Olga Esina
Olga Esina was born in St. Petersburg and educated at the Vaganova Academy from 1996 to 2004. From 2004 to 2006 she was a member of the ballet of the Mariinsky Theatre where she danced already leading roles of the classical repertoire, such as Odette/Odile in »Swan Lake« as well as works by Georges Balanchine. In 2006 she joined the Ballett der Wiener Staatsoper und Volksoper, in 2010 she was appointed First Soloist of the Vienna State Ballet.
Her Viennese repertoire includes numerous important roles, such as Odette/Odile in Rudolf Nureyev's "Swan Lake" - she can also be seen in this parade role on the DVD (C-Major) released in 2014 -, Princess Aurora in Peter Wright's "Sleeping Beauty", the title role and Myrtha in Elena Tchernichova's "Giselle", Kitri and Queen of the Dryads in Rudolf Nureyev's "Don Quixote", title roles in Kenneth MacMillan's "Manon", Boris Eifman's "Anna Karenina", Rudolf Nureyev's "Raymonda", Michael Corder's "The Snow Queen" and Manuel Legris' "Sylvia", Marguerite Gautier in John Neumeier's "Lady of the Camellias", Hamsatti in Vladimir Malakhov's "La Bayadère", Bella in Roland Petit's "Die Fledermaus", Ada in Maurice Béjart's "Le Concours", Juliet in John Cranko's "Romeo and Juliet", Médora in Manuel Legris' "Le Corsaire", Ballerina in Boris Eifman's "Giselle Rouge", Swanilda in "Coppélia" by Gyula Harangozó sen., Princess Maria in Gyula Harangozó's "The Nutcracker", the Queen in the world premiere of Martin Schläpfer's "Sleeping Beauty" as well as works by George Balanchine, Jorma Elo, David Dawson, William Forsythe, Serge Lifar, Jean-Christophe Maillot, John Neumeier, Jerome Robbins, Heinz Spoerli, Christopher Wheeldon and Hans van Manen, in whose video ballet "Live" she could be seen in 2020 in the live time-delayed stream on ARTE concert and in the television broadcast on ORF 2.
Furthermore, she created the role of Titania in Jorma Elo's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", the title role in Patrick de Bana's "Marie Antoinette" and András Lukács' "The White Pas de deux". She has also danced in numerous ballet interludes at the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert and the Vienna Opera Ball.Guest performances have taken Olga Esina, amongst others, to Hungary, France, Argentine, Italy, Russia, Germany, England, Spain, Japan and the United States.
Her awards include the Prix International of the magazine Ballet 2000 (2008), nominations for the Prix Benois de la Danse (2006 and 2012) and the Taglioni Award (2014). Olga Esina was nominated "Dancer of the Year" for her role as the Queen in Martin Schläpfer's "The Sleeping Beauty" in the critics' poll for the 2023 yearbook of the magazine "tanz".