{{Short description|Russian-Canadian ballet dancer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox dancer | name = Elena Lobsanova | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|29|2015|11|16}}<ref name=flare/> | birth_place = Moscow, USSR | nationality = | citizenship = | education = Canada's National Ballet School | occupation = ballet dancer | years_active = 2004–present | height = | spouse = | partner = | children = | website = <!-- {{URL|website}} --> | current_group = Miami City Ballet | former_groups = National Ballet of Canada | dances = | module = }}
'''Elena Lobsanova''' (born {{birth based on age as of date|29|2015|11|16|noage=1}})<ref name=flare>{{cite news|url=https://www.flare.com/tv-movies/what-its-really-like-to-be-a-professional-ballet-dancer/|title=What It's Really Like to Be a Professional Ballet Dancer|work=Flare|last=Binks|first=Georgie|date=November 16, 2015|access-date=March 20, 2021|archive-date=March 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301035818/https://www.flare.com/tv-movies/what-its-really-like-to-be-a-professional-ballet-dancer/|url-status=dead}}</ref> is a Russian-Canadian<ref name="Erwin">{{cite news|last=Erwin|first=Sean|date=September 27, 2020|title=Miami City Ballet canceled its live anniversary season. But the dancing continues|work=Miami Herald|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/season-of-the-arts/article245810675.html|url-access=subscription}}</ref> ballet dancer. She joined the National Ballet of Canada in 2004 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2015. In 2020, she joined the Miami City Ballet.
==Early life and training== Lobsanova was born in Moscow. Her father was a microbiologist. As a child, she and her family moved to Toronto.<ref name=dance>{{cite news|url=https://www.dancemagazine.com/on-the-rise-elena-lobsanova-2306866952.html|title=On the Rise: Elena Lobsanova|work=Dance Magazine|last=Crabb|first=Michael|date=July 25, 2007}}</ref><ref name=star/> She did not dance in Russia, and started her ballet training in 1996, when she was nine, at the outreach program of Canada's National Ballet School. In fifth grade, she started attending the school full-time, where she studied both ballet and academics.<ref name=dance/><ref name=Landau>{{cite news|url=https://torontolife.com/city/best-of-fall-5-dainty-dancing/|title=Best of Fall #5: How the National Ballet's Elena Lobsanova is preparing for her big debut in Romeo and Juliet|work=Toronto Life|last=Landau|first=Emily|date=October 5, 2011}}</ref> In 1997 and 1998, she danced the role of Marie in James Kudelka's ''The Nutcracker'' with the National Ballet of Canada.<ref name=star/> At the school's spring showcase in 2004, Lobsanova was chosen to dance Odette in the second act of ''Swan Lake''. In preparation for the performance, she was coached by Karen Kain, then the artistic associate and former principal dancer of the National Ballet.<ref name=dance/>
==Career== In 2004, when Lobsanova was seventeen, she was offered an apprenticeship with the National Ballet of Canada, after she completed both professional ballet training and high school. Although Mavis Staines, the artistic director of the school, wanted her to train for another year, Lobsanova accepted the contract.<ref name=dance/> The following year, she injured her second metatarsal bone.<ref name=Landau/> She was later promoted to second soloist.<ref name=Landau/> In 2009, Lobsanova and Noah Long were chosen to represent the company at the Erik Bruhn Prize.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/national-ballet-s-lobsanova-long-to-vie-for-erik-bruhn-prize-1.817787|title=National Ballet's Lobsanova, Long to vie for Erik Bruhn Prize|work=CBC|date=January 26, 2009}}</ref>
In 2011, Lobsanova was promoted to first soloist.<ref name=Landau/> She was then chosen by Alexei Ratmansky to dance the world premiere of his version of ''Romeo and Juliet'' as Juliet.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/article/BWW-Interviews-Elena-Lobsanova-talks-the-World-Premiere-of-Romeo-and-Juliet-20111111|title=BWW Interviews: Elena Lobsanova talks the World Premiere of Romeo and Juliet|work=BroadwayWorld|last=Cameron|first=Kelly|date=November 11, 2011}}</ref> Later that year, she made her debut as the Sugar Plum Fairy in ''The Nutcracker'', making her the first person to have danced both Marie as a child and the Sugar Plum Fairy as an adult, breaking what was referred as the "curse of Marie" in the company, which stated that no one who portrayed Marie as a child ever danced the Sugar Plum Fairy.<ref name=star>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2011/12/02/sugar_plum_dreams_and_the_curse_of_marie.html|title=Sugar Plum dreams and the curse of Marie|work=Toronto Star|last=Crabb|first=Michael|date=December 2, 2011}}</ref>
In 2015, she was named principal dancer.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://thekit.ca/news/women-we-love-elena-lobsanova/|title=Women We Love: Elena Lobsanova|work=The Kit|last=Hudson|first=Kathryn|date=February 14, 2017}}</ref> Other roles in her repertoire include Princess Aurora in ''The Sleeping Beauty'',<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/theatre-and-performance/a-ballerinas-transformation/article38224844/|title=How the National Ballet's Elena Lobsanova transforms on stage|work=The Globe and Mail|last=Schabas|first=Martha|date=March 6, 2018}}</ref> the Sylph in Bournonville's ''La Sylphide'',<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ludwig-van.com/toronto/2016/03/11/dance-national-ballets-la-sylphide-brings-history-to-life/|title=National Ballet's La Sylphide Brings History To Life|work=Ludwig Van|last=Bonfield|first=Stephan|date=March 11, 2016}}</ref> the title role in ''Giselle'', Alice in Wheeldon's ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'',<ref>{{cite news|url=https://smagazineofficial.com/food-drink-travel/prima-ballerina-elena-lobsanova-on-the-enduring-power-of-giselle-06157349|title=Ballerina Elena Lobsanova on the Enduring Power of Giselle|work=S Magazine|last=Asselin|first=Sienna Vittoria|date=June 15, 2016}}</ref> Perdita in Wheeldon's ''The Winter's Tale'',<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/article/Casting-Announced-for-National-Ballets-THE-WINTERs-TALE-20171017|title=Casting Announced for National Ballet's The Winter's Tale|work=BroadwayWorld|date=October 17, 2017}}</ref> Kylián's ''Petite Mort'' and Ratmansky's ''Piano Concerto #1''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/article/Principal-Casting-Announced-for-The-National-Ballet-of-Canadas-ETUDES-PIANO-CONCERTO-1-and-PETITE-MORT-20191119|title=Principal Casting Announced for The National Ballet of Canada's Etudes, Piano Concerto #1 and Petite Mort|work=BroadwayWorld|date=November 19, 2019}}</ref>
In 2020, Lobsanova left the National Ballet of Canada and joined the Miami City Ballet as principal dancer.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dancemagazine.com/news-note-may-june-2020-2646316995.html|title=News of Note: What You Might Have Missed in May and June 2020|work=Dance Magazine|last=Escoyne|first=Courtney|date=July 2, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/article/The-National-Ballet-of-Canada-Announces-202021-Season-Roster-20200923|title=The National Ballet of Canada Announces 2020/21 Season Roster|work=BroadwayWorld|date=September 23, 2020}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lobsanova, Elena}} Category:1980s births Category:Living people Category:Artists from Toronto Category:Canadian ballerinas Category:Canadian expatriates in the United States Category:Dancers from Moscow Category:Miami City Ballet dancers Category:National Ballet of Canada principal dancers Category:Russian prima ballerinas Category:Russian ballerinas Category:Russian emigrants to Canada Category:Russian expatriates in the United States Category:Russian female dancers Category:21st-century Russian ballet dancers Category:21st-century Canadian dancers