Alina Cojocaru (born 27 May 1981) is a Romanian

ballet dancer A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...

. She was previously a principal dancer with

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

and a lead principal with the

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 years

Alina Cojocaru was born and raised in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, Romania. She has one sister. From a young age she studied gymnastics. Later she began ballet classes, despite never having seen a live ballet.

Training

At the age of 7 or 8 she began gymnastic classes, progressing at the age of 9 to a Bucharest ballet school which acted as a feeder for the Romanian State Ballet school. Later the same year she took and passed the entrance exam for the school and a few months later was chosen (with 8 other Romanian students) by the director of the

Kiev Ballet Kyiv National Ballet performs works of classical ballet and tours internationally. It currently has 24 ballets in its repertory, one of the largest in the world, and has had many notable dancers among its members. History 1867 to 1930 The Nationa ...

school to take part in a student exchange. She left her family to train at the school, and did not speak any Ukrainian. Initially, Cojocaru and the other Romanian students were taught separately, before being integrated with the other students in the third year. The ballet school gave a public performance every six months and it was in one of these performances that Cojocaru made her debut, dancing the role of ''Amor'' 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 ...

''. In January 1997, aged 15, she competed in the Prix de Lausanne international ballet competition. There, she was awarded a six-month scholarship to train at the

Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especially ...

in London. In June she won a silver medal at the Moscow Ballet Competition and impressed the audience in ''Musketeer'' by Alla Rubina. She moved to London later that year to commence her training, but did not speak any English.

Professional career

After completing her six-month training with the Royal Ballet School, Cojocaru was offered a contract to join

as a member of the

corps de ballet In ballet, the ''corps de ballet'' (; French for "body of the ballet") is the group of dancers who are not principal dancers or soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and often work as a backdrop for the principal dancers. ...

. She was also offered a contract to join the Kiev Ballet as principal. She subsequently joined Kiev Ballet in November 1998, believing she would gain greater experience as a principal dancer. She stayed for one season, dancing a variety of roles. Whilst dancing with Kiev Ballet, Cojocaru re-applied to the Royal Ballet in London, but was only invited to audition for the corps de ballet. She attended an audition for the company whilst on leave from Kiev Ballet and was offered a contract. Doubtful of development opportunities elsewhere, she accepted the contract and joined the company in November 1999. She was subsequently promoted to principal dancer in 2001. In 2004, she received the

Prix Benois de la Danse The Benois de la Danse is a ballet competition held annually in Moscow. Founded by the International Dance Association in 1991, it takes place each year on or around April 29 and it's judged by a jury. The members of this jury change every year and ...

for her portrayal of ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

''. Cojocaru's early appearances with the company included performing in the opening gala for the refurbished

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

, plus appearances with the corps de ballet in the Kingdom of the Shades from ''

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 ...

'', as a snowflake in ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchai ...

'' and as a doll in ''

Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-� ...

''. One of the highlights of her career is her partnership with Danish principal dancer,

Johan Kobborg Johan Kobborg (born 5 June 1972) is a Danish ballet dancer, choreographer, director and visual artist. He is most noted as a ballet dancer, having been a principal dancer with both the Royal Danish Ballet and the Royal Ballet in London, as well ...

. The partnership began in 2001 when they danced together in ''Romeo and Juliet'' after Cojocaru filled in for an injured

Miyako Yoshida Miyako Yoshida (吉田都, born 28 October 1965) is a Japanese ballet dancer. She was a Principal Guest Artist of The Royal Ballet as well as a principal dancer with K-ballet, Japan. Life and career Born and trained in Tokyo, Yoshida won the ...

. Since then, Kobborg and Cojocaru's partnership has been named one of the greatest in the history of ballet, and they have danced together at Covent Garden and worldwide. In 2012, Cojocaru became the first ballerina to receive the

twice, this time for

John Neumeier John Neumeier (born February 24, 1939) is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director. He has been the director and chief choreographer of Hamburg Ballet since 1973. Five years later he founded the Hamburg Ballet School, which also in ...

's ''Liliom'' with the

Hamburg Ballet The Hamburg Ballet is a ballet company based in Hamburg, Germany. Since 1973, it has been directed by the American dancer and choreographer John Neumeier. In addition there is a ballet school, , established in 1978. The performances of the Hamb ...

. The lead role of ''Julie'' also marked the first time a full-length ballet was created around Cojocaru. In June 2013, she announced that she and Kobborg would leave The Royal Ballet at the end of 2012/13 season. Their last performance in London was in ''

Mayerling Mayerling is a small village (pop. 200) in Lower Austria belonging to the municipality of Alland in the district of Baden. It is situated on the Schwechat river, in the Wienerwald (''Vienna woods''), southwest of Vienna. From 1550, it was in t ...

'' on 5 June, followed by scheduled performances on 10 and 12 July with the company in Tokyo. In July 2013, following her departure from the Royal Ballet, Cojocaru joined the

as a principal dancer. The company is directed by her former Royal Ballet colleague

Tamara Rojo Tamara Rojo CBE (born 17 May 1974) is a Spanish ballet dancer. She is the English National Ballet's artistic director (2012–2022) and a lead principal dancer with the company. She was previously a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet. She ...

She is also a guest at the

. She now split her time between London and Hamburg, where she developed a close creative relationship with

. In December 2013, she also joined the Romanian National Ballet as a principal after Kobborg became the company's artistic director. However, in 2016, actions by new leadership at the Bucharest National Opera House resulted in both Kobborg and Cojocaru resigning, triggering protests by dancers. The new management then apparently banned them from even setting foot in the theatre. She won the Critics' Circle National Dance Awards 2017 Outstanding Female Performance (Classical) for her portrayal of the title role in Akram Khan's ''Giselle''. In 2020, she performed a self-produced show, ''Alina at Sadler's Wells'' at the Sadler's Wells Theatre. The show included Frederick Ashton's '' Marguerite and Armand'', and Tim Rushton's ''Reminiscence'', a new commissioned piece, which was danced with

. In November 2020, the English National Ballet announced that she would be leaving the company as her contract had ended. Her final performance with the company was in January, as Clara in ''

''.

Injury

In 2008, during rehearsal when an unidentified partner handled her awkwardly in a lift, Cojocaru suffered a

whiplash injury Whiplash is a non-medical term describing a range of injuries to the neck caused by or related to a sudden distortion of the neck associated with extension, although the exact injury mechanisms remain unknown. The term "whiplash" is a colloqu ...

that could have ended her career. But after surgery and months of rest, and following the rehabilitation regimen guided by Patrick Rump, she successfully recovered and eventually returned to dancing.

On DVD

Cojocaru's performance as Clara in Peter Wright's Royal Ballet production of ''The Nutcracker'' was taped and first telecast in the US in 2001. It is available on DVD. Her performance as Aurora in the Royal Ballet's new production of '' The Sleeping Beauty'' has not been telecast in the US yet, but has become available on DVD. Her performance as '' Giselle'', alongside

as Albrecht was recorded in 2006, broadcast in England on Boxing Day, and released on DVD the following year.

Personal life

Cojocaru is married to her former dance partner

. The couple live in London with their two daughters, Thalia Chulpan and Ella Armelle.

References

External links

Official website

Royal Opera biography

English National Ballet biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cojocaru, Alina Romanian ballerinas English National Ballet principal dancers Prix de Lausanne winners Entertainers from Bucharest 1981 births Living people Principal dancers of The Royal Ballet National Dance Award winners Prix Benois de la Danse winners Romanian expatriates in England Prima ballerinas 21st-century ballet dancers