Alina Cojocaru
| Alina Cojocaru | |
|---|---|
|
Alina Cojocaru pictured taking a curtain call during a performance by the Royal Ballet | |
| Born |
27 May 1981 Bucharest, Romania |
| Occupation | Ballet dancer |
| Partner(s) | Johan Kobborg (engaged) |
Alina Cojocaru (born 27 May 1981) is a Romanian ballet dancer. As of November 2013, she is a principal dancer with the English National Ballet.[1]
Early years
Alina Cojocaru was born and raised in Bucharest, 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 school to take part in a student exchange.[2]
She left her family to train at the school, and did not speak any Russian. 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.
In January 1997, aged 15, she competed in the Prix de Lausanne, a prestigious international ballet competition.[3] Winning a six-month scholarship to train at the Royal Ballet School in London.[4] She moved to London that same year to commence her training, but did not speak any English.
Professional career
After completing her six months training with the Royal Ballet School, Cojocaru was offered a contract to join The Royal Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet. 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 the rank of Principal dancer in 2001. In 2004, she received the Prix Benois de la Danse for her portrayal of Cinderella.
Cojocaru's early appearances with the company included performing in the opening gala for the refurbished Royal Opera House, plus appearances with the corps de ballet in the Kingdom of the Shades from La Bayadère, as a snowflake in The Nutcracker and as a doll in Coppélia.
One of the highlights of her career is her partnership with Danish principal danseur, Johan Kobborg. The partnership began in 2001 when they danced together in Romeo and Juliet after Cojocaru filled in for an injured Miyako Yoshida. 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 was the first ballerina to receive the Prix Benois de la Danse twice, this time for John Neumeier's Liliom with the Hamburg Ballet. 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 on 5 June, followed by scheduled performances on 10 and 12 July with the company in Tokyo.[5]
In July 2013, following her departure from the Royal Ballet, Cojocaru joined the English National Ballet as a principal dancer.
Injury
In 2008, during rehearsal when an unidentified partner handled her awkwardly in a lift, Cojocaru suffered a whiplash injury that could have ended her career. But after surgery and months of rest, she successfully recovered and eventually returned to dancing.[6]
On DVD
Cojocaru's performance as Clara in Peter Wright's Royal Ballet production of The Nutcracker was taped and first telecast in the U.S. 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 U.S. yet, but has become available on DVD.
Her performance as Giselle, alongside Johan Kobborg as Albrecht was recorded in 2006 and broadcast in England on Boxing Day. It was released on DVD the following year.
Personal life
Cojocaru lives with her fiancé, Johan Kobborg. After Kobborg became her most frequent partner, it was publicly announced in 2005 that they were having a romantic relationship off-stage. In May 2011, Cojocaru was making a guest appearance at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, but her dance partner was injured so Kobborg flew over unexpectedly to fill in and surprised Cojocaru when he proposed to her on her 30th birthday. Their engagement was announced shortly afterwards.[7]
References
- ↑ Brown, Ismene. "Alina Cojocaru interview: 'I'll always be grateful – even for the lies'". The Daily Telegraph.
- ↑ ""I know what I'm going for" - a conversation with Alina Cojocaru for Danceview". Autumn 2001. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
- ↑ Alina Cojocaru at 15 - D'Artagnan. YouTube. 16 February 2007.
- ↑ http://www.prixdelausanne.org/v4/index.php/View-users-list/Prizewinners/Page-11.html
- ↑ "Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg to leave The Royal Ballet at the end of 2012/13 season". Retrieved 2013-06-04.
- ↑ http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23679128-first-lady-of-ballet-is-back-on-stage-after-her-hardest-performance.do
- ↑ Sulcas, Roslyn (31 May 2011). "At Ballet Theater, Popping the Question After the Plié". The New York Times.