Olga Esina bids farewell to the stage
Ballet |
This coming June, an extraordinary career as a dancer – one marked by great success from the very beginning – will come to an end at the Vienna State Ballet. Principal dancer Olga Esina is bidding farewell to the stage after more than 20 years with the Vienna State Ballet.
Trained at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in her hometown of St Petersburg, she joined the ballet companies of the Vienna State Opera and Volksoper as a soloist in 2006, following an engagement at the Mariinsky Theatre. In 2010, she was promoted to Principal Dancer. With her outstanding personality, emotional range, technical excellence and artistic brilliance, she became not only one of the most influential artists of the Vienna State Ballet, but also one of the leading dancers of her generation on the international stage.
Stylistically, Esina is equally at home in classical and neoclassical ballet as she is in modern creations. In recent seasons, she has danced numerous leading roles, including in Rudolf Nureyev’s Swan Lake, Christopher Wheeldon’s The Winter’s Tale, Roland Petit’s Die Fledermaus, Hans van Manen’s Live and John Neumeier’s Die Kameliendame. In John Neumeier’s Nijinsky, she can be seen this season as Romola Nijinska.
“I have admired Olga Esina from afar for many years. It was only last season that I had the privilege of getting to know her better, and I realised that the extraordinary elegance she exudes as a ballerina extends far beyond the stage. It is evident in her very being, in her soul and in everything she does. Olga possesses a very special expressiveness, and I admire her deeply – both as an artist and as a person. I am very grateful for the opportunity to work with her, even if only for a short time,” said ballet director Alessandra Ferri.
Olga Esina looks forward to her imminent departure with mixed feelings: “Of course, this step marks a major change in my life. For more than 20 years, the Vienna State Opera has been an integral part of my daily life and has become a second home to me. At the moment, I can hardly imagine what it will be like not to go there every day and no longer be part of this special institution and this great artistic enterprise. At the same time, I have made this decision very deliberately. I am happy with it and feel no sadness. For me, it is not an end, but the beginning of a new chapter – in my life and also in my artistic career. I have many plans for the future and very much hope to pass on the knowledge and experience I have been able to gather over all these years to the next generation.
When I look back on my career today, I realise for the first time just what a vast repertoire I have been privileged to dance, how many different choreographers, roles and artistic worlds have shaped me, and how much experience I have gained over the years. I feel that I have something to pass on. Art, and dance in particular, have given me so much, and I am convinced that art is of great importance to our society and to the development of future generations. I will, of course, always remain connected to the theatre. The Vienna State Opera and the Volksoper will always hold a special place in my heart, and it is with great pleasure that I will continue to attend performances and premieres.
But for now, I’m making a conscious effort to savour this final season and every single moment on stage. I’m very grateful to Alessandra Ferri for the understanding, warmth and support with which she has responded to my decision. This means I can experience this season with a great sense of freedom and joy – and I’m genuinely enjoying every single performance.”
You can find a detailed biography of Olga Esina here.