Alexander Zaitsev

Alexander Zaitsev was trained at the Bolshoi Ballet School in Moscow. In 1992, he graduated and had his first engagement with the Bolshoi Ballet. In 1995 he went to the State Opera Dresden for one season. In the following year he joined the Stuttgart Ballet's Corps de ballet. In 1997 he also received his Pedagogical Diploma of the Moscow Choreography Academy. In January 1999 Alexander Zaitsev was promoted to Soloist with the Stuttgart Ballet, at the beginning of the season 2006/07 to Principal Dancer.

Alexander Zaitsev's repertoire of leading and solo roles in John Cranko's full-length ballets includes Petrucchio and Gremio in The Taming of the Shrew, Lenski in Onegin and Mercutio and Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet. He also shone as Basilio in Don Quijote (Maximiliano Guerra), as Colas and Alain in La Fille mal gardée (Sir Frederick Ashton), as James and Gurn in La Sylphide (Peter Schaufuss after August Bournonville), as Pierrot in Pierrot Lunaire and as the Victim in Le Sacre du Printemps (both: Glen Tetley) as well as the Blue Bird, the Prince of the West and in the male Jewels-solo in The Sleeping Beauty (Márcia Haydée after Marius Petipa). Furthermore he danced Gaston Rieux in The Lady of the Camellias and Shaw in A Streetcar named Desire (both: John Neumeier), Lancaster in Edward II (David Bintley), Rocco in I fratelli – The Brothers (Mauro Bigonzetti) as well as Eduard Schwarz and Schigolch in Lulu. A Monstre Tragedy (Christian Spuck).

Further important roles of his repertoire are Bim in Gaîté parisienne (Maurice Béjart), the Joker in Jeu de cartes (John Cranko), Melancholic in The Four Temperaments (George Balanchine), the male lead in Kazimir's Colours (Mauro Bigonzetti), the Role in Brown in Dances at a Gathering (Jerome Robbins), the solo Notations I – IV (Uwe Scholz) as well as solo roles in Arena (Glen Tetley), Requiem (Kenneth MacMillan), Forgotten Land (Jiří Kylián) and numerous parts in neoclassical and modern works by renowned choroegraphers, amongst them William Forsythe, Hans van Manen, Itzik Galili, James Kudelka, Paul Lightfoot and Jorma Elo.

Christian Spuck created the leading part of Nathanael in his full-length ballet The Sandman. Further roles have been created for Alexander Zaitsev by Wayne McGregor in EDEN / EDEN, Nautilus and Yantra, by Jorma Elo in RED in 3., by Nicolo Fonte in Gambling, x 5, by Jean Grand-Maître in Exilium, by Douglas Lee in Dummy Run, Viewing Room and Nightlight, by Trey McIntyre in The Difference Beetween Naked and Nude, by Marc Spradling in melodious gimmick to keep the boys in line, by James Sutherland in (Im)paired Ground and by Cayetano Soto in Two at a time.

With the Stuttgart Ballet Alexander Zaitsev has danced on tours all around the world. He also receives numerous invitiations to international galas and guest performances. Alexander Zaitsev guested amongst others at the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, at Márcia Haydées Ballet de Santiago and at the Leipzig Ballett where he performed in Giselle, Coppelia, The Nutcracker and La Bayadère, in Le Sacre du Printemps (Glen Tetley), Les Bourgeois (Ben von Cauwenbergh), come neve al sole (Rolando D'Alesio) and End of time (Ben Stevenson).

Less