Maria Baranova
Principal
Maria Baranova started her professional training with the Helsinki Dance Institute in 1999. As a student she participated in the prestigious Prix de Lausanne competition where John Neumeier invited her to join the Hamburg Ballet School on a scholarship. Under Mr. Neumeier’s thorough guidance, she quickly moved to the graduating class and graduated within a year. At the age of sixteen, Maria won the Helsinki International Ballet Competition in 2009 (Junior Female Division) and joined the Hamburg Ballet. There, she performed many roles in Neumeier’s original creations as well as various soloist and principal parts. In 2010. she received the Bronze Medal at the International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria. In 2011, Maria Baranova won the Erik Bruhn Prize in Toronto with the Pas de deux from the second act of Giselle and Chopin Dialogues, a choreography that was created for her by John Neumeier. She was later invited by Kenneth Greve to become a Principal Dancer at the Finnish National Ballet. In 2015, she received an invitation from the artistic director Mikko Nissinen to join the Boston Ballet as a Principal. In Boston, Maria enriched her repertoire with neo-classical and modern ballets by George Balanchine, Jorma Elo and William Forsythe. In 2019, Maria joined the Bayerisches Staatsballett as a Principal Dancer. Her repertoire spans from classical to neo-classcical and to contemporary ballets, as she worked with many of today’s leading forces in dance, including choreographers Justin Peck, Jacopo Godani, Pierre Lacotte, Patrice Bart, and David Dawson.
(Information as of September 2024)
Roles in season 2024/25 (updated periodically)
Thaïs-Pas de deux aus Ma Pavlova (Roland Petit), als Teil des Programms Wurzeln und Blätter
Tatjana in Onegin (John Cranko)
Soloist in Le Parc (Angelin Preljocaj)
Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (John Cranko)
Title Role in La Sylphide (Pierre Lacotte after Filippo Taglioni)
Selected roles from previous seasons
Kitty in Anna Karenina (Chr. Spuck)
Swanilda in Copppélia (R. Petit)
Marie in The Nutcracker (J.Neumeier)
Phrygia in Spartacus (Y. Grigorovich)
Title role in Giselle (J. Coralli/J. Perrot/M. Petipa)
Cinderella in Cinderella (C. Wheeldon)
Hippolyta/Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream (J. Neumeier)
Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (J. Cranko)
Tatjana in Onegin (J. Cranko)
Gamzatti in La Bayadère (P. Bart, M. Petipa)
Paquita in Paquita/Grand Pas Classique (M. Petipa)