TAMARA ROJO

A Principal Ballerina with the Royal Ballet – Covent Garden since 2000, who has received international acclaim for her outstanding technique, captivating acting skills, and brilliant artistry in a wide spectrum of classical and contemporary roles.

A Master of Scenic Arts and Bachelor of Dance graduate from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid, she first trained at Victor Ullate’ s School and then with David Howard, Renato Paroni, Alexander Agadzhanov, and Loipa Araujo.

While training with Victor Ullate, Tamara danced with the Ballet de la Comunidad de Madrid in an extensive repertoire that embodied her Spanish roots and challenged her amazing classical technique. She also performed many works specially choreographed for her by Mr. Ullate. In 1994, she dazzled the ballet world by winning both a Gold Medal at the Paris International Dance Competition, and a Special Jury Award unanimously given by a judging panel whose members included Natalia Makarova, Vladimir Vassiliev, and Galina Samsova. Tamara left her native Spain in 1996 when she was invited by Ms. Samsova to join the Scottish National Ballet. With SNB, Tamara danced the principal roles in Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, La Sylphide, and Cranko’ s Romeo and Juliet. After dancing with the SNB, she joined the English National Ballet in 1997, and immediately began dancing the full range of principal roles for the company, including Swan Lake, Paquita, Coppelia, Glen Tetley’s The Sphinx and Voluntaries, and Michael Corder’s Cinderella. ENB Artistic Director Derek Deane also created the roles of Juliet (Romeo and Juliet) and Clara (The Nutcracker) for Tamara. Her performances as Clara broke attendance records at the London Coliseum and, in 1997, the London Times named Tamara “Dance Revelation of the Year.” In 2000, Sir Anthony Dowell asked Tamara to dance Giselle with the Royal Ballet as a guest artist. Shortly after her Covent Garden debut (well-received by both critics and audience), Sir Anthony invited Tamara to join the Royal Ballet as a principal dancer.

Tamara has been repeatedly recognised for her artistic excellence. Her awards include Spain’s two highest honours – The Prince of Asturias Arts Award (2005) and the Spanish Gold Medal of Fine Arts (2002), Benois de la danse 2008, Medalla Internacional de las Artes de la Comunidad de Madrid 2008, Villa de Madrid 2007, Leonide Massine’s “Premio al Valore” (2004), London’s Critics’ Circle Dance Award (2002), Italian Critics’ Award (1996), and Paris International Dance Competition’ s Gold Medal and Special Jury Award (1994).

Tamara has starred in principal roles with The Kirov Ballet, La Scala Ballet, Tokyo Ballet, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Ballet Deustsche Opera Berlin, National Ballet of China, Zurich Ballet, Lithuanian Ballet, and Balletto Argentino. She has also performed at the prestigious World Ballet Festival in Tokyo (2003 and 2006) and many international Galas throughout Europe and the Americas. In 2005, first in Bilbao and then in Madrid, Tamara starred in the world premiere of Snow White (Blanca Nieves), created for her by choreographer Ricardo Cué with original musical score by famed Spanish composer and conductor Emilio Aragón. In late 2007, Deutsche Grammophon released a DVD of Blanca Nieves.