Alexandre Katsapov

Biography

Former principal dancer with the Czech National Ballet. A charismatic artist, an amazing dance actor and one of the most emblematic dancers of his generation. His roles in romantic, classical as well as contemporary repertory were always portrayed woth the same depth, understanding and uncomparable artistry. Complex dramatic parts such as Onegin, Ivan The Terrible, Petruchio, Don José or Valmont were his main domain, allowing him to show off his true talent. In 2002 he was awarded a Thalia Award for his role of Ivan The Terrible and in 2003 a Philip Morris Ballet Flower Award for the best male ballet dancer. He is a ballet master of Czech National Ballet and he is succesfully dancing character roles such as widow Simone in La Fille mal gardée (Ashton) or king Peter in Leonce & Lena (Spuck).

Born in Saint Petersburg, trained in Vaganova Russian Ballet Academy. In 1993 – 1996 was a soloist with Mussorgsky State Academic Theatre (Mikhailovsky Theatre today), where his roles include Albert (Giselle), Blue Bird (Sleeping Beauty), Romeo and Mercutio (Romeo and Juliet), Prince (The Nutcracker) ort he title role of Petrushka.

In 1997 he joined Czech National Ballet, in 2003 he was named a principal.

His repertory includes romantic and classical roles such as princes in Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, James in La Sylphide (Bournonville), Albert in Giselle (Hampson) and Abderachman in Raymonda (Grigorovich). He created the roles of Mercutio and Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (Vàmos), Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew and the title role of Onegin (Cranko), The Devil in Nutcracker – A Christmas Carol (Vàmos), prince in Cinderella (Maillot) or don José in Carmen (Ek). He also danced in ballets Goldilocks (Jiřík; Kodet) and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Master; Kodet).

His roles in modern and contemporary pieces include ballets by Jiří Kylián (Petit Mort, Sinfonietta, Glagolic Mass, The Child and The Magic Spells, Return to a Strange Land), George Balanchine (Theme and Variations), Christopher Bruce (Rooster), William Forsythe (In The Middle Somewhat Elevated), Glen Tetley (Sphynx), Libor Vaculík (Lucrezia Borgia, Valmont) or Ohad Naharin (Ohad Naharin: decadance).

He created many roles in Petr Zuska choreographies, one of the most important one was the phenomenal Brel – Vysotsky – Kryl / Solo for Three. He also created the role of pater Lorenzo in Zuska’s Romeo and Juliet and roles in A Little Extreme, 1st symphony in D major or Lyrical.

In 1995 he won 2nd prize at International competition Sanlam in Pretoria in South Afrika, in 2002 he was awarded a Thalia Award for his interpretation of the title role in Libor Vaculík Ivan The Terrible, which he was dancing as a guest with National Theatre Brno. In 2014 he won an annual Opera Plus Award for his role of Valmont.

He danced in many international galas in Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Thaiwan, Russia and the United States. In 2008 he danced in Metropolitan Hall in Thaiwan in Allen Yu’s Lady of the camelias.

He also works as a photographer, with Mario Bakuš they make the duo The Queens. In 2017 they made a calendar for the Czech National Ballet company.