We can experience new choreography. Nothing is forbidden. So I can be here and also in the world. A British critic has called her a gift from God. For Russian ballet, Lopatkina's look is new and startling.
Wide eyes dwarf a little mouth.
Now 26, Lopatkina graduated from the prestigious Vaganova ballet school, where she'd studied since age 9. She joined the Mariinsky company in 1991 not as a principal ballerina but as a member of the ballet corps, the large cast of extras who adorn classical sets. Her ballet master, Ninnel Kurgapkina, recalls being skeptical about the young dancer's abilities. Well, this girl will have difficulty, I thought. In 1997, she played London to high praise.