Vadim Muntagirov

Vadim Muntagirov is a Russian ballet dancer. He is currently a principal dancer at The Royal Ballet in London and previously a lead principal dancer at the English National Ballet.[1]

Vadim Muntagirov
Born
Vadim Muntagirov

1990 (age 30–31)
Chelyabinsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
EducationPerm State Choreographic College
The Royal Ballet School
Occupationballet dancer
Years active2009-present
Current groupThe Royal Ballet
Former groupsEnglish National Ballet
Alina Cojocaru and Vadim Muntagirov in the roles of Medora and Conrad of Le Corsaire produced by the English National Ballet

Early life

Muntagirov, was born in Chelyabinsk, Russia.[1] His parents and elder sister are ballet dancers. At age nine, he entered Perm State Choreographic College, where his parents and sister trained, and trained there for six years. In 2006, after he won a scholarship at the Prix de Lausanne, despite not speaking English, he chose to relocated to London and trained at The Royal Ballet School. He planned to stay for a year, but Gailene Stock, then-director of the school, convinced him to continue his training there. He graduated in 2009.[1][2][3]

Career

In 2009, after Muntagirov graduated, he joined the English National Ballet as First Artist. During his first season, he danced Albrecht in Giselle and the Prince in Cinderella.[4]

In 2010, Muntagirov was promoted to First Soloist. He was chosen to performed Prince Siegfried Swan Lake with guest star Polina Semionova, but he rehearsed the role with Daria Klimentová, 19 years his senior. However, Semionova had to withdraw from opening night as she did not have a visa, so Klimentová stepped in and performed. The performance received critical acclaim, and their partnership was compared to Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev's partnership.[5][6] The rehearsals and performance was featured in the BBC4 documentary Agony and Ecstasy: A Year with English National Ballet.[7] Since then, the two were paired together frequently. Klimentová noted it is a partnership she waited for 20 years.[8]

Muntagirov was promoted to Principal in 2011 and Lead Principal in 2012. He performed lead roles such as Conrad in Le Corsaire, the poet in Les Sylphides and the title role in Apollo, and originated the role of the Prince in Wayne Eagling's The Nutcracker.[1][4] In 2013, he won the Prix Benois de la Danse for the Prince in The Sleeping Beauty.[9]

In January 2014, Muntagirov announced that he would join The Royal Ballet as a Principal Dancer. He made his debut in the company as the Prince in The Sleeping Beauty, with Akane Takada as Princess Aurora.[10] Later that year, he returned to ENB to dance at Klimentová's final performance, which was Romeo and Juliet.[6] At the Royal Ballet, he danced lead roles such as Solor in La Bayadère, Des Grieux in Manon, Colas in La Fille mal gardée and the Young Man in The Two Pigeons.[1] In 2019, he won his second Prix Benois de la Danse, this time for Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake.[11]

Muntagirov is a Permanent Guest Artist in the National Ballet of Japan, and had made guest appearances with Paris Opera Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg and American Ballet Theatre in Washington D.C.. Muntagirov had also taught in Klimentová's masterclass in Prague.[1][4][12] In June 2020, in the first series of performance since the Royal Opera House's closure due to the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic, which was broadcast online, Muntagirov performed Frederick Ashton's Dance of the Blessed Spirits, which he learned from Anthony Dowell in 2016.[13]

Selected repertoire

Sources:[1][4]

Awards
  • Laureate at Prix de Lausanne
  • Second place and silver medal at Arabesque competition
  • First place and gold medal at Vaganova Prix competition
  • First place at Youth America Grand Prix
  • 2010 Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Male Performance (Classical)
  • 2015 and 2018 Best Male Dancer at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards
  • 2013 and 2019 Prix Benois de la Danse

Sources:[1][3][4]

References
  1. "Vadim Muntagirov". Royal Opera House. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  2. "Vadim Muntagirov: 'I'm a mixture of Russian blood and the English school'". Royal Opera House. 28 July 2014.
  3. "Vadim Muntagirov". Prix de Lausanne. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  4. "Vadim Muntagirov". English National Ballet. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014.
  5. "ENB's Swan Lake; Mark Bruce's Love and War". The Guardian. 13 June 2010.
  6. "With Romantic Flourish, a Ballerina Ends Her Stellar Career". New York Times. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  7. "Agony & Ecstasy: A Year with English National Ballet, BBC4, Tuesday Monrow, ITV1, Thursday". The Independent. 13 March 2011.
  8. "Looking forward". Dancing Times. 12 October 2017.
  9. "2013". prix Benois de la Danse. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  10. "Muntagirov joins the Royal Ballet". The Telegraph. 27 January 2014.
  11. "The 27th Festival Benois de la Danse". Prix Benois de la Danse. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  12. "Laura Morera & Vadim Muntagirov – Royal Ballet Principals, on La Fille mal gardée". Dancetabs. 22 April 2015.
  13. "Vadim Muntagirov on life under lockdown and dancing at the ROH again, to be seen this Saturday". DanceTabs. 18 June 2020.
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