Evgenia Obraztsova (Russian: Евгения Образцова) (b. January 18, 1984, St. Petersburg), is a Russian ballerina who dances as First Soloist with the Mariinsky Theatre (ex-Kirov) in Saint Petersburg.[1][2] She is frequently invited as a guest soloist to other countries, and is known for dancing leading roles in ballets such as Romeo and Juliet, Ondine, Giselle, and La Sylphide. She has won several awards, including the Gold Medal at the Moscow International Ballet Competition in 2005. Also an actress, she portrayed a ballerina in the 2005 film The Russian Dolls, and was one of the ballerinas profiled in the 2006 documentary Ballerina.[1]
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She was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) into a family of dancers, as her mother studied under Natalia Dudinskaya and was a member of the company at the Moussorgski Theatre. Obraztsova discovered her dance talents early and successfully passed the entrance exams for the Vaganova School, which trains young dancers in preparation for joining the Mariinsky troupe. She graduated in 2002, having studied with Marina Vasilieva, before joining the company and rapidly proceeding through the ranks, protected and guided by a previous ballet star,[3] the renowned Ninel Kurgapkina. Obraztsova soon learned by reading one of the theater brochures that she had been promoted from "Corps de ballet" to Coryphee (Ballerina) - no one at the theater had informed her of her promotion.[4]
During the 2005/2006 season, she continued to advance, and was offered opportunities to dance in three ballets created for her. In November, Carla Fracci (director of the ballet of the Rome Opera) invited her to perform in Cinderella.[5] In March, Pierre Lacotte chose her for the title role in the reconstruction of the ballet Ondine, and two months later, she returned to Rome to dance in Faust by Luciano Cannito. Inspired by artists such as Diana Vishneva, Ulyana Lopatkina, and Svetlana Zakharova, Obrastzova was lauded for creating genuine interpretations, sensitive and intelligent for the key roles.[6] She was particularly acclaimed for her work in Romeo and Juliet. In 2003, she became the youngest dancer in the history of the Mariinsky to interpret the role of Juliet[7] and it became one of her favorite roles.[8][9]
In high demand, she was again asked to dance the leading role in Vikharev Sergei's The Awakening of Flora in 2007. She also participates in numerous tours with the company, whether in Japan, the United States, France, Austria or Israel, as well as several international galas. In 2008 she took the lead role in Shurale, a ballet by Leonid Jakobson. In November 2009, Obraztsova was also invited to the Royal Ballet, dancing as Aurora in their production of The Sleeping Beauty,[10]partnered with David Makhateli. She then danced at the Rome Opera, in Giselle in February 2010.[9]
After Ondine, she rejoined Pierre Lacotte in the summer of 2010, replacing Isabelle Ciaravola for the role of Constance Bonacieux in The Three Musketeers, a newly choreographed production, along with dancers such as Mathias Heymann, Mathieu Ganio, Dorothée Gilbert, and Marie-Agnès Gillot. A few months later, she danced again with Mathieu Ganio, and both were invited by the Stanislavsky Theater to dance Giselle in Moscow.[9]
In 2005, she took a role as an actress in Cédric Klapisch's The Russian Dolls, where she played Natasha. It was a role very close to her actual life, as Natasha was a young ballerina in the Mariinsky Theater. She never had to audition for the film, and was just noted by chance by Klapisch when he was visiting the Mariinsky. Obraztsova was also profiled in the 2006 documentary Ballerina by Bertrand Normand, which explored the artistic life of dancers such as Ouliana Lopatkina, Svetlana Zakharova, and Diana Vichneva.[11][5]
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