Jurgita Dronina (born 27 March 1986) is a Russian-Lithuanian ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer with the

National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca as the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...

, having previously danced with

Royal Swedish Ballet The Royal Swedish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in Europe. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, King Gustav III founded the ballet in 1773 as a part of his national cultural project in response to the French and Italian dominance in this fi ...

Dutch National Ballet The Dutch National Ballet (Dutch: Het Nationale Ballet) is the official and largest ballet company in the Netherlands. History The Dutch National Ballet was formed in 1961 when the Amsterdam Ballet and the Nederlands Ballet merged. The company h ...

and

English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish ...

Early life

Born in Saratov,

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, Dronina and her family moved to

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

, Lithuania when she was four. She started out studying ballroom dancing, and then moved on to gymnastics. When she was nine, a choreographer suggested that she try ballet. She attended the Čiurlionis School of Art in

and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Career

In 2005, Dronina joined the

in Stockholm, after she was spotted by the company's then-director, Madeleine Onne, at several competitions. She became a soloist in 2007. She has danced leading roles included Nikiya in ''

La Bayadère ''La Bayadère'' ("the temple dancer") ( ru. «Баядерка», ''Bayaderka'') is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. The ballet was staged especiall ...

'' (2006) and Juliet in MacMillan's '' Romeo and Juliet'' (2007). In 2009, when she was returning from

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

where she had danced Kitri in ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...

'', she was asked at the last minute to perform Odette/Odile in '' Swan Lake'' as the scheduled performer was ill. She completed the assignment so successfully that she was promoted to principal dancer, at age 22. In 2010, after she had again performed the role of Kitri as a guest artist in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, artistic director Ted Brandsen was so impressed he offered her a contract with the

. As she was looking for a broader variety of works, she accepted the position. In 2011, she received the Dutch ''Zwaan'' (swan) award for her Aurora in '' The Sleeping Beauty''. In 2015, after Dronina contacted

Karen Kain Karen Alexandria Kain (born March 28, 1951) is a Canadian former ballet dancer, and was the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada from 2005 - 2021. Early training and childhood Kain's mother enrolled her daughter in ballet training ...

, the director of the

, she joined the company as a principal dancer. Dronina said she made the move as she wanted to have a good balance between classical works and new productions, and she believed Toronto is more suitable for her family. In 2017, after dancing Mary Skeaping's '' Giselle'' with the

as a guest artist, she joined the company as a lead principal, but remained a principal dancer at the National Ballet of Canada. She spent her first six months with the

in London, but then settled in Toronto. In 2020, the English national Ballet announced that Dronina will not return to the company in the 2020–21 season, but confirmed Dronina will continue to perform in Canada. Dronina was a resident guest principal with

Hong Kong Ballet The Hong Kong Ballet () is a classical ballet company founded in 1979. History The company was created in 1979. Since 1997, The Hong Kong Ballet has concluded more than 30 tours to 10 countries in North and South America, Europe and Asia. I ...

between 2015 and 2017, which was directed by Onne. She had host and danced in a gala in Lithuania, her home country. She was awarded the Knight's Crosses of the

Order for Merits to Lithuania The Order for Merits to Lithuania ( lt, Ordinas Už nuopelnus Lietuvai) is an award, presented by the President of Lithuania, which may be conferred on the citizens of Lithuania and foreign nationals for distinguished services promoting name of Lit ...

in 2018. The same year on October 25 she was awarded the Baltic Assembly Prize for the Arts.

Critical reception

Reviewing ''

La Sylphide ''La Sylphide'' ( en, The Sylph; da, Sylfiden) is a romantic ballet in two acts. There were two versions of the ballet; the original choreographed by Filippo Taglioni in 1832, and a second version choreographed by August Bournonville in 1836. ...

'', ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' called her "an irresistible performer" and "there is sensuality in her movement that teeters between the creature and the woman." On her performance in '' Swan Lake'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' wrote "her execution impeccably clean, not an ounce of energy wasted – there is something unreal about her."

Selected repertoire

Dronina's repertoire includes:

Personal life

Dronina is married to former

dancer Serguei Endinian, their son was born in 2012. The family resides in Toronto.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dronina, Jurgita 1986 births Living people Russian ballerinas Lithuanian ballerinas Prima ballerinas People from Saratov Dancers from Vilnius National Ballet of Canada principal dancers English National Ballet principal dancers Dutch National Ballet principal dancers Royal Swedish Ballet dancers 21st-century Russian ballet dancers University of Music and Performing Arts Munich alumni Lithuanian people of Russian descent Lithuanian expatriates in Sweden Lithuanian expatriates in the Netherlands Lithuanian expatriates in Canada Russian expatriates in Sweden Russian expatriates in the Netherlands Russian expatriates in Canada Knight's Crosses of the Order for Merits to Lithuania