Farewell to principal dancer Artur Shesterikov
After dancing with Dutch National Ballet for sixteen years, principal dancer Artur Shesterikov officially takes his leave of the dance stage. Last night, following the performance of Forsythe, he bid farewell to the company with the solo L’étranger, which was created for the occasion by choreographer Peter Leung. Artur’s last performance with Dutch National Ballet will in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Frida, which will be performed in Los Angeles as part of the company’s tour to the United States.
Artur Shesterikov joined Dutch National Ballet in 2007, as a member of the corps de ballet, and was promoted to coryphée two years later. In 2010, he was promoted to soloist, skipping the rank of grand sujet. His promotion to principal dancer followed in 2012, after a tour performance of Swan Lake. During his sixteen-year career with Dutch National Ballet, Artur performed leading roles in almost all full-length classical ballets, as well as in works by choreographers such as George Balanchine, William Forsythe and John Neumeier. He also worked with choreographers like Hans van Manen, Natalia Makarova, Benjamin Millepied, Krzysztof Pastor, Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon and Sir Peter Wright.
Artistic director Ted Brandsen calls Artur ‘a true gentleman dancer’: “He is a perfect prince and a considerate partner, hard-working, modest, and super versatile as he is great in many different styles. Always ready to work and open to new ideas, Artur has been a joy to work with and it has been a pleasure and a privilege to watch him develop in his career. The company and the audience will be missing him a lot.”
