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. Jurgita was a Principal Dancer with Royal Swedish Ballet and Het Nationale Ballet before joining The National Ballet of Canada as Principal Dancer in 2015.
Jurgita 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 numerous versions of Swan Lake including Karen Kain’s, Kitri in Don Quixote, Medora in Le Corsaire, Sylvia in John Neumeier’s Sylvia and the title role in Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella. She created roles in contemporary works by choreographers such as Alexei Ratmansky, David Dawson, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Jorma Elo, Hans Van Manen, Christian Spuck, Benjamin Millepied, Krzysztof Pastor, Will Tuckett, Nils Christe, Juanjo Arques and Guillaume Côté and has danced in works by John Neumeier, William Forsythe, Jerome Robbins, Liam Scarlet, Mauro Bigonzetti, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Rudi van Dantzig, Toer van Schayk and many others.
Jurgita’s repertoire with the National Ballet includes principal roles in The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, Giselle, The Winter’s Tale, Cinderella, Onegin, La Sylphide, Le Petit Prince, Pinocchio, A Streetcar Named Desire, Elite Syncopations, Genus, Serenade, Symphony in C, The Collective Agreement and Tarantella.
As a Principal Guest Artist, Jurgita has performed with Norwegian National Ballet, Het Nationale Ballet, Teatro San Carlo, Opera dell Roma, Arena di Verona, Hong Kong Ballet, Shanghai Ballet and The Royal Danish Ballet and has also performed on the world’s largest stages in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Rome and many others.
In 2018, Jurgita was awarded the Order of Merit, Cross of the Knight, to Lithuania for outstanding services promoting the country and was nominated for Prix de Benois de la Danse for her roles in La Sylphide and Juliet in Nureyev’s Romeo and Juliet. In 2014, Jurgita received the Alexandra Radius Prize and the Zwaan Award in 2011 for her role as Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty. Jurgita was voted Outstanding Dancer of the year 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. Jurgita 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.
