Liudmila Konovalova
The Russian-born Liudmila Konovalova graduated from Moscow Bolshoi Ballet Academy and joined the Russian State Ballet in 2002. In 2004 she was appointed first soloist and danced the leading roles in »Giselle«, »Don Quixote«, »Swan Lake« and »The Nutcracker«. In 2007 she joined the Staatsballett Berlin and was appointed soloist in 2009. In Berlin she performed, amongst others, important roles in Vladimir Malakhov’s »The Sleeping Beauty«, Patrice Bart’s »Swan Lake« and »The Nutcracker«, Michel Fokine's »Scheherezade«, Pierre Lacotte’s »La Vivandière« and Clark Tippet’s »Violin Concerto«. In 2010 she joined the Vienna State Ballet as a soloist, in 2011 she was promoted to first soloist.
Her Viennese repertoire comprises numerous main roles of the classical repertoire in Rudolf Nureyev’s »Swan Lake«, »The Nutcracker«, »Don Quixote« and »Raymonda, Elena Tchernichova’s »Giselle«, Peter Wright’s »The Sleeping Beauty«, Manuel Legris' »Le Corsaire«, Frederick Ashton’s »La Fille mal gardée« and »Marguerite and Armand«, Titania in Jorma Elo’s » A Midsummer Night's Dream«, Manon Lescaut in John Neumeierʼs »Lady of the Camellias« and works by George Balanchine – such as »Theme and Variations«, »Diamonds«-Pas de deux in »Jewels« and »Duo Concertant« –, Kenneth MacMillan, Serge Lifar, Harald Lander, Jerome Robbins, Hans van Manen – »Adagio Hammerklavier«, »Trois Gnossiennes«, »Four Schumann Pieces« and »Concertante« –, John Neumeier, Twyla Tharp, Nils Christe, William Forsythe, Rudi van Dantzig, Jorma Elo, David Dawson, Jiří Bubenícek, Christopher Wheeldon, Alexei Ratmansky, Heinz Spoerli and Martin Schläpfer.
Guest performances have taken her to many European Countries and overseas. She was dancing as a guest soloist, amongst others, at the Ballet de l'Opera National de Bordeaux, the Slovenské národné divadlo, the Teatro dell´ Opera di Roma, the Toyko Ballet, at Nureyev Festivals in Ufa and Kasan, in 2015 at the World Ballet Festival in Tokyo and the Kreml Palast Moscow. In March 2016 she had the honour to take part in the Ave Maya Gala in memory of Maya Plisetskaya in the London Coliseum.
Liudmila Konovalova's awards include the Special Prize from the Serge Lifar Ballet Competition in Kiev (2006), 2nd Prize in the International Ballet Competition KIBC in Seoul, 1st Prize in the ÖTR-Contest in Vienna as well as in the Ballet Competition »Premio Roma« in 2007 and the Premio Capri Danza International (2018). In June 2019 Liudmila Konovalova was honoured by the Russian Embassy in Vienna for her merits of the cultural relation between Russia and Austria.