MARIANNA RYZHKINAMoscow, Russia
Prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre (1989-2017), a guest dancer of the Metropolitan Ballet Company (Texas, USA), choreographer, teacher. Honoured Artist of Russia. Winner of international ballet competitions (Serge Lifar in Kyiv and in Osaka, Japan).
In 1989, after graduating from the Moscow Choreographic School (class of Elena Ryabinkina), she joined the Bolshoi ballet company, where Nina Timofeeva became her first teacher. On most of her parts she worked with Raisa Struchkova. For ten years, she practiced under the guidance of Ekaterina Maximova. During this time, they prepared the main roles for the Swan Lake, Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Spartacus, Anyuta, A Legend of Love, Walpurgis Night, etc. She has performed choreography by George Balanchine, John Cranko, Roland Petit, Mats Ek, John Neumeier, Frederick Ashton, William Forsythe, Léonide Massine, and Twyla Tharp.
She also graduated from the Ballet Master Department of the Moscow State Academy of Choreography. Selected productions: Capriccios to music of Bruch (2005), Episode to music of Debussy (2007), Forever to music of Nyman (2014, gala concert dedicated to Ekaterina Maximova, the Bolshoi Theatre), Madama Butterfly to music of Puccini (2014, Israel Ballet, Tel Aviv), Variations on a Rococo Theme to music of Tchaikovsky (2015, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall), A tram was going... (2016, the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre), Parade to music of Sati (2016, Bolshoi Theatre), opera Orpheus and Eurydice by Gluck (2019, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall).
In 2017-2020, she was the chief ballet master of the Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Komi Republic, for which she staged Prokofiev’s Cinderella (2019).
Winner of the Best of the West award by Fort Worth magazine (USA, 2002). Winner of the “Golden Lyre” contest (person of the year in the Dance category, Moscow, 2004). Winner of the “Soul of Dance” prize by the Ballet magazine in the nomination “Star” (2016).