ballet.co RB Principals

Archive Page Design
Click here to go to Balletco's new home page and site navigation

About the Change

Royal Ballet Principals

Leanne Benjamin


Upcoming performances? Reviews "Benjamin" in postings Interviews and views

Small, dark and dramatically intense, Leanne Benjamin may not be the most famous of the Royal Ballet's principals but she is certainly one of the most valuable. Ever since she danced Giselle (with Jonathan Cope) at her graduation performance it's been clear that she was someone with a mind of her own, and she's carved her own way to the top, leaving the RB organisation for several years to dance with English National Ballet and in Berlin. In her earlier years she looked less suited to the classical repertoire than to more dramatic roles, but a couple of seasons ago she turned in as good a Nikiya as anyone in the company, and it's a pity she won't be doing the role in this run.

Benjamin has been offstage for a whole year, and though it was for the happiest of reasons - a new son - it was a shame it had to be that particular season she missed, with so much of the MacMillan repertoire in which she gives such fine performances. It will be good to see her back, first as Juliet and then in the new Wayne McGregor piece. Later in the season she's doing Mary Vetsera in Mayerling with Carlos Acosta, which could be quite something, and also gets the first night of the revival of Anastasia. If you've never seen her in one of the big MacMillan ballets, now is the time to put that right: MacMillan liked her enough to persuade her to return to the Royal Ballet in the early 90s, and it's easy to see why. {principals}

Federico Bonelli


Upcoming performances? Reviews "Bonelli" in postings Interviews and views

The Italian Federico Bonelli comes to the Royal Ballet from the Dutch National Ballet, where he was also a principal dancer. He's 25-ish, won a 'Special Mention' from the jury at the Paris International competition in 2000, and counts Lensky amongst his favourite roles - people who've seen him do it use expressions like 'a magnificent artist' and 'a terrific Lensky'. And that's more or less all we knew about him at the start of the season.

Although he's mostly scheduled to partner Yoshida (Cinderella, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty), the first chance to see him was his debut as Romeo, with Mara Galeazzi. Perhaps the most interesting is that he's the first cast Daphnis in the revival of Daphnis and Chloe. Later, we presumably may hope to see him in Onegin. {principals}

Darcey Bussell


ballet.co Bussell interview Upcoming performances? Reviews "Bussell" in postings Interviews and views Bussell website

Darcey Bussell is away for the whole of this season, on maternity leave.

Since she returned from the birth of her first child, many people feel that her acting has greatly improved, with her characterisations showing a new depth and thoughtfulness. We look forward to next season, to watch this process continue. {principals}

Alina Cojocaru


Upcoming performances? Reviews "Cojocaru" in postings Interviews and views

Cojocaru's rise has been the fastest in the Royal Ballet since Darcey Bussell's, and she's now probably the next-best known name in the company. Last season she conquered new audiences in New York with ABT, and she and Johan Kobborg make frequent guest appearances all over the world. She's already done so much in her short career that the only big new roles for her this season are Ashton's Cinderella and Chloe. For the rest of the season we're going to be watching how she's grown in the roles she's already tackled.

She's tiny and very slight, and looks even younger than she is - a natural for the very many 'young girl' roles in the ballet repertoire - so her success last year in Mayerling and Manon came as a surprise to many people. Makarova's new Sleeping Beauty suited her so well it might have been made for her - maybe indeed it was made for her. A couple of unfortunate accidents towards the end of the season took her out for a while, but she looked fine when she danced in Kobborg's Out of Denmark programme in September, especially in another out-of-character performance as the pupil in Flindt's The Lesson. {principals}

Jonathan Cope


Upcoming performances? Reviews "Cope" in postings Interviews and views

We will not have many more years to appreciate the partnering skills of Jonathan Cope, who joined the company over twenty years ago. Cope is a product of the English school and retains a rather English reticence about him, a willingness to put his partner first. He has been a principal dancer for as long as many of us can remember and has forged one of ballet's great partnerships with Sylvie Guillem. Although he might be approaching the end of his career there is still much to enjoy and appreciate in his dancing. In the past, only Guillem has really seemed to spark a real emotional response from him, but in this last year he has partnered Tamara Rojo to great effect, in Song of he Earth and more remarkably, in Mayerling. His portrayal of the crazed Rudolf was a breakthrough, an attempt to cast aside his niceness and go somewhere very dark and unpleasant indeed.

Cope remains a popular choice for choreographers setting new works as well. This was illustrated by last years performance of Wheeldon's Tryst (with Bussell) which showed off his beautifully understated support for his partner, and by the role Bintley made or him in the summer pas de deux from Les Saisons - again seemingly effortless partnering. In the 2003/4 season he features mainly in MacMillan works, reprising Mayerling again, and appearing in Anastasia. {principals}

Mara Galeazzi


Upcoming performances? Reviews "Galeazzi" in postings Interviews and views

Mara Galeazzi's promotion to principal dancer acknowledges her success in big dramatic roles in the last couple of years - an outstanding Tatiana in Onegin, and last season's fine performances as both Mary Vetsera and Countess Larisch in Mayerling. It's worth noting, though, that she first learnt the Vetsera role ten years ago - she's one of those whose career seemed to hang for a long time, categorised as 'promising' but not given the roles to substantiate that promise. (A too-frequent situation in the RB in Dowell's years.) Even now, if you check the announced casting for the new season, she's only down for one Juliet and a part in Wayne McGregor's new piece till the MacMillan heavies roll round at the end of March. Fortunately she's spending some of this time guesting with Scottish Ballet. {principals}

Johan Kobborg


Upcoming performances? Reviews "Kobborg" in postings Interviews and views

Johan Kobborg's career with the Royal Ballet goes from strength to strength. At the beginning of last season he had a huge success in Mayerling, and enjoyed it too by the sound of it - he describes the last act of that ballet as being 'as good as it gets' for him. At the other end of the dramatic scale he was a fine Prince in the new Sleeping Beauty, dancing for once with Yoshida rather than Cojocaru. Only in Swan Lake did his acting seem a little too naturalistic for the context. In September he also had a great personal success with the programme of Danish choreography he produced at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

There's little new for him this season in the casting so far announced - only yet another Prince, this time in Ashton's Cinderella. But it's good that he continues to dance some of the less prominent roles - the first movement in Symphony in C, for instance. {principals}

Marianela Nunez


Upcoming performances? Reviews "Nunez" in postings Interviews and views

At the beginning of this season Marianela Nunez danced two of the leading roles in La Bayad�re. Her success as Gamzatti summarised what we've known of her so far: strong, clear technique and an incisive dramatic ability. Her even greater, and for many people unexpected, success as Nikiya, pointed the way to the future: she found her own way to the heart of the role and showed true ballerina quality in the Shades scene. Since then she's disappeared from the stage, missing the roles she was scheduled for in the Balanchine bill: let's hope she'll be back soon. {principals }

Ivan Putrov


Upcoming performances? Reviews "Putrov" in postings Interviews and views

Last year saw the beginning of an emergence of a new more grown up, assured Ivan Putrov. In the lead role in Scenes de Ballet he was no longer a figure of boyish charm: but a man with a serious job to do, negotiating the finer intricacies of Ashton�s writing. Putrov�s rise through the ranks had been rapid and spectacular. There was undeniably lots of promise there but not always the consistency that is expected of a seasoned principal. He is capable of fine acting and assured dancing, particularly on his own, but it doesn�t always come together consistently as a package.

Last season was one of consolidation, as Putrov extended his repertoire. The joyous youthfulness of Kylian�s Sinfonietta clearly suited him. He also had chances to shine in Don Q. Individual virtuoso roles, rather than intricate partnering, seem to suit him more at present, and he is deservedly popular in showpieces such as the Bronze Idol in Bayadere. If he returns to the role of Lensky in Onegin in the 2003/4 season, this could be an interesting prospect: previously he has had moments of real feeling for the role and an elegance in the execution of it without it all quite coming together. More experience could make this a compelling performance. {principals}

Tamara Rojo


Upcoming performances? Reviews "Rojo" in postings Ballet.co interview Interviews and views

Though Tamara Rojo had many great successes last year - as Mary Vetsera in Mayerling, in Swan Lake, and as Manon - maybe the most impressive of all was in MacMillan's Song of the Earth where she challenged memories of the great performers of the past. Already this season she's found a whole new approach to Giselle, and there's her debut as Anastasia still to come. Only in Cinderella did she slightly disappoint some of her admirers. Also to look forward to is her Tatiana in Onegin, which she's dancing this time with Jonathan Cope, continuing a partnership which is obviously giving great pleasure to both of them as well as to us.

She dances with a ballerina authority and with a passionate intensity unmatched in the present company - she's the sort of dancer you daren't take your eye off for a second, for fear of missing some glorious moment that will never come again. The flip side of this is the occasional night when she doesn't take fire and can seem rather withdrawn. {principals}

Viacheslav Samodurov


Upcoming performances? Reviews "Samodurov" in postings Interviews and views

A product of the Vaganova Academy in St Petersburg, Viacheslav Samodurov danced with the Kirov before joining the Dutch National Ballet. With a background like that you'd expect to see the Royal Ballet cast him in the nineteenth century classics, but in fact the only full-length roles he's currently scheduled for are the Prince in Ashton's Cinderella and Romeo. Other than that he's doing three Balanchine ballets, Le Spectre de la Rose, and Faune. That doesn't seem much of a programme for a principal dancer, so presumably we'll also be seeing him in secondary roles like Bluebird and Mercutio, which the company doesn't announce in advance. {principals}

Jamie Tapper


Upcoming performances? Reviews "Tapper" in postings Interviews and views

One of Monica Mason's first acts, when she took over as company director last year, was to promote Jaimie Tapper to Principal Dancer. She's certainly earned the recognition for her workload - she seems to do everything, though I doubt at the moment she'd be first choice for any of the big roles. Her gently unassertive style suits her better for roles like Giselle than for the more dramatic repertory, though she did have a success in Manon last season, especially on the night she was called in from home to finish the show when Cojocaru was injured in the first act.

This season she takes on Ashton's Cinderella for the first time, which could be a good role for her, and she's also featured in some of the Balanchine ballets, including the second movement in Symphony in C and the pas de deux in Agon, which she takes over from Darcey Bussell. She's to be partnered several times by David Makhateli, and a settled pairing might help her establish a stronger identity. {principals}

Inaki Urlezaga


Upcoming performances? Reviews "Urlezaga" in postings Interviews and views

Urlezaga is a difficult dancer to categorise. There really isn't a 'received' opinion about him, and whatever he does draws reviews ranging from excellent to cool: the verdicts on his performances in MacMillan's Song of the Earth last season were a good example. In the right role he can really catch fire, but miscast he can look dull and even awkward. One of his great advantages is that he's prepared to give everything emotionally, with no trace of reserve or diffidence, and that can bring to life the classical 'prince' roles in a way we don't often see. He has excellent stage manners, too - for instance in last season's Sleeping Beauty he was one of the few who bothered to acknowledge Aurora's parents each time he walked in front of them.

Urlezaga's most important new role this season is Daphnis in the revival of Ashton's Daphnis and Chloe - not the most obvious choice, perhaps, but his dancing has some of the fluidity Ashton needs and it will be very interesting to see what he makes of it. {principals}

Zenaida Yanowsky


Upcoming performances? Reviews "Yanowsky" in postings Interviews and views

Yanowsky is a dancer with a fascinating range and ability which seems at times sadly underused by the Royal Ballet. She excels in the modern repertoire, with some stunning performances in Forsythe's In the Middle. She is also a popular choice for the creation of new works, most notable recently in a highly emotional duet created by Kim Brandstrup, a real hit in Kobborg's Out of Denmark presentation, away from the Royal Ballet. That same programme also saw her in a strong dramatic role as the pianist in Flemming Flint's The Lesson - a role which exploited her ability to look implacable, as if carved out of marble. She has a strong statuesque presence, with a real air of authority. Sadly this seems to mean she gets cast as somebody's mother (Empress Elizabeth in Mayerling) or in other supporting roles (the best of the Lilac Fairies) rather than as a lead role. She is tall and it doesn't seem easy to find the right partner for her in the Royal.

Yanowsky had her moment of fame in the Queen's golden jubilee year when she danced the Black Swan pas de deux with Roberto Bolle in the ballroom of Buckingham Palace in a classical concert seen by millions. It's a role in which it would be good to see her cast more often. In the 2003 / 4 season, she will be appearing as Gamzatti, Empress Elizabeth in Mayerling, Tsarina in Anastasia, and in the Balanchine works. Do look out for her as the Bride in Les Noces where her iconic presence has real power. {principals}

Miyako Yoshida


ballet.co interview Upcoming performances? Reviews "Yoshida" in postings Interviews and views

Yoshida had a more fortunate time of it in the 2002/3 season after a period of neglect and rare appearances in the Stretton period. Still, a season heavy on MacMillan was perhaps not such an ideal showcase for Yoshida, whose natural territory is Petipa and the classics and the works of Ashton. She looked chic and elegant as the lead in Scenes de Ballet. Unfortunately, she was injured and missed out the Raymonda and Sleeping Beauty that I�d hoped to see her perform.

At this stage in her career, there cannot be many seasons left for Yoshida. Do try to catch her if you want to see effortless technique and scrupulous presentation of the choreography, without flash or trickery , but with respect, precision and authority. In the 2003/ 4 season she appears in Cinderella, Daphnis and Chloe and Giselle - all roles that suit her classicism and character. {principals}

{top}

Home

Magazine

Listings

Update

Links

Contexts

www.ballet.co.uk/links/dancers_rb_principals.htm	revised: 9th October 1993
Bruce Marriott email, © all rights reserved, all wrongs denied.
ballet.co credits	design by RED56