{{Short description|Russian ballet dancer and choreographer}} {{Infobox person | name = Alexei Ratmansky | native_name = Алексей Ратманский, Олексiй Ратманський | image = Ratmansky & Khanon Middle Duet 24no198.jpg | caption = Alexei and Tatiana Ratmansky with Yuri Khanon at the Mariinsky theatre in 1998 (Middle Duet) | birth_name = Алексей Осипович Ратманский | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1968|8|27}} | death_date = | birth_place = Leningrad, Soviet Union | occupation = Ballet dancer, choreographer, company director | employer = National Opera of Ukraine<br> Royal Winnipeg Ballet<br> Royal Danish Ballet<br> Bolshoi Theatre<br> American Ballet Theatre<br> New York City Ballet | spouse = Tatiana Kilivniuk | children = 1 }} '''Alexei Osipovich Ratmansky''' ({{langx|ru|Алексей Осипович Ратманский}}, born August 27, 1968) is a Russian-Ukrainian-American<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kourlas|first1=Gia|title=Alexei Ratmansky Has Russian Poetry and an American Pulse|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/arts/dance/alexei-ratmansky-has-russian-poetry-and-an-american-pulse.html?_r=1|access-date=18 May 2016|work=The New York Times|date=15 May 2016}}</ref> choreographer and former ballet dancer. From 2004 to 2008 he was the director of the Moscow Bolshoi Ballet.<ref name=Brown_Ratmansky>{{cite news|last=Brown|first=Chip|title=Russian Revolutionary|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/magazine/25ratmansky-t.html?_r=0|work=The New York Times|date=25 May 2008 }}</ref> He left Russia in 2008.<ref>{{cite web |title=The challenge of staging Ukrainian ballet during war |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-63010556 |website=BBC News |access-date=27 September 2022 |date=24 September 2022}}</ref> In 2009 he was appointed the artist in residence at the American Ballet Theatre,<ref name=Goodman/><ref>{{cite web | title=Alexei Ratmansky | website=American Ballet Theatre | date=14 October 2021 | url=https://www.abt.org/people/alexei-ratmansky/}}</ref> and as artist in residence at the New York City Ballet from August 2023.
==Training and performance career== Ratmansky was born in Leningrad in Russia, Soviet Union, grew up in Kyiv, then in the Soviet Union, later the capital of independent Ukraine, and trained under Pyotr Pestov and Alexandra Markeyeva at the Bolshoi Ballet School in Moscow.<ref name=Goodman/> He graduated in 1986.<ref name=Harss/> He then started his professional career in Kyiv<ref name=winship/> and was a principal dancer with the Ukrainian National Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Royal Danish Ballet.
==Choreographic and administrative careers==
Ratmansky's choreographic career first became notable with his staging of the ballet ''Dreams of Japan'' for the State Ballet of Georgia in 1998. ''Dreams'' and ''Charms of Mannerism'', choreographed in 1997, were both created for Nina Ananiashvili.<ref name=Khadarina/> ''Dreams'' earned the Golden Mask Award from the Theatre Union of Russia.
Ratmansky is noted for restaging traditionally classical ballets for large companies.<ref name=Sulcas/> His first three-act story ballet was ''Cinderella'', created for the Kirov Ballet in 2002.<ref name=Khadarina/> Ratmansky's 2003 staging of ''The Bright Stream'' (also translated as "The Limpid Stream") for the Bolshoi Ballet led to his appointment as artistic director of that company the following year. While there he also made a full-length production of ''The Bolt'', in 2005, and re-staged ''Le Corsaire'' and the ''Flames of Paris'', in 2007 and 2008. The Critics' Circle in London has named the Bolshoi "Best Foreign Company" under Ratmansky's direction, in 2005 and 2007, and he received its National Dance Award for ''The Bright Stream''.
After his directorship at the Bolshoi, Ratmansky agreed to become the first artist in residence for the American Ballet Theatre in 2008 after negotiations with the New York City Ballet failed over the position of resident choreographer.<ref name=Harss/> His ballets for the New York City Ballet include ''Russian Seasons'' and ''Concerto DSCH'', and for the American Ballet Theatre, ''On the Dnieper'' and ''Seven Sonatas''.
In 2011, his choreography of Prokofiev's ''Romeo and Juliet'' was premiered by the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto. Its performance in London earned Ratmansky the praise from ''New York Times'' reviewer Alastair Macaulay of being "the most gifted choreographer specializing in classical ballet today."<ref name=Macaulay/>
In 2014, Ratmansky took his career in a new direction when he reconstructed Marius Petipa's final revival of ''Paquita'' from the Sergeyev Collection. The reconstruction was premièred in Munich in December 2014, performed by the Bavarian State Ballet. In March 2015, he mounted his second Petipa reconstruction for American Ballet Theatre - ''The Sleeping Beauty'', which premièred in Orange County and was later staged at the Teatro alla Scala. Ratmansky is currently reconstructing the Petipa/Ivanov 1895 staging of ''Swan Lake'', which was premièred in Zurich in February 2016.
He was choreographing a new work at the Bolshoi when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022; he immediately left Russia and condemned the invasion. His parents and in-laws were still in Ukraine in August 2023, and could not leave.<ref name="winship">{{cite news |last=Winship |first=Lyndsey |date=25 August 2023 |title=Choreographer Alexei Ratmansky: 'I don't want my ballet to be staged in Russia ever again' |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/aug/25/alexei-ratmansky-ballet-choreographer-ukraine-war-giselle-bolshoi}}</ref>
In January 2023 the New York City Ballet announced that Ratmansky would join them as an artist in residence in August 2023.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hernández |first=Javier C. |date=2023-01-05 |title=Alexei Ratmansky, Renowned Choreographer, to Join City Ballet |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/05/arts/dance/alexei-ratmansky-new-york-city-ballet.html |access-date=2023-01-22 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
===Choreographed works=== ''{{Category see also|Ballets by Alexei Ratmansky}}''
*1988: ''La Sylphide-88'', ''Duet-buff #1 & 2'' *1993: ''Pas de Graham'' *1994: ''The Fairy's Kiss'', ''Alborada'', ''Whipped Cream'', ''98 steps'' *1995: ''Hurluburlu'', ''Poor Little Things'' *1996: ''Sarabande'' *1997: ''Charms of Mannerism'', ''Capriccio'', ''Krakowyak'', ''Old Juniet's Carriol'' *1998: ''Dreams of Japan'', ''Middle Duet'', ''Poem of Extazy'', ''Fairy's Kiss'' (2nd version) *1999: ''Water'', ''Chrizantemums'' *2001: ''Turandot's Dream'', ''Flight to Budapest'', ''Leah'', ''The Nutcracker'' *2002: ''Cinderella'', ''Vers la Flamme'', ''The Firebird'' *2003: ''The Bright Stream'', ''Carnaval des Animaux'', ''Bolero'' *2004: ''Anna Karenina'', ''Leah'' (2nd version) *2005: ''The Bolt'', ''Jeu de cartes'' *2006: ''Russian Seasons'' *2007: ''Le Corsaire'' (after Mazilier & Petipa, with Yuri Burlaka), ''Old Women Falling Out'' *2008: ''Biset Variations'', ''Pierrot Lunaire'', ''Concerto DSCH'', ''Flames of Paris'' (after Vainonen) *2009: ''The Little Humpbacked Horse'', ''Valse-Fantasie'', ''On the Dnieper'', ''Scuola di Ballo'', ''Seven Sonatas'' *2010: ''Don Quixote'' (after Petipa & Gorsky), ''Namouna'', ''Fandango'', ''The Nutcracker'' (2nd version) *2011: ''Lost Illusions'', ''Dumbarton'', ''Psyche'', ''Romeo & Juliet''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perron |first=Wendy |date=2011-12-07 |title=National Ballet of Canada: Ratmansky's "Romeo and Juliet" |url=https://www.dancemagazine.com/national_ballet_of_canada_ratmanskys_romeo_and_juliet/ |access-date=2024-01-16 |website=Dance Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Repertoire |url=https://2011.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/4008/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Harss |first1=Marina |date=16 January 2018 |title=Opening Wide: The Bolshoi's New, More Poetic 'Romeo and Juliet' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/16/arts/dance/bolshoi-ballet-alexei-ratmansky-romeo-and-juliet-.html |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> *2012: ''Souvenir d'un Lieu Cher'', ''Symphonic Dances'', ''The Firebird'' (2nd version), ''The Golden Cockerel'', ''Symphony No. 9'' *2013: ''24 Preludes'', ''From Foreign Lands'', ''Chamber Symphony'', ''Piano Concerto No. 1'', ''Cinderella'' (2nd version), ''Opera'', ''The Tempest'' *2014: ''Tanzsuite'', ''Pictures at an Exhibition'', ''Rondo Capriccioso'' *2016: ''Serenade After Plato’s Symposium''<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Acocella|first1=Joan|title=Alexei Ratmansky Makes a Ballet about Love|url=http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/alexei-ratmansky-makes-a-ballet-about-love|access-date=6 May 2017|magazine=The New Yorker|date=23 October 2016}}</ref> *2017: ''Whipped Cream'',<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bleiberg|first1=Laura|title=We're still on a sugar high: Run (or leap) to American Ballet Theatre's 'Whipped Cream'|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-abt-whipped-cream-review-20170317-story.html|access-date=10 May 2017|work=Los Angeles Times|date=17 March 2017}}</ref> ''Odessa'',<ref>{{cite news|last1=Macaulay|first1=Alastair|title=For the Couples in This Alexei Ratmansky Ballet, Love Is Not Enough|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/05/arts/for-the-couples-in-this-alexei-ratmansky-ballet-love-is-not-enough.html|access-date=6 May 2017|work=New York Times|date=5 May 2017}}</ref> ''Songs of Bukovina'',<ref>{{cite news|last1=Harss|first1=Marina|title=Alexei Ratmansky's Elective Affinity, Musically Speaking|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/arts/dance/alexei-ratmansky-leonid-desyatnikov-songs-of-bukovina.html|access-date=19 October 2017|work=New York Times|date=17 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Macaulay|first1=Alastair|title=At American Ballet Theater Gala, All Is the Same but Different|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/arts/dance/review-american-ballet-theater-gala-alexei-ratmansky-jessica-lang.html|access-date=19 October 2017|work=New York Times|date=19 October 2017}}</ref> *2019: ''The Seasons''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kourlas |first=Gia |date=21 May 2019 |title=Review: ‘The Seasons,’ a Ballet as Unwieldy as Weather Itself |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/21/arts/dance/ratmansky-the-seasons-american-ballet-theater-review.html |access-date=16 January 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> *2020: ''Voices,''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kourlas |first=Gia |date=31 January 2020 |title=Review: Alexei Ratmansky Finds a New Voice at City Ballet |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/arts/dance/new-york-city-ballet-ratmansky-review.html |access-date=16 January 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> ''Of Love and Rage''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kourlas |first=Gia |date=21 June 2022 |title=Review: How Deep Is Your Love? A Ratmansky Ballet Dives In |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/21/arts/dance/review-ratmansky-of-love-and-rage.html |access-date=16 January 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> *2021: ''Bernstein in a Bubble''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kourlas |first=Gia |date=24 March 2021 |title=Watching From a Distance: What Gives a Virtual Dance Life? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/24/arts/dance/alexei-ratmansky-bernstein-in-a-bubble-netta-yerushalmy.html |access-date=16 January 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> *2022: ''Wartime Elegy'',<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/10/24/alexei-ratmanskys-dance-for-the-war-in-ukraine | title=Alexei Ratmansky’s Dance for the War in Ukraine | magazine=The New Yorker| date=17 October 2022 | last1=Homans | first1=Jennifer }}</ref> ''Tchaikovsky Overtures''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tchaikovsky Overtures |url=https://www.staatsoper.de/en/productions/tchaikovsky-overtures/2022-12-26-1500-13255 |access-date=16 January 2024 |website=Bayerisches Staatsballett}}</ref> *2023: ''Coppélia''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sulcas |first=Roslyn |date=18 December 2023 |title=Alexei Ratmansky Infuses ‘Coppelia’ With New Life |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/18/arts/dance/alexei-ratmansky-coppelia-la-scala.html |access-date=16 January 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> *2024: ''La Séparation,''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vienna Opera Ball: Programme of the Opening Ceremony |url=https://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/en/staatsoper/vienna-opera-ball/vienna-opera-ball-2024/programme-of-the-opening-ceremony/ |access-date=29 February 2024 |website=Wiener Staatsoper}}</ref> ''Solitude''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Korlas |first=Gia |date=16 February 2024 |title=Review: Alexei Ratmansky Unleashes the Pain of War at City Ballet |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/16/arts/dance/review-alexei-ratmansky-solitude-new-york-city-ballet.html |access-date=29 February 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> *2025: ''Paquita,''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kourlas |first=Gia |date=2025-02-07 |title=Review: Worlds Collide to Make a Big Ballet Bang |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/arts/dance/review-paquita-alexei-ratmansky-new-york-city-ballet.html |access-date=2025-02-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> ''Trio Kagel,''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Other Dances {{!}} 24-25 {{!}} Dutch National Ballet |url=https://www.operaballet.nl/en/dutch-national-ballet/2024-2025/other-dances |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250906160732/https://www.operaballet.nl/en/dutch-national-ballet/2024-2025/other-dances |archive-date=2025-09-06 |access-date=2025-11-09 |website=Nationale Opera & Ballet |language=en}}</ref> ''The Art of the Fugue''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sulcas |first=Roslyn |date=2025-11-03 |title=Review: Ratmansky’s Astonishing ‘Fugue’ Finds a Home in Denmark |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/arts/dance/review-alexei-ratmansky-royal-danish-ballet-art-of-the-fugue.html |access-date=2025-11-09 |work=The New York Times |language=en}}</ref> *2026: ''The Naked King,''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kourlas |first=Gia |date=2026-02-06 |title=Review: Ballet’s King of Comedy Fights Back |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/arts/dance/review-naked-king-ratmansky-new-york-city-ballet.html |access-date=2026-02-10 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> ''Roses from the South''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Perez |first=Guillermo |date=17 February 2026 |title=Miami City Ballet founder celebrated with original work ‘Three Waltzes for Toby’ |url=https://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/performing-arts/article314728924.html |access-date=26 May 2026 |work=Miami Herald}}</ref>
===Reconstructions=== *2014: ''Paquita'' *2015: ''The Sleeping Beauty'' *2016: ''Swan Lake'' *2018: ''Harlequinade'',<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harss |first1=Marina |title=In 'Harlequinade,' Gestures Dance, and Dances Tell Stories |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/arts/dance/harlequinade-alexei-ratmansky-american-ballet-theater.html |access-date=6 March 2019 |work=New York Times |date=29 May 2018}}</ref> ''La Bayadère<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cappelle |first1=Laura |title=Ratmansky returns orientalist fantasy to its roots |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/nov/13/la-bayadere-review-ratmansky-staatsoper-unter-den-linden-berlin |access-date=6 March 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=13 November 2018}}</ref>'' *2019: ''Giselle''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://dancetabs.com/2019/11/bolshoi-ballet-giselle-ratmansky-premiere-moscow/ | title=Bolshoi Ballet – Giselle (Ratmansky premiere) – Moscow | date=24 November 2019 }}</ref>
==Awards== Ratmansky received the 2005 and 2014 Prix Benois de la Danse for choreography for, respectively, ''Anna Karenina'', staged for the Royal Danish Ballet, and ''Shostakovich Trilogy'' and ''The Tempest'', put on for the American Ballet Theatre. He also received the 2007 Golden Mask Award for Best Choreographer for ''Jeu de Cartes'' choreographed for the Bolshoi Ballet.
In 2013, Ratmansky was named as the MacArthur Fellow of the year, an award that came with "genius grant" for "working in any field, who "show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work". (http://www.macfound.org/fellows/900/)
In 2020, Ratmansky was named by Carnegie Corporation of New York as an honoree of the Great Immigrants Award<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alexei Ratmansky |url=https://www.carnegie.org/awards/honoree/alexei-ratmansky/ |access-date=June 25, 2024 |website=Carnegie Corporation of New York}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=Goodman>{{cite news|last=Goodman|first=Stephanie|title=Alexei Ratmansky Gives ABT 10 More Years|work=The New York Times|location=New York, United States|date=27 April 2011|url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/alexei-ratmansky-gives-abt-10-more-years/|access-date=3 March 2012}}</ref> <ref name=Harss>{{cite news|last=Harss|first=Marina|title=Ratmansky Takes Manhattan|work=The Nation|date=12 October 2009|url=http://www.thenation.com/article/ratmansky-takes-manhattan?page=0,0#axzz2b2SIUjdl|access-date=5 August 2013}}</ref> <ref name=Sulcas>{{cite news|last=Sulcas|first=Roslyn|title=The New Season: Big-Name Dance Makers on Parade|work=The New York Times |location=New York, United States|date=24 September 2012|url=http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/the-new-season-big-name-dance-makers-on-parade/|access-date=25 September 2012}}</ref> <ref name=Khadarina>{{cite news|last=Khadarina|first=Oksana|title=Mariinsky Ballet – Cinderella – Washington|newspaper=DanceTabs |date=23 October 2012|url=http://www.dancetabs.com/2012/10/mariinsky-ballet-cinderella-washington/|access-date=15 November 2012}}</ref> <ref name=Macaulay>{{cite news|last=Macaulay|first=Alastair|title=Carrying a Torch for Pure Academic Ballet|work=New York Times|location=New York, United States|date=22 April 2013|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/arts/dance/romeo-and-juliet-with-national-ballet-of-canada-in-london.html?_r=0|access-date=22 April 2013}}</ref>}}
==Further reading== *{{cite book |last1=Harss |first1=Marina |title=The Boy from Kyiv: Alexei Ratmansky's Life in Ballet |date=2023 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |location=New York |isbn=978-0374102616}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20091008183914/http://www.abt.org/dnieper/ratmansky.html ABT website] *[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jul/19/classicalmusicandopera.dance "Dance of Death" by Judith Mackrell], an article in ''The Guardian'' *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120406071001/http://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/dance/nina-ananiashvili-and-principals-bolshoi-ballet?ref=artist&refcar=%2Fartist%2Fq-r Archive film of Alexei Ratmansky's Charms of Mannerism in 1999 at Jacob's Pillow] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXEyUCfq8ZE NYC Ballet Presents Alexei Ratmansky's ''Pictures at an Exhibition'']
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratmansky, Alexei}} Category:1968 births Category:Living people Category:American Ballet Theatre Category:Choreographers of Bolshoi Theatre Category:Dancers from Saint Petersburg Category:Prix Benois de la Danse winners Category:Royal Danish Ballet principal dancers Category:American expatriate dancers in Denmark Category:Royal Winnipeg Ballet principal dancers Category:Russian male ballet dancers Category:Choreographers of New York City Ballet Category:Choreographers of American Ballet Theatre *Alexei Ratmansky Category:MacArthur Fellows Category:20th-century Russian ballet dancers