Jurgita Dronina
Jurgita Dronina (born 27 March 1986) is a Russian-Lithuanian ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada, having previously danced with Royal Swedish Ballet, Dutch National Ballet and English National Ballet. Early life. Born in Saratov, USSR, Dronina and her family moved to Vilnius, Lithuania when she was four. She started out studying ballroom dancing, and then moved on to gymnastics. When she was nine, a choreographer suggested she try ballet. She attended the Čiurlionis School of Art in Vilnius and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich. Career. In 2005 , Dronina joined the Royal Swedish Ballet in Stockholm, after she was spotted by the company's then-director, Madeleine Onne, at several competitions. She became a soloist in 2007. She has danced leading roles included Nikiya in "La Bayadère" (2006) and Juliet in MacMillan's "Romeo and Juliet" (2007). In 2009, when she was returning from Verona where she had danced Kitri in "Don Quixote", she was asked at the last minute to perform Odette/Odile in "Swan Lake" as the scheduled performer was ill. She completed the assignment so successfully that she was promoted to principal dancer, at age  22. In 2010, after she had again performed the role of Kitri as a guest artist in Amsterdam, artistic director Ted Brandsen was so impressed he offered her a contract with the Dutch National Ballet. As she was looking for a broader variety of works, she accepted the position. In 2011, she received the Dutch "Zwaan" (swan) award for her Aurora in "The Sleeping Beauty". In 2015, after Dronina contacted Karen Kain, the director of the National Ballet of Canada, she joined the company as a principal dancer. Dronina said she made the move as she wanted to have a  good balance between classical works and new productions, and she believed Toronto is more suitable for her family. In 2017, after dancing Mary Skeaping's "Giselle" with the English National Ballet as a guest artist, she joined the company as a lead principal, but remained a principal dancer at the National Ballet of Canada. She spent her first six months with the ENB in London, but is now based on Toronto. In 2020, the English national Ballet announced that Dronina will not return to the company in the 2020–21 season, but confirmed Dronina will continue to perform in Canada. Dronina  was a resident guest principal with Hong Kong Ballet between 2015 and 2017, which was directed by Onne. She had host and danced in a gala in Lithuania, her home country. She was awarded the Knight's Crosses of the Order for Merits to Lithuania in 2018. The same year, she was awarded the Baltic Assembly Prize for the Arts. Critical reception. Reviewing "La Sylphide", "The Globe and Mail" called her "an irresistible performer" and "there is sensuality in her movement that teeters between the creature and the woman." On her performance in "Swan Lake", "The Guardian" wrote "her execution  impeccably clean, not an ounce of energy wasted – there is something unreal about her." Selected repertoire. Dronina's repertoire includes: Personal life. Dronina is married to former Dutch National Ballet dancer Serguei Endinian, their son was born in 2012. The family resides in Toronto.