Farukh Ruzimatov is a ballet

Ballet

Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

 dancer, the Artistic Director for ballet in Mikhaylovsky Theatre

Mikhaylovsky Theatre

The Mikhaylovsky Theatre is one of the oldest opera and ballet houses in Russia. It was founded in 1833 and is situated in a historical building on the Arts Square in St. Petersburg...

, Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

. He was formerly the Principal Dancer and Assistant Artistic Director of the Kirov Ballet

Mariinsky Ballet

The Mariinsky Ballet is a classical ballet company based at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's leading ballet companies...

 at the Mariinsky Theatre

Mariinsky Theatre

The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The...

 in Saint Petersburg.

Ruzimatov entered the Leningrad Vaganova Academy in 1973 and upon his 1981 graduation began dancing with the Kirov Ballet and became a principal dancer in 1986.

His repertoire includes such roles as Albrecht in Giselle

Giselle

Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...

, Solor in La Bayadère

La Bayadère

La Bayadère is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. La Bayadère was first performed by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on...

, Ali in Le Corsaire

Le Corsaire

Le Corsaire is a ballet typically presented in three acts, with a libretto originally created by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges loosely based on the poem The Corsair by Lord Byron. Originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to the music of Adolphe Adam, it was first presented by the ballet of...

, Prince Desire in The Sleeping Beauty, The Prince in The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...

, Siegfried in Swan Lake

Swan Lake

Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...

, Basil in Don Quixote

Don Quixote (ballet)

Don Quixote is a ballet originally staged in four acts and eight scenes, based on an episode taken from the famous novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. It was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus and was first presented by the Ballet of the...

, and many others. He has also performed as Principal Guest Artist with American Ballet Theater.

Awards

• Honored Artist of Russia (1995)
• People's Artist of Russia (2000)
• He was Silver Medallist of the Sixth Varna International Competition (1983)
• He was awarded a special diploma by the Paris Academy of Dance.
• Prizewinner of Baltika prize (1998)
• Prize Bemois of Dance

Partnerships

Ruzimatov has had many successful partnerships, but the two most well known are probably his collaboration with Yulia Mahkalina in Kirov productions of Giselle and La Bayadere, and he partnered Larissa Lezhnina

Larissa Lezhnina

Larisa Lezhnina is a principal dancer with Dutch National Ballet, Amsterdam. She was born on March 17, 1969 in Leningrad , Russia. She graduated from the Vaganova Ballet Academy in Leningrad in 1987 and joined the Kirov Ballet . In 1990 she became its First Soloist...

 in her Kirov debut as Aurora in the 1989 production of The Sleeping Beauty. He went on to partner her in Diana and Acteon, but as she left the Kirov to become a soloist for the Dutch National Ballet

Dutch National Ballet

Dutch National Ballet was formed in 1961 when the Amsterdams Ballet and the Nederlands Ballet merged. The company has been directed by Sonia Gaskell , Rudi van Dantzig , Wayne Eagling and is currently directed by Ted Brandsen. It is the largest dance company in the Netherlands and attracts many...

in 1994, their promising collaboration was cut short.

External links

• mikhailovsky.ru Official website (Russian and English)
• vaganova.ru Official website (Russian and English)