Mara Galeazzi

Mara was born in Brescia and studied at La Scala, Milan. She joined The Royal Ballet in 1992 and was promoted to First Artist in 1995, Soloist at the end of the 1997/98 Season and Principal in September 2003.

Roles in the classical repertory include the female role in Diamond Variation, Red Riding Hood, Princess Florine (Bluebird Pas de deux), Fairy Miettes qui tombent in The Sleeping Beauty, the Peasant Pas de six and Zulme in Giselle, the Act I Pas de trois, a Swan, a Princess and the Neopolitan Dance in Swan Lake, the Talisman Pas de deux with Irek Mukhamedov and the First Variation in Raymonda Act III.

In the Frederick Ashton repertory she dances Mrs Tittlemouse in Tales of Beatrix Potter, the solo La Chatte metamorphosée en femme (originally created for Merle Park), the
Thaïs Pas de deux (first danced on the 1995 Dance Bites tour), Fairy Autumn in Cinderella, Moth in The Dream, the Girl’s Solo Balabile in Napoli Divertissements, the Jackson Variation in Birthday Offering, Lise in La Fille mal gardée, Rhapsody, Symphonic Variations, the Pas de trois in Les Rendezvous, the side Neopolitan Couple in Ondine, Scènes de Ballet, Julia in A Wedding Bouquet, Diana in Sylvia, and Voices of Spring and one of the Blue Girls in Les Patieneurs.

In the Kenneth MacMillan repertory she dances the title role as well as Lescaut’s Mistress in Manon, Mathilde Kschessinska and the title role in Anastasia, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, the Second Movement of Concerto, the Youngest Sister in Las Hermanas, the First Sister in My Brother My Sisters, Gloria, Triad, Baroness Mary Vetsera and Countess Marie Larisch in Mayerling, the Orange Couple in La Fin du jour, Principal White Girl in Song of the Earth, The Woman in The Judas Tree, Images of Love, Danses concertantes, the Pas de deux from Concerto and The Chosen Maiden in The Rite of Spring.

She also dances one of the three girls in Ashley Page’s Fearful Symmetries, David Bintley’s Consort Lessons and ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café, Christopher Wheeldon’s Pas de deux Pavane pour une infante défunte, Twyla Tharp’s Push Comes to Shove (dancing in the company premiere), Matthew Hart’s Dances with Death, George Balanchine’s Symphony in C, Ballet Imperial, Calliope in Apollo and the prinicpal couple in Emeralds in Jewels, the Yellow Girl in Michael Corder’s Masquerade and Flora in William Tuckett’s The Turn of the Screw. Since the reopening of The Royal Opera House, she has danced the role of Aurora in De Valois’ Coppélia, Zulme, Myrtha and Giselle in Peter Wright’s production of Giselle, the lead in Fokine’s The Firebird, Girl in Blue in Nijinska’s Les Biches, the Pas de deux from Ashley Page’s Sleeping with Audrey, Celestial in Anthony Tudor’s Shadowplay, the Street Dancer and the Dryad Queen in Nureyev’s production of Don Quixote, Tatiana in John Cranko’s Onegin, Stephen Baynes’s Beyond Bach, Antony Tudor’s The Leaves Are Fading, Gamzatti in Natalia Makarova’s La Bayadère, William Forsythe’s In the middle, somewhat elevated, Mats Eks’s Carmen, the Pas de trois in Anthony Dowell’s production of Swan Lake, the Rose Fairy and the Sugar Plum Fairy in Peter Wright’s production of The Nutcracker, Fairy of Temperament, Diamond Fairy and the Bluebird in Makarova’s production of The Sleeping Beauty, Calliope in George Balanchine’s Apollo, Rudolf Nureyev’s Raymonda Act III, Fokine’s Spectre de la Rose, Columbine in Glen Tetley’s Pierrot Lunaire, the Young Wife in La Ronde and Voluntaries, the Fairy of the Golden Vine and Fairy of the Woodland Glade in the Monica Mason and Christopher Newton production of The Sleeping Beauty and Wayne McGregor's Chroma,

She has created roles in Tharp’s first work for the company Mr Worldly Wise, Wheeldon’s Souvenir, Tuckett’s Puirt-A-Beul, Page’s Two Part Invention (Part II), When We Stop Talking, Cheating, Lying, Stealing (Second Principal Couple), Cathy Marston’s Tidelines (Principal Couple), Ashley Page’s This House Will Burn (2001), La Grêle in David Bintley’s Les Saisons (2003), Vanessa Fentons’s On Public Display (2004) as well as Wayne McGregor's Acis and Galatea and Infra.

Television performances include a live BBC broadcast from The Royal Opera House (February, 2000) when she danced Aurora in Ninette de Valois’ Coppélia and Thaïs Pas de deux in December 2004, The Sleeping Beauty (2007), Sylvia (2008) and Infra (2008).

In the 2007/2008 season, Mara made her debut dancing as part of the 2nd Principal Couple in Emeralds and as one of the Blue Girls in Les Patineurs. Mara has also danced The Nutcracker with Scottish Ballet, Pierrot Lunaire with Stuttgart Ballet and Giselle and Les Corsaire with Opera Rome.

Mara won the Premio Danza e Danza (2007), the Premio Positano (2008) and on the 7th March 2009 she received Italy's equivalent of a knighthood, the medal Cavaliere del Lavoro, from the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano.

Less