Farukh Ruzimatov

Farukh Ruzimatov (Russian: Фару́х Рузима́тов; born June 26, 1963 in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union) is a ballet dancer, the Artistic Director for ballet in Mikhaylovsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg. He was formerly the Principal Dancer and Assistant Artistic Director of the Kirov Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg.

Ruzimatov entered the Leningrad Vaganova Academy in 1973 and upon his 1981 graduation began dancing with the Kirov Ballet and became a principal dancer in 1986.

His repertoire includes such roles as Albrecht in Giselle, Solor in La Bayadère, Ali in Le Corsaire, Prince Desire in The Sleeping Beauty, The Prince in The Nutcracker, Siegfried in Swan Lake, Basil in Don Quixote, and many others. He has also performed as Principal Guest Artist with American Ballet Theater.

Awards

• Honored Artist of Russia (1995)
• People's Artist of Russia (2000)
• He was Silver Medallist of the Sixth Varna International Competition (1983)
• He was awarded a special diploma by the Paris Academy of Dance.
• Prix Benois de la Danse (1997)
• Prizewinner of Baltika prize (1998)

Partnerships

Ruzimatov has had many successful partnerships, but the two most well known are probably his collaboration with Yulia Mahkalina in Kirov productions of Giselle and La Bayadere, and he partnered Larissa Lezhnina in her Kirov debut as Aurora in the 1989 production of The Sleeping Beauty. He went on to partner her in Diana and Acteon, but as she left the Kirov to become a soloist for the Dutch National Ballet in 1994, their promising collaboration was cut short.

References

• Official website of the Mikhaylovsky Theatre. Farukh Ruzimatov/Artistic Advisor to the Mikhailovsky Ballet

External links

• mikhailovsky.ru Official website (Russian and English)
• vaganova.ru Official website (Russian and English)