Lucía Lacarra

{{short description|Spanish ballet dancer}} {{Infobox person | name = Lucía Lacarra | image = 2003-004 Lucia Lacarra 2.jpeg | alt = | caption = Lucía Lacarra in 2003 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1975|03|24|df=y}} | birth_place = Zumaia, Gipuzkoa | death_date =  | death_place = | height = | occupation = Ballerina | years_active = 1985-present | organization = {{plainlist| * {{nowrap|Ballet National de Marseille}} * San Francisco Ballet * Bayerisches Staatsballett }} | awards = {{plainlist| * Nijinsky Award (2002) * {{nowrap|Prix Benois de la Danse (2003)}} * Dancer of the Decade (2011) }} | website =  }} '''Lucía Lacarra''' (born 24 March 1975) is a Spanish ballet dancer who has been a principal with the Bayerisches Staatsballett (Bavarian State Opera Ballet) from 2002 to 2016. A recipient of the Prix Benois de la Danse, she was named the Dancer of the Decade in 2011, at the World Ballet Stars Gala in Saint Petersburg.<ref name=merker>{{cite web|url=http://www.der-neue-merker.eu/lucia-lacarra-%E2%80%93-the-best-time-of-my-life|title=Lucia Lacarra – The best Time of my Life (D + E)|publisher=Online Merker|accessdate=20 March 2014 |language=}}</ref>

==Early life== Born in the Basque town of Zumaia, Gipuzkoa,<ref name=RTVE2013>{{cite news|title=Lucía Lacarra, la bailarina que desafía el dolor, vuelve a la CND|url=http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20130614/lucia-lacarra-bailarina-desafia-dolor-vuelve-cnd/688280.shtml|accessdate=24 March 2014|newspaper=RTVE|date=14 June 2013}}</ref> Lacarra was interested in dance from an early age but only received training from the age of 10 when a ballet school opened in her hometown. After participating in a summer course run by Rosella Hightower, she studied for three years with Mentxu Medel in San Sebastián before attending Víctor Ullate's school in Madrid, along with Tamara Rojo and Angel Corella.<ref name=Sweeney2001>{{cite web|title=An Interview with Lucia Lacarra|date=August 12, 2001|first=Stuart|last=Sweeney|url=http://www.criticaldance.com/interviews/2001/llacarra010812.html|accessdate=22 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001040718/http://www.criticaldance.com/interviews/2001/llacarra010812.html|archive-date=1 October 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> She soon became a member of his Ballet de Victor Ullate, dancing George Balanchine's ''Allegro Brillante'' when she was 15,<ref name=bs>{{cite web|url=http://www.bayerische.staatsoper.de/309-ZG9tPWRvbTImaWQ9NDA4NyZsPWVu-~popups~k_biographie.html|title=Lucia Lacarra|publisher=Bayerisches Staatsballett|accessdate=20 March 2014|language=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727005146/http://www.bayerische.staatsoper.de/309-ZG9tPWRvbTImaWQ9NDA4NyZsPWVu-~popups~k_biographie.html|archive-date=27 July 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> as well as other modern abstract ballets.<ref name=Sweeney2001 />

==Career== After four seasons with Ullate, she moved to Roland Petit's Ballet de Marseille as a principal, dancing leading Esmeralda in his ''Notre Dame de Paris''. Over the next three years, she created roles in seven other Petit ballets including ''Le Guépard'' where she danced Angélique, and ''Le jeune homme et la mort'' where she partnered with Nicolas Le Riche.<ref name=bs/> In 1997, she joined the San Francisco Ballet where she performed in various classical and contemporary works, taking the title role in Helgi Tómasson's ''Giselle'' (1999).<ref name=oqr>{{cite web|url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100046632|title=Lucia Lacarra|publisher=Oxford Index|accessdate=20 March 2014}}</ref> There, she paired with the Frenchman, Cyril Pierre.<ref name=Rubin1998>{{cite news|last=Rubin|first=Sylvia|title=The Dance Of Love / When Lucia Lacarra and Cyril Pierre smolder onstage, it's for real|url=http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/The-Dance-Of-Love-When-Lucia-Lacarra-and-Cyril-3007378.php|accessdate=22 March 2014|newspaper=SF Gate|date=9 May 1998}}</ref> {{Quote box | quote ="I love to do bad stuff! I don't want to get typecast in goody roles." (Lucía Lacarra, 2001)<ref name=Sweeney2001 /> | source = | width =25% | align =right }} In 2002, Lacarra moved to Munich where she became a principal with the Bayerisches Staatsballett, partnering Cyril Pierre with whom she has participated in guest performances around the world. In recent years, she has created the roles of Princess Natalia and of Princess Odette in John Neumeier's ''Illusions – Like Swan Lake'', Katharina in John Cranko's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and Hippolyta/Titania in Neumeier's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''.<ref name=bs/> She left the company in 2016 at the end of Ivan Liška's directorship. From 2007, she began a dancing partnership with Marlon Dino which led to their marriage in 2010. They divorced in 2017.<ref name=merker/> Her partner is Matthew Golding (2019-present).

==Awards== In 2002, Lacarra received the Nijinsky Award.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ballerinagallery.com/lacarra.htm|title=Lucia Lacarra |publisher=The Ballerina Gallery|accessdate=20 March 2014 |language=}}</ref> In 2003, at a gala in Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre she was awarded the Prix Benois de la Danse as best female dancer for her role of Tatjana in Cranko's ''Onegin''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bayerische.staatsoper.de/323-ZG9tPWRvbTMmbD1lbiZwcmVzc2VfaWQ9Mjc3OA-~presse~presseinfo~presse-information_ballett.html|title=International Prizes for Lacarra, Slavicky and Cullum|publisher=Bayerisches Staatsballett|accessdate=20 March 2014|language=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320185205/http://www.bayerische.staatsoper.de/323-ZG9tPWRvbTMmbD1lbiZwcmVzc2VfaWQ9Mjc3OA-~presse~presseinfo~presse-information_ballett.html|archive-date=20 March 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2011, at the World Ballet Stars Gala in St Petersburg, she was named the Dancer of the Decade.<ref name="merker"/>

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacarra, Lucía}} Category:1975 births Category:Spanish ballerinas Category:Prima ballerinas Category:People from Zumaia Category:Prix Benois de la Danse winners Category:Living people Category:Basque women