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Petra Conti

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Petra Conti
Conti in 2021
Born1988 (age 35–36)
Anagni, Italy
OccupationPrima Ballerina
Years active2007–present
SpouseEris Nezha
Career
Current groupHollywood Ballet
Former groupsMariinsky Ballet
Bavarian State Ballet
La Scala Theatre Ballet
Boston Ballet
Los Angeles Ballet
Websitewww.petraconti.com

Petra Conti (born April 30, 1988) is an Italian prima ballerina. She is a former principal dancer with Los Angeles Ballet, the Boston Ballet and La Scala Theatre Ballet. She is now the artistic director of her own ballet company, Hollywood Ballet.

Before being promoted to principal dancer, she danced as a member of the corps de ballet with the Bavarian State Ballet.

She has danced as a guest principal dancer with Arena di Verona, the Great Russian Ballet, the National Opera of Ukraine, the Ballet Opera of Istanbul, the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Albania in Tirana and toured all around the world.

Since 2014 she holds the title of Ambassador of the Italian Ballet around the World.

Early life

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Petra Conti was born on April 30, 1988, in Anagni but she grew up in Frosinone, Italy.[1] Her father is Italian and her mother is Polish. Her mother and sister trained at the Academy of Ballet in Poland.[2]

She trained at Szewczenko M.M. Scholl of Ballet, until she moved to Italy. In 2006 she graduated with honors from the National Academy of Dance [it] in Rome.[3]

She is a naturalized American citizen since March 2021.

Career

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Petra Conti graduated at the National Academy of Dance in Rome under the coaching of legendary Maestro Zarko Prebil and later joined the Mariinsky Ballet as a trainee, where she was assigned to work with Prima Ballerina Elvira Tarasova, now the coach of Maria Khoreva.[4]

Conti Backstage

At seventeen years old she was invited to dance as guest star in the Arena di Verona Ballet's Cinderella. In 2008 she was a company member of the Bavarian State Ballet and a trainee at the Mariinsky Ballet.[5] In 2009 she joined La Scala Theatre Ballet and was promoted to the rank of principal dancer in 2011.[6] In 2013 Conti was invited by Mikko Nissinen to join the Boston Ballet as a principal dancer.[3][7] She danced as a principal dancer with the company until 2017. Later that year she joined the Los Angeles Ballet as a resident principal guest dancer.[8]

She has danced alongside ballet stars Roberto Bolle, Ivan Vassiliev, Zachary Catazaro, Massimo Murru, Daniel Camargo, Eris Nezha, Alexander Stoyanov, Stanislav Olshanskyi and many more.

Among the awards she received, the 2018 Glamour Talent Award, the 2007 and 2018 Positano Award, the Danza e Danza Award for Best Performer of 2011, the 2012 Roma in Dance Award, the 2013 Ciociaria Prize and the 2017 Capri Award.

Her name is mentioned in numerous ballet publications, and she has been featured in several TV programs and documentaries, including one on SKY Classica about her rendition of Giselle, Romeo and Juliet and Don Quixote.

She modelled for Discount Dance Supply and was chosen as testimonial for fashion brands such as Furla, MAX&Co., Bagutta, Freddy, Dansez-Vous?.

From 2017 to 2019 she was an artistic consultant at the State Ballet Academy Educandato agli Angeli in Verona, Italy. She is a resident ballet coach at Pasadena Civic Ballet and a guest ballet coach for University of South Carolina, Orange County School of the Arts, Master Ballet Academy and Southeastern School of Ballet.

She served as a ballet judge for the 2023 Youth American Grand Prix.

From 2009 until 2011 Conti studied dramatic arts with Kuniaki Ida at the Arsenale Theater in Milan.[3] She has been named the Anna Magnani of Ballet (Panorama Magazine, 2012) for her interpretational skills.[9]

In 2023 she founded Hollywood Ballet, a ballet company based in Los Angeles.[10]

Documentary and TV Show

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She was the subject of a 2010 Sky Italia documentary titled Dancers of Tomorrow which focused on her performances in Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, and Don Quixote.[3]

At age fifteen Conti was introduced by Italian iconic TV host Raffaella Carrá on her Show Sogni as "the future of Italian ballet in the world". In the show, teenage Conti was sent on a dream trip to Russia to dance a pas de deux alongside ballet superstar Roberto Bolle.

Personal life

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Conti is married to principal dancer Eris Nezha.[11][12] They reside in Los Angeles with their three rescue cats Frida, Misiu and Romeo.[13]

She is currently earning her bachelor's degree in Science of Leadership at Northeastern University.[3]

In 2016 Conti underwent surgery for kidney cancer.[2] A cancer survivor, she has teamed up with CURE Childhood Cancer for Pointe Shoes for A Cure, a charity that raises funds through the sales of her autographed pointe shoes.

Repertoire[14]

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  • Giselle - Giselle (chor. Yvette Chauvirè)
  • Kitri - Don Quixotte (chor. Rudolf Nureyev)
  • Juliet - Romeo and Juliet (chor. Kenneth MacMillan)
  • Tatiana - Onegin (chor. John Cranko)
  • Jewels - Emerald: I, II couple (chor. Balanchine)
  • Raymonda, Clemence – Raymonda (chor. Petipa-Vicharev)
  • Lady of the Camellias - Lady of the Camellias (chor. Val Caniparoli)
  • Civilization, Folgore - Excelsior (chor. Dell'Ara)
  • Titania - A Midsummer night dream (chor. Balanchine)
  • Aurora - Sleeping Beauty (chor. Christensen after Petipa)
  • Albachiara - L'altra Metá del Cielo (chor. Clarke, music Vasco Rossi)
  • Marguerite - Marguerite and Armand (chor. Frederick Ashton)
  • Principal Couple - Concerto DSCH (chor. Alexei Ratmansky)
  • Juliette - Romèo et Juliette (chor. Sasha Waltz)
  • Esmeralda - Notre-Dame de Paris (chor. Roland Petit)
  • Odette/Odile - Swan Lake (chor. Rudolf Nureyev)
  • In the Middle Somewhat Elevated (chor. William Forsythe)
  • Odette/Odile - Swan Lake (chor. Mikko Nissinen)
  • Prima Ballerina - Etudes (chor. Harald Lander)
  • Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen - Nutcracker (chor. Mikko Nissinen)
  • The Puppet Couple - Bella Figura (chor. Jiri Kylian)
  • Fairy Godmother - Cinderella (chor. Frederick Ashton)
  • Belong Pas de Deux (chor. Norbert Vesak)
  • Bach Cello Suites (chor. Jorma Elo)
  • Eventide (chor. Helen Pickett)
  • Glove Seller - Gaîté Parisienne (chor. Leonide Massine)
  • Posthorn - Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler (chor. John Neumeier)
  • Pas de Quatre (chor. Leonid Yacobson)
  • Cinderella - Cinderella (chor. Maria Grazia Garofoli)
  • Giselle - Giselle (chor. Maria Grazia Garofoli)
  • Sanguinic - The Four Temperaments (chor. Balanchine)
  • Second to Last (chor. Alejandro Cerrudo)
  • This is You - (chor. Menghan Lou)
  • Marie, Rose, Arabian Queen - Nutcracker (chor. Thordal Christensen)
  • Odette/Odile - Swan Lake (chor. Thordal Christensen)
  • Second Movement - Western Symphony (chor. George Balanchine)
  • Les Chambres des Jacques (chor. Aszure Barton)
  • Serenade (chor. Balanchine)
  • La Sylphide (chor. Bournonville)
  • Aegina - Spartakus (chor. Anatoly Shekera)
  • Zingarella - La Traviata (chor. Giuseppe Picone)
  • Rusalka - Forest Song (chor. Vronsky Vakhtang)
  • Time (chor. Eris Nezha)
  • Blackstone (chor. Gianluca Schiavoni)
  • Agon (chor. George Balanchine)
  • Terpsichore - Apollo (chor. George Balanchine)
  • First Violin - Concerto Barocco (chor. George Balanchine)
  • Nikiya - La Bayadere (chor. M. Petipa)
  • Marguerite - Lady of the Camellias (chor. Val Caniparoli)
  • Ghosts - Main Couple (chor. Christopher Wheeldon)
  • Fool’s Paradise - Slow Couple (chor. Christopher Wheeldon)

International Performances and Galas[15]

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  • Danza in Fiera (Firenze, 2023)
  • The Golden Swan Gala (Phoenix, 2022)
  • Comacchio in Danza (Comacchio, 2022)
  • Danza nel Vento (Santa Teresa di Gallura, 2022)
  • The Petra Conti Show (Los Angeles, 2019)
  • Ballet Open Space (Kyiv, Ukraine 2019)
  • The Global Ballet Holidays (Moscow, 2019)
  • Les Fleurs de Ballet (Toronto, Canada 2018)
  • Alicia Alonso 26th International Ballet Festival in Havana (Cuba, 2018)
  • Kremlin Gala - Stars of the XXI Century (Moscow-Kremlin, 2015)
  • Ballet Now Stars Gala (Los Angeles, 2015)
  • Bolle and Friends Summer Tour (Italy, 2014)
  • Les Hivernales de la Danse (Liège, Belgium, 2013)
  • Vogue Fashion Dubai Experience (Dubai, 2013)
  • Spring & Winter Gala (Ekaterinburg, 2013, 2012)
  • Gala des Etoiles (Goiania, Brazil, 2012)
  • Vladimir Vassiliev Gala (Rome, 2011)
  • The 150th Anniversary of Unità d'Italia (Roma, 2011)
  • Nijinski Gala (Hamburg, 2009)
  • Women on Music (Los Angeles, 2005)
  • International Dance Festival (Bucharest, 2004)

References

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  1. ^ "Petra Conti, Los Angeles Ballet Principal". losangelesballet.org.
  2. ^ a b "International Guest Artist Petra Conti on How Surviving Kidney Cancer Refueled Her Love for Dance". Dance Magazine. 20 October 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Petra Conti - Bio". petraconti.
  4. ^ https://www.hollywoodballet.org/
  5. ^ "Being groomed for stardom: Italian ballerina Petra Conti". 9 December 2011.
  6. ^ "Petra Conti vince l'edizione 2018 dei Glamour Talent Awards". 14 December 2018.
  7. ^ Palma, Briana (22 January 2014). "Boston Ballet's Petra Conti and Eris Nezha".
  8. ^ "South Shore Ballet Theatre - Petra conti". www.southshoreballettheatre.com.
  9. ^ https://www.panorama.it/cultura/petra-conti-l-anna-magnani-della-danza
  10. ^ https://www.hollywoodballet.org/
  11. ^ https://www.hollywoodballet.org/team-1
  12. ^ "4. Los Angeles Ballet principal Petra Conti and Misiu". Pointe. 16 July 2018.
  13. ^ https://www.instagram.com/misiu.frida_siberiancats/
  14. ^ https://www.petraconti.com/
  15. ^ https://www.petraconti.com/
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