A debut by Xander Parish

Just a few years ago it would have been impossible to imagine a foreign dancer being resident with the Mariinsky Ballet, largely comprising graduates of one and the same Vaganova Academy and embodying the St Petersburg classical dance style. Today’s characteristic international trend of globalisation, however, has also had an affect on the Mariinsky Ballet, that bastion of tradition. The St Petersburg company now employs several graduates from foreign ballet schools, one such being Xander Parish. He left the Royal Ballet in London which he joined after graduating from the Royal Ballet School for the Mariinsky Theatre, and for over three years he has regularly appeared in various St Petersburg productions. The dancer generally performs secondary but important roles such as the Friends of the Prince in Swan Lake, Paris in Romeo and Juliet and the Youth in Chopiniana. He has also appeared in principal roles, such as Count Albrecht in Giselle. Xander Parish is currently engaged in numerous productions and is actively developing his repertoire. His range of roles at the Mariinsky Theatre is now expanding to include the role of Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.