Lucía Lacarra (born 24 March 1975) is a Spanish

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

who has been a principal with the

Bayerisches Staatsballett The Bavarian State Ballet () is a professional ballet company in Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in German ...

(Bavarian State Opera Ballet) from 2002 to 2016. A recipient of 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 ...

, she was named the Dancer of the Decade in 2011, at the World Ballet Stars Gala in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Early life

Born in the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

town of

Zumaia Zumaia (, ) is a small town in the north of Spain in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. The town has two beaches (Itzurun and Santiago), which are of interest to geologists because they are situated among the longest set ...

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

, Lacarra was interested in dance from an early age but only received training from the age of 10 when a ballet school opened in her hometown. After participating in a summer course run by

Rosella Hightower Rosella Hightower (January 10, 1920 – November 4, 2008) was an American ballerina and member of the Choctaw Nation. One of the Five Moons, she achieved fame in both the United States and Europe, and later enjoyed a career as an instructor and ...

, she studied for three years with Mentxu Medel in San Sebastián before attending

Víctor Ullate Víctor Ullate (born 9 May 1947, Zaragoza, Spain) is a dancer, choreographer, ballet director and ballet teacher. Early life and education He studied dance with María de Avila and at the École supérieure de danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower. ...

's school in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, along with

Tamara Rojo Tamara Rojo Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 17 May 1974) is a Spanish ballet dancer. She was the English National Ballet's artistic director and a lead principal dancer with the company between 2012 and 2022. She was previously a principa ...

and

Angel Corella Angel Corella López is a Spanish former principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre (the only Spaniard to have achieved such a position in history) and guest artist with The Royal Ballet, Kirov Ballet, New York City Ballet, La Scala and ...

. She soon became a member of his Ballet de Victor Ullate, dancing

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...

's '' Allegro Brillante'' when she was 15, as well as other modern abstract ballets.

Career

After four seasons with Ullate, she moved to

Roland Petit Roland Petit (13 January 192410 July 2011) was a French ballet company director, choreographer and dancer. He trained at the Paris Opera Ballet school, and became well known for his creative ballets. Life and work The son of shoe designer Ro ...

's Ballet de Marseille as a principal, dancing leading Esmeralda in his ''

Notre Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

''. Over the next three years, she created roles in seven other Petit ballets including ''Le Guépard'' where she danced Angélique, and '' Le jeune homme et la mort'' where she partnered with Nicolas Le Riche. In 1997, she joined the

San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fra ...

where she performed in various classical and contemporary works, taking the title role in Helgi Tómasson's ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' ( , ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (; ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet () in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first perfor ...

'' (1999). There, she paired with the Frenchman, Cyril Pierre. In 2002, Lacarra moved to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

where she became a principal with the

, partnering Cyril Pierre with whom she has participated in guest performances around the world. In recent years, she has created the roles of Princess Natalia and of Princess Odette in

John Neumeier John Neumeier (born February 24, 1939) is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director. He was the director and principal choreographer of Hamburg Ballet from 1973 to 2024 and the artistic director of the ballet at the Hamburg State ...

's ''Illusions – Like Swan Lake'', Katharina in

John Cranko John Cyril Cranko (15 August 1927 – 26 June 1973) was a South African ballet dancer and choreographer with the Royal Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet. Life and career Early life Cranko was born to Herbert and Grace Cranko in Rustenburg in ...

's ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunke ...

'' and Hippolyta/Titania in Neumeier's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. She left the company in 2016 at the end of Ivan Liška's directorship. From 2007, she began a dancing partnership with Marlon Dino which led to their marriage in 2010. They divorced in 2017. Her partner is Matthew Golding (2019-present).

Awards

In 2002, Lacarra received the Nijinsky Award. In 2003, at a gala in Moscow's

Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈat(ə)r, t=Grand Theater) is a historic opera house in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové. Before the October Revolutio ...

she was awarded the Prix Benois de la Danse as best female dancer for her role of Tatjana in Cranko's '' Onegin''. In 2011, at the World Ballet Stars Gala in St Petersburg, she was named the Dancer of the Decade.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacarra, Lucía 1975 births Spanish ballerinas Prima ballerinas People from Zumaia Prix Benois de la Danse winners Living people Basque women