TOP 10 Best Prima Ballerinas

Who is my favorite ballerina?

My friends often ask me about my favourite ballerina. As I have been a ballet lover for decades, it is quite difficult to answer this question, given the amount of ballerinas I have seen perform. All dancers have different strengths and weaknesses; Rudolf Nurejew, for example, while a presence onstage and reknowned as the best dancer of the 20th century, would not be considered extremely talented by todays standards. I will also not be mentioning excellent prima ballerinas who have passed their prime, such as Sylvie Gulliem and Darcy Bursell.

I will be focussing on the Prima ballerinas that I have adored watching these past three years. Here are my Top 10 Prima ballerinas:

Polina Semionova – until 2016 American Ballet Theatre then maternity leave! I wish Polina a big toi, toi, toi for her comeback on 26 April 2017 in Berlin – her first performance after the baby break!

Misty Copeland – American Ballet Theatre

Iana Salenko – Staatsballett Berlin

Katja Wünsche – Ballett Zürich

Marianela Nuñez – Royal Ballet London

Diana Vishneva – Mariinski Ballet

Tamara Rojo – English National Ballet

Natalia Osipova – Royal Ballet Theatre

Svetlana Zakharova – Bolschoi Ballet

Isabella Boyston – American Ballet Theatre

I need to mention some more Prima Ballerinas who also touched my heart: Olga, Smirnova, Nadja Saidakova, Viktorina Kapitonova, Elisa Carillo Cabrera, Evgenia Obraztsova and Ekaterina Krysanova.