Francesca Velicu

Francesca Velicu is a Romanian ballet dancer. She is a first artist at the English National Ballet. In 2018, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance.

Francesca Velicu
Born1997/1998 (age 22–23)[1]
Bucharest, Romania
EducationChoreography High School Floria Capsali
The Bolshoi Ballet Academy
Occupationballet dancer
Years active2015-present
Current groupEnglish National Ballet
Former groupsRomanian National Ballet

Early life

Velicu was born in Bucharest, Romania. She trained at Choreography High School Floria Capsali in Bucharest and The Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow.[2]

Career

In 2015, at age 17, Velicu joined the Romanian National Ballet, which was directed by Johan Kobborg. Kobborg cast her in soloist roles immediately.[1][3] She also met Alina Cojocaru, Kobborg's partner and Velicu's idol. However, in 2016, Kobbarg and Cojocaru resigned from the company after the new leadership's actions. After that, Cojocaru suggested Velicu to audition for the English National Ballet, where Cojocaru is a lead principal dancer. After Velicu auditioned in Paris, Tamara Rojo, the company's artistic director, offered Velicu a contract to join the company as an Artist. She moved to London within a week.[4][5]

In 2017, she danced The Chosen One in Pina Bausch's Le Sacre du printemps, and was praised by critics. The Guardian noted, "her performance has the power and stagecraft of an adult but the sobbing terror of a child."[6][7] Later that year, she was promoted to First Artist.[8] In 2018, at age 19, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance for Le Sacre du printemps.[9] She reprised the role in 2019.[10] She had also danced Clara/Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker.[3]

Selected repertoire[2]

References
  1. "2017 Stars of the Corps: Francesca Velicu of English National Ballet". Pointe Magazine. 24 September 2017.
  2. "Francesca Velicu". English National Ballet. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  3. "Francesca Velicu On The Pressures And Payoffs Of Being A Ballerina". British Vogue. 22 November 2018.
  4. "Francesca Velicu - What moves her". Story Of. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  5. "Romanian Ballet Company Loses Its Leading Lights". New York Times. 13 April 2016.
  6. "English National Ballet review – Bausch's Rite of Spring is as raw as ever". The Guardian. 24 March 2017.
  7. "English National Ballet – Pina Bausch, William Forsythe, Hans van Manen bill – London". Dancetabs. 24 March 2017.
  8. "Promotions and new dancers joining the Company for the 2017/2018 season". English National Ballet. 28 July 2017.
  9. "Olivier Awards 2018: Winners in full". BBC News. 9 April 2018.
  10. "Persistent: ENB's outstanding new triple bill celebrating female choreographers". Bachtrack. 5 April 2019.
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