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The 2004 winner is Leanne Benjamin
The nominations:
Leanne Benjamin, Alina Cojocaru, Svetlana Zakharova
More information about each artist is given below:
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Leanne Benjamin
(Royal Ballet)
Leanne Benjamin came to notice early, when she appeared as Giselle in the Royal Ballet School's annual performance of her graduation year. Since then she has spent most of her dancing career with the Royal Ballet, apart from a spell with the Birmingham arm. Her strong technique and presence enable her to perform in a wide variety of choreographic styles, in both plotless and narrative works. She has danced all the big classical ballerina roles with success and is, besides, an outstanding Juliet and the Firebird.
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Alina Cojocaru
(Royal Ballet)
Romanian born Alina Cojocaru is one of 21st-century ballet’s most acclaimed international stars. Her early Russian training in Kiev is evident in her assured, unforced technique, her pristine sense of style and her unparalleled interpretative skills. Such qualities, paired with what comes across as a constant enthusiastic approach to dancing, have allowed her to expand considerably her repertoire, which encompasses 19th-century classics as well as 20th-century works such as Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella, John Cranko’s Onegin and Antony Tudor’s The Leaves are Fading.
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Svetlana Zakharova
(Bolshoi Ballet)
Svetlana Zakharova is a ballerina of sublime artistic attributes and perfect physical proportions. Kiev and Vaganova trained, she is acclaimed for her pristine technique and elegant lines, which she achieves through an intelligent use of her long limbs, strong back, beautiful arched feet and natural handsome appearance. She joined the Kirov Ballet in 1996 but transferred to the Bolshoi Ballet in 2003. The recent Bolshoi Ballet season in London enabled audiences to see different facets of her theatrical talent in her mischievous Kitri, peerless Odette/Odile and witty, yet refined Aspicia in Pierre Lacotte’s reconstruction of La Fille du Pharaon..
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Picture credits
Zenaida Yanowsky © Bill Cooper,
Leanne Benjamin © Bill Cooper,
Alina Cojocaru © Dee Conway,
Svetlana Zakharova © John Ross.
All text is © copyright of the Critics' Circle / National Dance Awards. |
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