A debut by Konstantin Zverev

A rising star of the Mariinsky Ballet Company, Konstantin Zverev has earned his high rank as a classical dancer “with his innate sense of nobility.” “A tall, slim and perfectly proportioned brunet” and “fit, light-footed and aristocratic,” over the last few seasons Zverev has expanded his repertoire with brilliantly performed and deeply heartfelt roles in contemporary choreography.

For the role of Vronsky in Alexei Ratmansky’s ballet Anna Karenina the dancer received a nomination for St Petersburg’s theatre prize the Golden Sofit. This was soon followed by another nomination for the Sofit award – Angelin Preljocaj’s ballet Le Parc, in which he performed the lead role “technically and elegantly” and, according to the press, has caused a “sexual revolution at the Mariinsky Theatre.” In the “refined and highly erotic” duet with Diana Vishneva, together they “emanated such a degree of oneness and ‘chemistry’ and fired such a blast of emotions and passions at the audience that this was a performance that will not be forgotten any time soon.”

At the  Mariinsky ballet festival this year, he demonstrated the “mien of a predator and hunter” in the role of the Torero in the ballet Carmen Suite (choreography by Alberto Alonso). The critic for Kommersant newspaper was particularly impressed by “his approach – the knowhow of a talented dancer – free, ‘from the hip,’ here there is something of the dandy, the hippy and the gangster aesthetics of the films of Tarantino.”

For his debut in The Nutcracker, Zverev will be partnered by Anastasia Matvienko as Masha.