SVETLANA  LUNKINA

Prima Ballerina with Bolshoi Theatre of Russia (1997-2012)

Principal Dancer with the National Ballet of Canada (since 2013)

Artistic Director of the International “Canada All-Star Ballet Gala”

Artistic Director of the “Canada Ballet Art Project”

(Charitable organization)

Svetlana Lunkina was born in Moscow (Russia) and trained at the Moscow Choreographic Academy. Upon her graduation in 1997, she joined the Bolshoi Ballet, where her teacher became the great Ekaterina Maximova. During her first year of work at Bolshoi, she performed the leading role in the new version of the canon classical ballet “Giselle” (The world premiere took place on December 25, 1997.  Choreography by Vladimir Vasiliev, consultant Galina Ulanova, music by Adolphe Adam, costume design by Hubert de Givenchy). Just 18, Svetlana Lunkina thus became the youngest Giselle in the history of the Bolshoi Theater. 

In 1999, UK’s professional media critics named Svetlana Lunkina a prodigy of the Bolshoi. The advances given to her at that time by British ballet reviewers were unprecedented: “She must become the Great, because she is already outstanding now“. 

In 2000, French choreographer Pierre Lacotte staged the world premiere of The Pharaoh’s Daughter at the Bolshoi Theatre. He invited the entire management of the Paris Opera to a performance of the young Svetlana Lunkina in the ballet, and they all travelled to Moscow to see her, including artistic director Brigitte Lefèvre. It was an extraordinary occasion.

In 2010, Svetlana was awarded the fairest professional ballet prize “Ballerina of the Decade“.

Over her 20-year career, Lunkina was able to manifest in her art and obtain highest achievements of world ballet. Up to this day, she performed around 100 leading roles in the classical and modern ballet. In her classical repertoire are the title roles in such masterpieces of the world choreography as Swan Lake, La Bayadere, Raymonda, Spartacus, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, the Nutcracker, Giselle, La Sylphide, Le Corsaire, Carmen, La Fille du Pharaon and others.

World leading choreographers created their productions on the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre taking into consideration the natural features of the dramatic actress that are inherited by Svetlana Lunkina. Especialy for her, Alexander Grant staged the role Lisa in the ballet “La Fille Mal Gardee” (2002), Roland Pettit staged the role Lisa in the ballet “Pique Dame” (2001) and the role Esmeralda in the ballet “Notre Dame de Paris” (2003). Just for Svetlana Lunkina, Roland Petit updated his ballet “La Rose Malade” (this update was made for the first time ever since Maya Plisetskaya danced it).

Being a disciple of the great Ekaterina Maximova, who in turn was a disciple of the great Galina Ulanova, Svetlana Lunkina is a recognized connoisseur, bearer and custodian of the true age-old ballet traditions of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia.

Svetlana Lunkina is often invited as an international star by the leading ballet theatres of the world. In the years of 2003 and 2006, she danced with Vladimir Malakhov in the Berlin State Opera and Vienna State Opera House.  Svetlana Lunkina danced in Rome Opera House and a number of performances as principal guest artist on the legendary stage of Paris Opera.

In 2011, Lunkina became the face of the reopening of the historic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia. 

In 2012, she left Russia with her family.

In 2013 Svetlana Lunkina joined the National Ballet of Canada. With the company, her repertoire has expanded to more then 30 debuts and world premieres, and included roles such as Tatiana in John Cranko’s Onegin and several ballets choreographed by John Neumeier: Romola de Pulszky in Nijinsky, Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire and the title role in Anna Karenina. In addition she has performed multiple ballets by George Balanchine, Kenneth MacMillan, Rudolph Nureyev, Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Christopher Wheeldon, Wayne McGregor, and Crystal Pite. She has also continued to appear as a guest artist. In 2014, she performed Rolan Petit’s Le Jeune home et la Mort at the London Coliseum, UK. That year, she was invited as a guest artist in South Korea, and in 2015, she performed in Taiwan. In 2016 and 2018, she performed with the Asami Maki Ballet Tokyo, Japan, starring in Swan Lake and in the Asami Maki’s world premiere Asuka. In 2019, she danced Anna Karenina with the Hamburg Ballet, Germany. Her performance as Tatiana with the acclaimed Evan McKie in the National Ballet of Canada’s production of John Cranko’s classic Onegin was recognized as definitive. Her interpretations in Toronto of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire and the title role in Anna Karenina by the great John Neumeier are balletic masterworks. These ballets, like many others performed by Svetlana Lunkina, have been recorded in high-definition video and hopefully will be screened for the general public in the future.

During the year 2002, Svetlana Lunkina was one of the main characters in the film “St.Petersburg-Cannes Express”, by the American Director John Daly (the world premier was in the year of 2003 in Palm Springs, California, USA).

In 2004, the famous Japanese portrait photographer Eichiro Sakata, who has the world title in his art, included Svetlana Lunkina in his photo-gallery of outstanding people`s personalities “Piercing the Sky”.

In 2013, Music Department of Princeton University invited Svetlana to participate in their seminars and to present masterclasses. 

In 2013-2014 Svetlana Lunkina became the main attraction and the “objet d`art” of the European art exhibits “Sveta” in Paris, France and Cologne, Germany created by the international acclaimed artist Anna Gaskell.

Information about Svetlana Lunkina is included in the Canadian high-school textbook Making Connections.

Svetlana Lunkina is behind the ballet training app “1on1 Ballet” made for all ages and levels of proficiency. She has developed and successfully uses her own method of preparing muscles for rehearsals of any complexity, as well as for performances of any duration and style, from classical to avant-garde.

Svetlana is the artistic director of the Canada All-Star Ballet Gala. Its first unique performance took place in 2017 in Toronto to present all five schools (styles) of classical dance – French, Russian, Danish, British, and American, featuring principal dancers from the major world ballet companies. The Gala has been warmly supported with welcome letters from the Queen Elizabeth II, the members of the Royal Family, and from the Prime Minister of Canada.

In March 2014, right after Russian-Ukrainian war has begun, Svetlana Lunkina publicly expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people following Russia`s occupation of Cremia. In response to the Russian occupation of eastern Ukraine, she gave a charity performance of Giselle at the Odesa Opera and Ballet Theater in 2015. In 2016, she returned there to dance Odette-Odile in Swan Lake. In 2022, she performed at a benefit gala in Toronto for Ukrainian war relief. She has also provided material assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Since 2023, she presents ballet master classes in Paris for professionals and amateurs.

Hobbies: playing the piano, guitar, singing, dressage, tennis and bowling.

She is the proud mother of Maxim, born in January, 2004 and Eva, born in April, 2009.

Repertoire:

“Giselle” (Perrot, Coralli, Vasiliev), Giselle

“Anyuta” (Vasiliev), Anyuta

“Pas de Quatre” (Dolin), soloist

“Don Quixote” (Petipa, Gorsky, Fadeechev), Kitri

“Symphony in C” (Balanchine), First Movement

“Sleeping Beauty” (Petipa, Grigorovich), Aurora

“Le Spectre de la rose” (Fokin)

“Afternoon of a Faun” (Robbins), soloist

“La Fille du Pharaon “ (Lacotte), Aspiccia

“Les Sylphides” (Fokin), Prelude, Seventh Waltz

“Sentimental Waltz” (Vasiliev)

“The Dying Swan” (Fokin),

“Passacaille” (Petit), principal

“Pique Dame” (Petit), Lisa

“La Sylphide” (Bournonville, Von Rozen), Sylphide

“Swan Lake” (Petipa, Ivanov, Grigorovich), Odette-Odile

“Notre Dame de Paris” (Petit), Esmeralda

“Spartacus” (Grigrovich), Phrygia

“The Bright Stream” (Ratmansky),  Zina

“Symphony in C” (Balanchine), Second Movement

“Gaité Parisienne” (Massine), Glove Seller

“Les Présages” (Massine), Passion

“Jeu de Cartes” (Ratmansky), soloist

”La Fille Mal Gardée” (Ashton), Lise

“The Nutcracker” (Grigorovich), Masha

“Misericordes” (Wheeldon), soloist

“Pink Floyd” – Great Gig in the sky, (Petit)

“Serenade” (Balanchine), soloist

“La Bayadere”  (Petipa), Nikia

“The Lesson” (Flindt), the Pupil

“Le Corsaire” (Petipa), Medora

“Casse-Noisette”  (Noureev), Clara

“La Rose Malade” (Petit)

“Raymonda” (Petipa, version by Carla Fracci), Raymonda

“Carmen” (Alonso), Carmen

“Esmeralda” (Petipa, version by Yuri Burlaka), Esmeralda

“Lost  illusions” (Alexei  Ratmansky), Coralli

“Le Jeune Homme et la Mort” (Roland Petit)

“Chroma” (Wayne McGregor), soloist

“Jewels-Diamonds” (George Balanchin), soloist

“Dream of Dream” (Jorma Elo), soloist

“Unearth” (Robert Binet), soloist

“…black night`s bright day…” (James Kudelka), soloist

“The Nutcracker” (James Kudelka), The Sugar Plum Fairy

“Watch her” (Azure Barton), soloist

“Alloneword” (James Kudelka), soloist

“Swan Lake” (James Kudelka), Odette/Odile

“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” (Christopher Wheeldon), Mother/The Queen of Hearts

“Manon” (Kenneth MacMilan), Lescaut’s Mistress

“Nijinsky” (John Neumeier), Romola de Pulszk

“Being and Nothingness” (Guillaume Côté), soloist

“Piano Concerto no. 1” (Alexei Ratmansky), soloist

“The Sleeping Beauty“ (Rudolf Nureyev), Aurora

“The Winter’s Tale” (Christopher Wheeldon), Paulina

“La Sylphide” (Johan Kobborg), Sylphide

“The Four Temperaments” (George Balanchine), Sanguinic

“Romeo and Juliet” (Alexei Ratmansky), Juliet

“Le Petite Prince” (Guillaume Côté), Snake

“Giselle” (Sir Peter Wright), Giselle

“Asuka” (Asami Maki), Sugaru-Otome

“Onegin” (John Cranko), Tatiana

“Cor Perdut / Lost Heart”  (Nacho Duato), Soloist

“Genus” (Wayne McGregor), Soloist

“A Streetcar Named Desire” (John Neumeier), Blanche DuBois

“Swan Lake” pas de deux (David Dowson), Swan

“Mask Duet” (Douglas Lee), Soloist

“Dark Angels” (Guillaume Côté), Soloist

“Emergence” (Crystal Pite), Soloist

“Anna Karenina” (John Neumeier), Anna Karenina

“Apollo” (George Balanchine), Terpsichore

“Petite Mort” (Jiří Kylián), soloist

“Angels’ Atlas” (Crystal Pite), soloist

“Elite Syncopations” (Kenneth MacMillan), Betherna–A Concert Waltz

“After the Rain” (Christopher Wheeldon), couple

“On Solid Ground” (Siphesihle November), soloist

“Orpheus Alive” (Robert Binet), soloist

“Approximate Sonata” (William Forsythe), soloist

“The Nutcracker” (James Kudelka) the Snow Queen

“Swan Lake” (Eric Bruhn, Robert Binet) Odette/Odile

“The Collective Agreement” (Alonzo King), soloist

“Concerto” (Kenneth MacMillan), 2nd part soloist

“MADDADDAM” (Wayne McGregor), Oryx

International  Guest  Star  Invitations:

Paris Opera

Berlin State Opera

Vienna State Opera House

Rome Opera House

  Mariinsky Theater (St. Petersburg, Russia)

National Ballet of Japan

National Ballet of Canada

       Bavarian State Ballet (Munich, Germany)

        Bucharest Opera and Ballet Theater (Romania)    

 Polish National Opera (Warsaw, Poland)

Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre (Ukraine)

 Asami Maki Ballet (Tokyo, Japan) 

International  Ballet  Galas:

“Tribute to Galina Ulanova”- Paris

  “Malakhov and Friends”- Japan

 “Stars of the 21^st Century”-  New York, Paris, Toronto

 “Tribute to Yuri Grigorovich”-  London, Royal Opera House

       “Stars of the Russian Ballet”-  Tokyo, Japan

         “Roland Petit and his Stars”-  Athens, Greece

 “Roland Petit and his Stars”-  Geneva, Switzerland

 “Kremlin Gala”, Moscow, Russia

“Russian Ballet Icons’ Gala”, London, Coliseum

“Canada All-Star Ballet Gala”, Toronto, Sony Centre

Awards:

 Honorary Diploma from the Moscow Government

Youth award “Triumph”,  Moscow

 “Star of the 21^st Century”,  New York

Special award of the Moscow Government

“Benois de la Danse”, Laureate,  Moscow

“Brilliance of the 21^st Century”,  New York

 “Ballerina of the Decade”, Moscow, Russia

Meritorious Artist of Russia

Professional media`s quotes

“She’s at the top of her game. There isn’t anything she couldn’t do.” – Dance Magazine

“Lunkina is natural aristocrat of the ballet.” – The Star

“Svetlana Lunkina become the public`s instant darling. It was her triumph to convey a visual and emotional beauty rooted in classical style, to hark back to Gautier`s version. Her Giselle absorbs the best of traditions.” – The New York Times

“Svanlana Lunkina Has The Most Insane Flexibility Workout We`ve Never Seen.” –  Point Magazine

“Svetlana Lunkina triumphed as Anna Karenina; a detailed, insightful performance that earned one’s sympathy for a complex character”. – Toronto Star

“Lunkina is a dancer who embodies the Romantic ideal of appearing lighter than air while simultaneously being strong as steel.” – Globe and Mail

“Svetlana Lunkina is an artist of rare genius, which she wholeheartedly delivered in this, her finest role of Giselle. She gave a performance of unfathomable depth and beauty.” – Fjord review

“Svetlana Lunkina brings love back to National Ballet’s Swan Lake.” – Toronto Star

“Ms. Lunkina is an unforgettable dancer, and represents yet another stunning principal artist thriving in National Ballet’s fold.  I could watch her forever.” – Musical Toronto

“Lunkina’s ability to move weightlessly through complex grande allegro, her back leg lifting high on reflex, is a feat to witness. Drifting into the sleepy third arabesque so distinct to Giselle (the dancer nearly rests her head on her upper arm), Lunkina’s body seems to float on air.” – Globe and Mail

“On opening night, Svetlana Lunkina in the title role (Giselle) gave one of those unique performances in which the ballerina completely disappears into her heroine, putting her entire living self into the role. To watch her dance was to witness a consummate artist in top form, whose dancing and acting took the audience deep inside the dramatic logic of the ballet – a thrilling and unforgettable theatrical experience”.  – Dance Tab

 

TESTIMONIES

“Svetlana Lunkina is a treasure, she is a pearl. She is beautiful, fresh, cheerful, agreeable; she emanates poetic light; she is talented and wholesome. She is ready to dance with everyone. She does not stoop to anger, because she is above it. She dwells on a cloud, above the quotidian, which protects her from its filth”. Pierre Lacott, classical style choreographer

“She’s my favorite ballerina”. Rolan Petit, neoclassical style choreographer

“Svetlana Lunkina is unbelievable. She is completely fearless. Her experience, her history, the roles she has danced strengthen her. Somehow she brings all of this to my ballet. I entrusted her with two completely different roles in different casts. She was superb in both. Before her no other ballerina had done this”. Wayne McGregor, contemporary style choreographer

Filmographie

Giselle (choreography by Vladimir Vasiliev), Bolshoi Theatre,1998

La Dame de Pique (choreography by Roland Petit), Bolshoi Theatre, 2001

Passacaille (choreography by Roland Petit), Bolshoi Theatre, 2001

Notre-Dame de Paris (choreography by Roland Petit), Bolshoi Theatre, 2003

Giselle (choreography by Yuri Grigorovich), Bolshoi Theatre, 2011

Le Corsaire (choreography by Alexei Ratmansky and Yuri Burlaka after Marius Petipa), Bolshoi Theatre, 2012

The Bright Stream (choreography by Alexei Ratmansky ), Bolshoi Theatre, 2012