Petra Conti

Petra Conti (born 1988) is an Italian ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer with Los Angeles Ballet. Conti was previously a principal dancer with the Boston Ballet. Before moving to the United States, Conti danced as a principal with La Scala Theatre Ballet and as a corps de ballet dancer with Bavarian State Ballet.

Petra Conti
Born1988 (age 32–33)
Anagni, Italy
OccupationBallet dancer
Years active2007–present
Spouse(s)Eris Nezha
Current groupLos Angeles Ballet
Former groupsMariinsky Ballet
Bavarian State Ballet
La Scala Theatre Ballet
Boston Ballet
Websitewww.petraconti.com

Early life

Petra Conti was born on April 30, 1988, in Anagni but she lived in Frosinone, Italy.[1] Her father is Italian and her mother is Polish. Her mother and sister trained at the National Academy of Ballet in Poland.[2] In 2006 she graduated with honors from the National Academy of Dance in Rome.[3]

Career

When Conti was seventeen years old, she was invited to dance as a guest star in the Arena di Verona Ballet's Cinderella. In 2008 she was a company member of the Bavarian State Ballet and a trainee at the Marinski ballet.[4] In 2009 she joined La Scala Theatre Ballet and was promoted to the rank of principal dancer in 2011.[5] In 2013 Conti was invited by Mikko Nissinen to join the Boston Ballet as a principal dancer.[3][6] She danced as a principal dancer with the company until 2017. Later that year she joined the Los Angeles Ballet as a resident principal guest dancer.[7]

From 2009 until 2011 Conti studied dramatic arts with Kuniaki Ida at the Arsenale Theater in Milan.[3]

In 2017 and 2018, Conti danced the slave variation in the Arena di Verona's production of Aida.[3][8] She performed the variation in blackface and was criticized by African-American ballet dancer Sydney Magruder Washington, who took to social media to voice her objection to Conti's performance.[9][8] An article criticizing her for performing in blackface was published by BroadwayWorld in 2019.[8]

Documentary

She was the subject of a 2010 Sky Italia documentary titled Dancers of Tomorrow which focused on her performances in Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, and Don Quixote.[3]

Personal life

Conti is married to Eris Nezha, former La Scala and Boston Ballet Principal Dancer and now a Principal Dancer with the Los Angeles Ballet.[10] She is also currently earning her bachelor's degree in Science of Leadership at Northeastern University.[3]

In 2016 Conti underwent surgery for kidney cancer.[2]

References
  1. "Petra Conti, Los Angeles Ballet Principal". losangelesballet.org.
  2. "International Guest Artist Petra Conti on How Surviving Kidney Cancer Refueled Her Love for Dance". Dance Magazine. 20 October 2018.
  3. "Petra Conti - Bio". petraconti.
  4. "Being groomed for stardom: Italian ballerina Petra Conti". 9 December 2011.
  5. "Petra Conti vince l'edizione 2018 dei Glamour Talent Awards". 14 December 2018.
  6. Palma, Briana (22 January 2014). "Boston Ballet's Petra Conti and Eris Nezha".
  7. "South Shore Ballet Theatre - Petra conti". www.southshoreballettheatre.com.
  8. Porter II, Juan Michael (20 December 2019). "BWW Dance: Rebuke to Blackface, Orientalism, and Racist Equivocation in The Guardian". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  9. "Thank you, @theblackswandiaries for calling attention to... - efemmeranyc". PicDove.
  10. "4. Los Angeles Ballet principal Petra Conti and Misiu". Pointe. 16 July 2018.
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