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Biography
Jurgita Dronina was born in Saratov, Russia and trained at the National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Art in Lithuania and Munich International Ballet Academy in Germany. Ms. Dronina was a Principal Dancer with Royal Swedish Ballet and Dutch National Ballet before joining The National Ballet of Canada as Principal Dancer in 2015. Ms. Dronina is also a Resident Principal Guest Artist with The Hong Kong Ballet and a Lead Principal Dancer with the English National Ballet.
“Dronina demonstrates that she is not only graceful and delicate, but a ballerina capable of technical wizardry.”
— Dance Europe
Ms. Dronina has performed every leading role in the entire classical repertoire such as Nykia in La Bayadère, Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, the title role in Giselle, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Kitri in Don Quixote, Medora in Le Corsaire, Sylvia in John Neumeier’s Sylvia and the title role in Christopher’s Wheeldon’s Cinderella. She created roles in contemporary work by choreographers such as Alexei Ratmansky, Hans Van Manen, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Benjamin Millepied, Jorma Elo, David Dawson, Sidi-Larbi Cherkaoui and many others.
Ms. Dronina’s repertoire with the National Ballet includes principal roles in The Winter’s Tale, The Nutcracker, Giselle, La Sylphide, Cinderella, Onegin, Le Petit Prince, Pinocchio, A Streetcar Named Desire and Genus.
As a Principal Guest Artist, Ms. Dronina has performed with Norwegian National Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Teatro San Carlo, Opera dell Roma and The Royal Danish Ballet and has also performed in the world’s biggest stages in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Rome and many others.
In 2014, Ms. Dronina received the Alexandra Radius Prize and the Zwaan Award in 2011 for her role as Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty. Ms. Dronina was voted Outstanding Dancer during the 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons by Dance Europe for her roles as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Kitri in Don Quioxte, Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty and Principal Female in Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux.
Ms. Dronina won the gold medal at the International Ballet Competition in Grasse in 2003, silver at the International Ballet Competition in Helsinki in 2005, silver at the International Ballet Competition in Moscow in 2005 and silver at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson in 2006.
Quick Facts
Born: Saratov, Russia
Trained:National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Art in Lithuania and Munich International Ballet Academy in Germany
Royal Swedish Ballet: 2005 – 2010
Dutch National Ballet: 2010 – 2015
Resident Principal Guest Artist with The Hong Kong Ballet Since: 2015
Joined as Principal Dancer: 2015
Lead Principal Dancer with English National Ballet: 2017
Quotes
Giselle
“Dronina made clear, however, that this gentle girl loves to dance… with a joyous sense of clarity and purity, her arabesques radiant and her pointe work pin-sharp accurate. It was this gorgeous quality of dancing that made Dronina’s performance in the second act outstanding.”
— Dancing Times on guesting with English National Ballet
The Winter’s Tale
“Hermione (Jurgita Dronina)...stretches a powerfully pure arabesque line from front arm to raised back leg, and then repeatedly turns on the spot in this position, rising again and again, urgently, onto point.”
— The New York Times
“The eloquent Jurgita Dronina was magnificent as the wrongly-accused Queen. Her dancing was impeccably expressive, as was her acting.”
— DanceTabs.com
La Sylphide
“Dronina is an irresistible performer. She’s more than a vision of Romanticism with her long feet, supple extensions and watery port de bras; there is sensuality in her movement that teeters between the creature and the woman.”
— The Globe and Mail