The ballet company of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre (LNOBT) has a new artistic director: the position shall be taken by ballerina Jurgita Dronina, who will be retiring from the stage this week.
"We are delighted to welcome to the theatre’s team an incredibly energetic leader and talented ballet artist, who has been making Lithuania famous around the world for several decades. We believe that her arrival will inspire our dancers to strive for new heights of excellence and will also help spread the word about our company to the world, so that we are even more noticeable and appreciated," – says LNOBT’s general manager Laima Vilimienė.
Martynas Rimeikis, who has worked as the artistic director of LNOBT’s ballet company for four and a half years, has already won three "Golden Cross of the Stage" awards for his choreographic works and has enriched the theatre's repertoire with more than one excellently staged production. From now on, he chooses the path of creativity and becomes the chief choreographer of the LNOBT. Already in December of this year, theatre’s audiences will witness his contemporary interpretation of Léo Delibes' ballet "Coppélia", dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Lithuanian Ballet.
Jurgita Dronina, who is taking over the duties of artistic director of ballet and is returning to her childhood city of Vilnius from Canada for this purpose, is pleased with the trust shown by the LNOBT.
"It is with pride, excitement and ambition that I am returning home to lead the Lithuanian National Ballet as its new Artistic Director. A particularly meaningful moment for me after 20 years dancing internationally. I feel honoured to have the opportunity to steward the company into the new chapter we are about to enter, while celebrating the 100th anniversary of Lithuanian Ballet,” – says J. Dronina.
She claims that her experience as a ballerina dancing in the companies of the Royal Swedish Ballet, the Dutch National Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada and the English National Ballet, as well as the opportunity to interact with prominent artistic directors, choreographers, and educators she met along the way, gradually prepared her for this new stage of her work as a director.
The performances of "Giselle" at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre on 9, 10 and 11 January are the last chance for ballet fans to see the famous prima ballerina J. Dronina dancing on stage – she will perform her beloved role of Giselle. The role of Albert will be performed by the leading soloist of the English National Ballet, Francesco Gabriele Frola, with whom J. Dronina has appeared on stages in Toronto, London and other parts of the world.
