The Bolshoi Theater announces new prima ballerina and principal dancer

The ballet company of the Bolshoi Theater now has a new prima ballerina and a new premier danseur (principal dancer).  At the age of just 22, both Elizaveta Kokoreva and Dmitry Smilevsky received the honorary titles that many have been chasing for years.

Elizaveta has several won prestigious international competitions and has already performed the leading roles in such ballets as ‘The Nutcracker’, ‘Coppelia’, ‘Don Quixote’ and ‘Giselle’.

Dmitry Smilevsky is Kokoreva’s classmate and longtime scene partner. He has performed such big roles as Prince Siegfried in ‘Swan Lake’ and ‘Albert’ in Giselle. Smilevsky is a hereditary ballet dancer. His grandmother Galina Krapivina was a Soviet ballet star, while his parents Georgi Smilevsky and Natalia Krapivina are current soloists at the Moscow Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater.

Both Elizaveta and Dmitry were also entrusted with leading roles in George Balanchine’s difficult choreography in the ballet ‘Jewels’. 

Congratulations to the dancers with their impressive achievement and new titles!