballets, along with their male counterparts.
Oct 27, 2023 · No American woman had ever been recognized as a “prima ballerina assoluta,” the highest honor within the profession. The Ballet Russe helped bring the art form closer to home.
