Anna Ol
The most important definitive moments in her career? Principal dancer Anna Ol doesn’t hesitate for a second. Her decision to audition for Dutch National Ballet in 2015 is one of them. So is the day she suddenly knew for sure that she wanted to go on with ballet, as a fourteen-year-old pupil at the Ballet College in Krasnoyarsk (Eastern Siberia). “The teacher I’d had for four years died unexpectedly under suspicious circumstances. It caused so much stress at school that my parents wondered if it might be better for me stop ballet, and all of a sudden I realised, ‘No, I want to be a dancer!’”
As a child, she says, she still had no idea what that involved. “My father’s an engineer and my mother’s a hydrologist, and she didn’t intend me becoming a professional dancer. In Russia, it’s often just the done thing for young girls to go to ballet, and it gives you a good posture.” It was the teacher at the amateur ballet school who noticed Anna’s talent and pushed her to audition for the ballet academy. Already in her second year there, she was allowed to enter youth ballet competitions, where she regularly walked away with prizes. “If people tell you you’re talented at something, you simply get on and do it. So it was only when I was fourteen that I consciously chose for ballet, and I’ve always been grateful to my parents that they let me have my way back then.”
Shoulder to shoulder
On graduating in 2003, Anna began her career with the State Ballet of Siberia, in Krasnoyarsk. “Actually, I’d wanted to join a different, better company, but the group had just got a new, ambitious director – Sergei Bobrov – who thoroughly updated the repertoire.” Bobrov gave her a soloist contract straight away, but also let her do plenty of corps de ballet work. “I’m still happy he did that, as it’s important to first stand shoulder to shoulder with other dancers before going solo. And it also enabled me to dance hundreds of roles in those early years.” In 2010, she first switched to the State Opera of Tatarstan in Kazan and after that to the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, alongside performing as a guest artist with companies throughout Russia. Then in 2011, she settled in Moscow, where she joined the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Dantshenko Academic Music Theatre and became acquainted with the European ballet repertoire. “Kylián, MacMillan, Neumeier, Robbins. Wonderful to do, of course, but at a certain point the company had a great many soloists, but not always enough performances to give everyone a chance.”
Intelligence
Anna decided to leave Russia and did various auditions, although she actually knew already that she wanted to join Dutch National Ballet. “I was familiar with the company from online videos, I’d seen pictures of Amsterdam, and I thought, ‘that’s where I have to be; it’s a dream place.’ On top of that, I’d had enough of the system I’d been in for years. My audition in Amsterdam was a breaking point. I thought, ‘This has to work out, or else I’ll quit’.”
She’s found a new home in Amsterdam, she says. “I feel so incredibly lucky to be able to work here.” Of course, her career has also had its ups and downs – “there were injuries and the corona period was tough” – but she can look back happily on many highlights: winning the Dancer of the Year Award in 2018, being coached by Natalia Makarova for La Bayadère, dancing the role of Tatiana in John Cranko’s Onegin and performing ballets by Jerome Robbins and Alexei Ratmansky.
For her, intelligence is the most important quality a dancer can have. “You’re not just a technical machine. It’s also about the brainwork behind the steps. In my case, anyway, I’m most moved when I see that someone has thoroughly immersed themself in the character they’re portraying.”
Mother and coach
Anna’s daughter Isabelle was born in December 2021. “Before she arrived, it was just work, work, work. Now family life is equally important and I spend more time with friends.” She’s also active on social media as a ballet coach for @dance-masterclass, among other platforms. “I want to help young dancers overcome their struggles. When you’re young, there’s so much stress involved in dancing, and you’re always afraid of not being perfect. I try to show dancers that perfection isn’t necessary, and that our imperfections can actually make us beautiful.” In 2018 already, Anna got her diploma as a ballet mistress from the famous GITIS Institute in Moscow. “Since then, I’ve taught a lot, but it’s not really my thing for the long term. However, I did learn a great deal as a dancer from my studies. Now I also have a much better understanding of all the things I learnt as a young girl.”
Text: Astrid van Leeuwen
CV
Place of birth:
Krasnoyarsk, Russia
With the Dutch National Ballet:
2015
Career with Dutch National Ballet:
Principal (2015)
Previously danced with:
State Ballet of Siberia in Krasnoyarsk, State Opera of Tatarstan in Kazan, Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Dantshenko Academic Music Theatre in Moscow (all four in Russia), and as a guest artist with numerous other companies
Training:
Krasnoyarsk Ballet College
Awards:
- 2018: Best Dancer of the Year Award, Dance Europe
- 2018: Miss Virtuosity Award, Dance Open Ballet Festival, St Petersburg
- 2010: Arabesque Competition, Perm (Russia), gold medal
- 2008: Grand Prix Galina Ulanova, Krasnoyarsk (Russia), gold medal
Honourable mentions:
- 2022 and 2021: ‘Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer’, Critics’ Choice Dance Europe