One of the leading soloists of the Bolshoi Theater is the young ballerina Kristina Kretova. Her biography, despite her age, is quite rich in roles and events.
Biography
Kristina Kretova was born on January 28, 1984 in the city of Orel. None of her relatives revolves in a creative environment. In Orel there is not even a separate ballet theater. At seven, the girl began to go to a choreographic school. She really liked the classes, the talent of a ballerina had already begun to show itself here for the first time. In 1994, Kristina went to enter the Moscow State Academy of Choreography. She was accepted, despite the huge competition.
During her studies she replaced several teachers. Among them are Lyudmila Kolenchenko, Marina Leonova, Elena Bobrova. The young ballerina is grateful to each of them, Lyudmila Alekseevna for their special attitude, attention and care, Marina Konstantinovna for the load, cohesion.
Creative way
After graduating from the academy, Kristina Kretova comes to work in the Kremlin Theater as a soloist. The ballerina considers this proposal quite successful and is happy to plunge into the world of professional ballet. Kristina has toured extensively both in Russia and abroad, including as a participant in the Russian Seasons 21 Century project. As part of this project, she performed the parts of the Firebird from the play of the same name by I. Stravinsky, according to M. Fokin and Tamar in the ballet of the same name by M. Balakirev, staged by A. Liepa. By the way, in one interview, Andries Liepa expressed the opinion that Kretova with her energetic brilliant dance is the perfect embodiment of the Firebird.
Also, Kristina Kretova visited the stage of the Yekaterinburg Academic Opera and Ballet Theater (part of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain from the ballet "Stone Flower"). In 2007, as part of the International Festival of Classical Ballet named after Rudolf Nuriev, in Kazan, the parts of Gulnara ("Corsair") and Fairies of the Lilac ("Sleeping Beauty") danced.
Since 2010, Kristina Kretova - ballerina in the troupe of the Moscow Academic Musical Theater . K.S. Stanislavsky and Vl.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko.
In 2011, Christina moved to work at the Bolshoi Theater.
Kremlin Theater
The young ballerina received an offer to work in this theater while studying at the school and without hesitation accepted it. From 2002 to 2010, the prima ballerina of the Kremlin Theater was Kristina Kretova. The growth of her creative career began on this stage, largely thanks to the efforts of her teacher Nina Lvovna Semizorova. Kristina Kretova formed a close-knit and very effective creative union with Semizorova.
Initially, Christina receives a solo role as Emmy Lawrence in the play "Tom Sawyer", which is quite complicated in terms of choreography. But with Nina Lvovna, she also learns other parties. It was under her strict guidance that Kretova blossoms like a ballerina.
Her first achievement is the premiere role of Aurora in the production of Sleeping Beauty. This party gave Kretova full disclosure. Her princess is full of tenderness, youth and beauty. She is graceful and captivating in her movements. In this ballet, music intertwined with the soul of a ballerina and splashed out on stage as a true miracle of creativity.
The complete opposite of Aurora Kretova appeared in the role of Esmeralda from the eponymous production of music by C. Puni and R. Drigo, choreography by A. Petrov. Here Christina is not just a ballerina - she is a talented actress. The viewer can watch on the stage the degeneration of a cheerful carefree gypsy into a frustrated, desperate woman.
And, of course, the dream of every ballerina is the party of Giselle. In this role, Kretova embodied the symbiosis of classical dance academism with lively human emotions. The production embodies the traditions of the inimitable Galina Ulanova, whose student was Nina Semizorova.
Kristina Kretova is a ballerina of more than one role. At the Kremlin Theater, in her piggy bank are the parties of Odette-Odile (Swan Lake), Marie (The Nutcracker), Kitri (Don Quixote), Naina (Ruslan and Lyudmila), Susanna (Figaro).
Theater named after Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko
After maternity leave, Christina goes to work in the theater. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko again as a prima ballerina. The team is very warm to the beginner. With some actors, Kristina Kretova is still friendly. She continues to work in the already familiar parties from Esmeralda, Swan Lake, Don Quixote. By the way, from the last ballet she masters the new role of Lady of the Dryads.
During this period, Christina tries herself in modern choreography and Western productions. One of these works is "Sharpening to the point" by J. Elo. This experiment madly liked the ballerina. At first it was incredibly difficult, I had to learn new movements, men's steps, but it was very exciting.
The Bolshoi Theatre
The transition to the stage of the Bolshoi Theater was a very crucial step on the part of Kristina Kretova. Of course, every ballerina dreams of working in such a world-class theater, but Christina understood that this was a huge, hard work, responsibility. In all previous theaters, she was originally a prima ballerina, but in the Bolshoi she still had to establish herself.
The beginning of the career of Kristina Kretova at the Bolshoi coincided with the end of the reconstruction of the theater. Christina is happy to be involved in the work. Again, the Kretov-Semizorov alliance is being restored.
The risk of moving to the first theater of the country is fully justified. Her first production at the Bolshoi was the already familiar Giselle. A very emotional performance. But the purely technical aspects of performing on a new unfamiliar stage were also added to this. However, Christina coped with the role, as always brilliantly, having passed a kind of exam in the new team.
In general, Kristina Kretova is more impressed by the tragic roles. But she gladly takes on any party.
Now the prima of the Bolshoi Theater Kristina Kretova has played the leading parts of almost all classical productions.
Awards
Kristina Kretova is a ballerina, noted with well-deserved awards in the field of ballet.
The first award was a grant of the Triumph Independent Award, which the ballerina received in 2003. It is also worth noting the 2nd prize that she received at the All-Russian contest of Yuri Grigorovich "Young Ballet of Russia", which was held in Krasnodar.
In 2006 in Sochi, Kristina Kretova received already 1 prize of the International Competition "Young Ballet of the World". In the same year, the Ballet magazine awarded her the Soul of Dance Award in the Rising Star nomination.
Kristina Kretova is noted not only in domestic ballet, but also internationally. So, in 2014, she received the Miss Virtuosity Award at the Dance Open International Ballet Award. And in the January issue of Dance Magazine, a top list of stars who made a breakthrough in 2013 was published, which included Christina.
TV projects
In 2011, the Bolero television project started on Channel One. One of the brightest dancers of this show was Kristina Kretova. Dances with her participation literally attracted the attention of viewers. Kristina danced in tandem with figure skater Alexei Yagudin.
The essence of the project was that the leading soloists of the ballet performed in tandem with the best skaters of the country. Couples were given creative freedom in staging choreographic numbers. It was a symbiosis of classical dance with modern choreography, and judging by the opinions of viewers, it was very successful. Athletes and dancers engaged with leading world choreographers for several months.
The project was a competition of eight pairs of participants. The pair of Christina and Alexei became a well-deserved winner.
A family
“You need to work at work,” says Kristina Kretova. The personal life of the ballerina is no less saturated than creative.
Christina is married. Her son is growing up. His name is Isa. The baby is already 6 years old. The ballerina tries to devote all her free time to the child, despite the tight schedule of rehearsals, performances and tours. In many interviews, Kristina emphasizes that at work she completely devotes herself to roles, productions, but leaving the theater, she becomes just a wife and mother.
Kristina Kretova’s husband tries to support his soul mate in everything. He does not miss almost any of her premieres. The relationship of the couple is very romantic and harmonious. Even after several years of marriage, the spouse never forgets to present her half with a bouquet of flowers for the performance, and sometimes a bouquet.
It can not be said that Christina leads an ascetic lifestyle, but the profession obliges her to keep herself in shape. The ballerina admits that she is a little inclined to fullness, so she has to exclude flour and not eat after six in those periods when the work is a little less.
Plans
“I live today,” says Kristina Kretova. Ballerina is passionate about her work, productions. She dreams of playing the part of Juliet at the Bolshoi Theater. And she really hopes to get the role of Nicky from La Bayadere.
In general, this ballerina is open to all parties, there is practically no role that she could refuse both among classical and in modern productions. Kristina Kretova has a healthy creative curiosity and a complete absence of star-sickness of a prima ballerina. She pleases with her work both discerning foreign admirers of ballet and a simple spectator.
I would like to wish her further professional growth and say thanks for her loyalty to Russian ballet.