Roles:

• Swan Lake: Jester
• Cinderella: Prince
• The Nutcracker: Prince

Konstantin Geronik was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and graduated from the Belarusian State Choreographic College in 2010 with distinction. He joined the ballet company of the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus. He has danced numerous leading roles and his repertoire includes Basilio in Don Quixote, Ali in Le Corsaire, The Bronze Idol in La Bayadère, James in Sylphide, Prince in The Nutcracker, Siegfried, Joker and Pas-de-trois in the Swan Lake, Chipollino in Chipollino, Desire, Blue Bird in Sleeping Beauty, Peasant Pas de deux in Giselle, Frondoso in Laurencia, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. Geronik has toured Germany, France, Spain, China, Japan, The Netherlands, Belgium, Mexico, and Poland as a principal dancer. 

He has received multiple international awards and nominations, including: 1st Prize at the Young Ballet of the World competition in Sochi (2010), 1st Prize at the Tanzolymp competition in Berlin (2011), 1st Prize winner of The 4 Beijing International Ballet Invitational for Dance Schools & International Dance Performance Series (2012), the 3rd Prize winner of The International Competition of The Ballet Artists in Astana in 2016, the 2017 National Theatre Award as the best male dancer for his lead role in Le Petit Prince, and in 2018 Konstantin received the title of The Honored Artist of Belarus.

Konstantin also had an artistic collaboration with the founder and director of the international festival World Ballet Stars Vadym Pysarev and has performed as a guest artist at Nina Ananiashvili’s Gala Concert, who has been described by the Daily Telegraph as one of the twelve greatest ballerinas of all time.

Roles:

• Swan Lake: Pa de Trois
• Cinderella: Cinderella, Stepsister
• The Nutcracker: Clara

Ekaterina Malkovich was born in Abakan, Russia, and she is World Ballet Series principal dancer. The former Ural Opera Ballet star and two-time nominee for the coveted Golden Mask Award says of the role: “I think that my own character and worldview are somewhat similar to that of Cinderella. Despite her circumstances, she looks at the world with kindness and never allows anger or grief to get the better of her.” 

Ekaterina graduated from Novosibirsk State Choreographic College, formerly Perm State Ballet School (class of the Honored Artist of Russia Galina Vedenina). She joined the Yekaterinburg Opera and Ballet Theater’s Ural Opera Ballet in 2013. Malkovich has danced numerous soloist and principal roles including Giselle in Giselle, Gamzatti in La Bayadere, Kitri in Don Quixote, and Paquita in Yuri Krasavin’s Paquita (2019) for Ural Opera Ballet. She has garnered many awards, including Laureate of the International Competition of Choreographic Educational Institutions “Orleu” (Kazakhstan, 2010) and Diploma of the International Competition of Ballet Dancers “Arabesque” (Perm, 2016), and earned nominations as best artist for the prestigious Golden Mask Award in 2017 as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and in 2018 as Giannina in Naiad and the Fisherman.

Ekaterina took up gymnastics at five years old and began dancing a year later. Her professional dance career started when she was ten.

After completing her training at the Novosibirsk State Choreographic College, she went on to perform at Yekaterinburg Opera and Ballet Theatre for over nine years.

Ekaterina performed on the main stages of the Bolshoi Theatre, Stanislavsky Theatre, and Alexandrinsky theatre, as well as the Samara Theatre and Kyrgyz National Opera and Ballet Theatre as an invited Prima.

Ekaterina’s favorite character is Alice in Wonderland – she is strong and brave but at the same time naive and honest. She is very smart despite her young age.

Ekaterina’s dream is to one day open her own ballet school.

Roles:

• Swan Lake: Odetta / Odile
• Cinderella: Cinderella

Sofia Matyushenscaia was lucky to be born in a family of professional ballet dancers in Chisinau, Moldova, and began to dance from an early age, from around 6 years old.

She studied at the National Choreographic College and trained in Italy in the city of Milan. She is a graduate of the Academy of Theater Music and Fine Arts, Faculty of Education. She performed leading roles on the stages of the Bolshoi Theatre, the Mariinsky Theatre, the Stanislavsky Theatre. 

Sofia doesn’t believe in having favorite parts in ballet, because in any part a dancer can find interesting nuances and ways to realize their talent and emotions. But if she really has to tell, she’ll confess that it’s Giselle. She does have a move that she finds rather challenging: pirouette attitude en dehors.

Her favorite fairy tale character is Leopold the Cat, because he is very friendly and avoids conflict at all costs – his attitude to life sets an example that any misunderstandings or difficulties can be resolved peacefully.

Sofia’s dream is to open her own ballet school.

An interesting fact about her: Sofia was nominated for Best Actress in the play Don Quixote at the Golden Mask festival.

To her younger self, or to an aspiring ballerina / aspiring ballet dancer, she would say: look for individuality in yourself, strive to make any movement uniquely yours, despite of the limits that classical ballet imposes.

Roles:

• Swan Lake: Prince, Pa de Trois
• Cinderella: Prince, Prince’s Friend

Egor Burba was born in Krasnodar, Russia, and completed the primary classes at the Perm State Choreographic College. In 2015 he graduated from the Vishnevskaya College of Musical and Theater Arts in Moscow, and in 2020 he received a bachelor’s degree in Choreographic Performance from the Vaganova Academy.

Egor is a winner of many international competitions: Winner of the International ART Festival-Competition “Debut” (Moscow 2013); Laureate of the 3rd degree in the 2nd International Youth Competition of Classical Dance Performers “The Nutcracker Invites” (Russia 2014); Laureate of the 3rd degree Ballet-Festival “Dance Triumph” (Germany 2014).

Since 2015, he has been the soloist of the Cheboksary Opera and Ballet Theatre (Russia), since 2017 – an artist of the L. Yakobson St. Petersburg State Academic Ballet Theater (Russia), and since 2022 – first soloist of the National Theatre in Belgrade (Serbia).

Egor’s performances include: Albrecht, Peasant Pas de deux in Giselle; Prince, Pas de deux of the Blue Bird and Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty; Prince in The Nutcracker; Pas de trois, Jester in the Swan Lake; Pas de deux in Le Corsaire; Pas de trois in Paquita; Golden God in La Bayadere; and he performed leading roles on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater and the Alexandrinsky Theatre.

Egor’s dream is to travel the globe and to see every country the world. His favorite fairy tale hero is Carlson, because it was his favorite cartoon from childhood. His least liked role is the Prince’s Friend in the Swan Lake, because, he says, this character’s line is very undeveloped and constricted. His least favorite ballet move is Pique Soutenu.

To his younger self or to an aspiring ballerina / aspiring ballet dancer he would say: Don’t try to do movements without giving it a thought first, and always spend enough time warming up.

Roles:

• Swan Lake: Prince, Rothbart

Anton was born in Minsk. He graduated from the Belarusian State Choreographic College. While still in the last years of study he was accepted into the troupe of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus. Possession of bright artistic and technical abilities allowed him to achieve success in the shortest possible time and become the Premier of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus. Over the years of work, there was not a single performance in which he would not take part. Each role performed by him makes you think and leaves a mark on your heart for many years, and the possession of natural stage charm leaves no one indifferent and makes every viewer fall in love with him. 

During the period of work, he participated in all tours of the theater, in more than two dozen countries. He enjoys great respect and influence in the team. He passes on his brilliant skills and experience to the younger generation, being not only a teacher at the Belarusian State Choreographic College, but also a teacher-tutor at the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus. His sense of style and ability to think outside the box was repeatedly used by choreographers when staging new performances, when he was involved as an assistant director (Anastasia, Polovtsian Dances, Faust, The Little Humpbacked Horse, etc.). 

In 2008, for achievements in the profession, he was awarded the Francysk Skaryna medal, and in 2013 he was awarded the honorary title of Honored Artist of the Republic of Belarus. In the summer of 2022, for outstanding creative achievements, merits in the field of culture and art, he was awarded the title – People’s Artist of Belarus!

Roles:

• Swan Lake: Odetta / Odile
• Cinderella: Fairy Godmother

Andrea Lassakova was born in Dolny Kubin, Slovakia, and received her dance training exclusively with Klara Skodova at the Eva Jacz Dance Conservatory in Bratislava, the primary training facility for the Slovak National Ballet. She graduated from the Conservatory in 2011, and the same year joined the Slovak National Theatre as a demi-soloist, where she performed roles in ballets including The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Le Corsaire, La Sylphide, the Swan Lake, Giselle and The Little Prince.

In 2013-2014, Andrea moved to Finland and became a dancer of the Youth Company of the Finnish National Ballet. In 2014-2015, she joined the Finnish National Ballet’s Main Company. In 2015, Andrea moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, and joined the Mikhailovsky Ballet by invitation as soloist, and was promoted to the rank of First Soloist in 2021, dancing major principal repertoire including Odette/Odile in the Swan Lake, Medora in Le Corsaire, Gamzatti in La Bayadere, Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, Queen of the Dryads in Don Quixote, Queen of Willis in Giselle, Fairy of the Summer in Cinderella and Sylvia variation from Coppélia by Messerer.

Andrea was one of the few ballerinas to work under the tutelage of Madame Tatiana Nikolaevna Legat. From 2021-22 she was coached by former Kirov Ballet Prima Ballerina Zhanna Ayupova and worked frequently with choreographers Nacho Duato, Oleg Vinogradov, and Mikhail Messerer.

Roles:

• Swan Lake: Odette / Odile

Irina was born in a small town in Russia, (town of Abdulino, Orenburg region). Since childhood, she loved to dance and from the age of 4 she began to attend a ballet class. She first appeared on stage at the age of 6, and immediately fell in love with it. 

At the age of 11, she entered the Bashkir Choreographic School named after R. Nureyev (Rudolf Nureyev took his first dance steps at this school and after that went on to St. Petersburg to enter The Vaganova Academy). She studied there for 8 years and after graduating from the ballet school with honors she was accepted into the ballet troupe of the Bashkir State Opera and Ballet Theater (Ufa). Gradually, having gone through the entire corps de ballet, she began to dance solo parts in classical and modern ballets. 

In 2010, for the first time, Irina went to a ballet competition in the city of Istanbul and won her first silver medal. This was a huge victory for her and a big push for future victories. After this competition, for several years, Irina won 6 silver medals at other international competitions, including the world-famous competition in the city of Jackson (USA), which takes place every 4 years. 

After working at the Bashkir Theater for 6 years, Irina, at the invitation, moved to the city of Vladivostok, where a new theater was opened (2013), the Mariinsky Theater in the Far East. In this theater, she performed the leading roles in all performances. Repeatedly, as part of the troupe of this theater, Irina danced on the historical stage of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. 

Since December 2021, Irina has returned to the Bashkir Opera and Ballet Theater as a prima ballerina, where she has been working to this day. In 2015, Kanat Nadyrbek came to Vladivostok at the invitation of the leadership to perform the part of Siegfried in the ballet Swan Lake. Irina was his partner and this is how they first met. Three years later, they got married, and in 2020 the couple had a daughter. To this day, they often dance together a varied classical repertoire and also tour the world.  

Roles:

• Cinderella: Prince

Leo’s dream is to become a dancer people buy tickets to see on stage, whatever show he is in.

He was born in Padova, Italy and started his dancing career at the age of seven. His training began at John Cranko Schule Stuttgart followed by attending Vienna State Opera Ballet Academy and Vaganova Ballet Academy. After completing his education Leo spent a year dancing as part of the Joffrey Ballet Studio Company, performed the Solor part in the Bayadere at the Mariinsky Theater and now is a Demi-Soloist in Estonian National Ballet.

His favourite ballet role is the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, perhaps this is because he had such a fun time exploring this quirky and entertaining character while working on Gianluca Schiavoni’s production the ballet in Estonia. Leo finds joy in movement and expressing emotions and his personality on stage, so he is not a big fan of static roles. His dream role is Basilio in his favourite ballet Don Quixote.

A piece of advice to his younger self:

“Have more faith in the power of your passion and energy. It is OK not to be like the others and to bring your unique ideas to your dancing.”