Photo: Alex Gouliaev

Olga Smirnova wins Alexandra Radius Prize 2024

12 September 2024

Last night, at the premiere of Generation Dance, the Alexandra Radius Prize 2024 was awarded to principal dancer Olga Smirnova. Smirnova received the prize from its namesake Alexandra Radius, former principal dancer with Dutch National Ballet.

The Alexandra Radius Prize is an initiative of the Friends of Dutch National Ballet foundation and is awarded annually to the Dutch National Ballet dancer who has distinguished themselves most remarkably in the previous dance season. The prize comprises a sum of €4000 and an artwork by Humphrey Bennet. This year, the Alexandra Radius Prize was awarded for the 34th time.

Jury report

This year, the jury chose Olga Smirnova as the recipient of the prize. They explain in the jury report: “We chose a female dancer who has not only distinguished herself in both classical and contemporary ballets in an exceptional, often poignant way, but whose extraordinary courage we also want to acknowledge with the Alexandra Radius Prize.” They also state, among other things: “We jury members view Smirnova as a valuable asset to dance in the Netherlands, and her enormous dedication, drive and interest in other dance forms that are new to her make her a role model for all dancers in the Netherlands and further afield.”

Read the full jury report

This year’s Alexandra Radius Prize jury comprised: namesake Alexandra Radius (former principal with Dutch National Ballet), Alexander Zhembrovskyy (former principal with Dutch National Ballet and owner of the dance and fitness studio named after him), Astrid van Leeuwen (dance journalist and publicist), Frederik Redelé (board member of the Dutch National Opera & Ballet Fund), Bram Posma (Friend of Dutch National Ballet) and Rutger Steens (Young Patron of Dutch National Ballet).

Olga Smirnova’s response

Olga Smirnova herself reacted enthusiastically to the award: “What a great honour it is for me to receive the Alexandra Radius Prize! I have always been a huge admirer of Alexandra's legendary talent. It is always special to see her and her husband Han after my performances, and hear their invaluable opinions. Alexandra's praise means a lot to me, and so does this vote of confidence from her and the other jury members: Alexander Zhembrovskyy, Astrid van Leeuwen, Frederik Redelé, Bram Posma and Rutger Steens. I am deeply grateful to all of them!”

Speech Olga Smirnova

“What a great honor it is for me to receive the Alexandra Radius Prize! I have always been a huge admirer of Alexandra's legendary talent. It is always special to see her and her husband Han after my performances, and hear their invaluable opinions. Alexandra's praise means a lot to me, and so does this vote of confidence from her and all the other members of the Prize jury: Alexander Zhembrovskyy, Astrid van Leeuwen, Frederik Redelé, Bram Posma and Rutger Steens, to all of whom I am greatly thankful!

I also want to express my sincere gratitude to my ballet master Larissa Lezhnina, with whom I spend most of the time in the ballet studio. Thank you, Larissa, for sharing your precious knowledge with me, this Prize is also a recognition of everything that you have taught me!

I am always very grateful to our artistic director, Ted Brandsen, who brought me to Dutch National Ballet two-and-a-half years ago under difficult circumstances. Thank you, Ted, for believing in me, for making me part of the Dutch National family, and for allowing me to pursue my artistic dreams with this company. The last season gave me excellent opportunities to dance many of my favorite classical ballet roles. I was Giselle and Raymonda in Rachel Beaujean's outstanding productions, and was fortunate to work with two legendary Masters - Hans van Manen and Jiri Kylian.

While my parents, family and many old friends cannot be here to share my joy over this Prize, it is very special to have all of you with me here, because I feel extremely fortunate and happy to have been received in your family.

At the same time, I also keep remembering how Jiri Kylian said several months ago on this very stage that we must be aware of how privileged we are to enjoy peace and to be able to practice our art and share it with spectators, while at this very moment millions of people around the world are suffering from war and devastation. With this thought, I hope that all of us will continue to pray for peace, freedom and prosperity to come to everybody's homes, wherever they may be!”

Olga Smirnova

Olga Smirnova (St. Petersburg, Russia) joined Dutch National Ballet as a principal dancer in 2022, after she decided to leave her homeland and her star position at the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, a decision prompted the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Read the extensive biography of Olga Smirnova

Overview previous winners Alexandra Radius Prize

1989	Coleen Davis	1990	Zoltán Solymosi
1991	Caroline Sayo Iura	1992	Clint Farha
1993	Nathalie Caris	1994	Jeanette Vondersaar
1995	Jahn Magnus Johansen	1996	Boris de Leeuw
1997	Marieke Simons	1998	Sofiane Sylve
1999	Gaël Lambiotte	2000	Wim Broeckx
2001	Rubi Pronk	2002	Ruta Jezerskyte
2003	Igone de Jongh	2004	Cédric Ygnace
2005	Marisa Lopez	2006	Larisa Lezhnina
2007	Anna Tgsygankova	2008	Michele Jimenez
2009	Jozef Varga	2010	Anu Viheriäranta
2011	Matthew Golding	2012	Casey Herd
2013	Remi Wörtmeyer	2014	Jurgita Dronina en Isaac Hernández
2015	Maia Makhateli	2016	Artur Shesterikov
2017	Young Gyu Choi	2018	Timothy van Poucke
2019	Edo Wijnen	2021	Floor Eimers
2022	Salome Leverashvili	2023	Giorgi Potskhishvili

The award has also been given twice to non-dancers: in 1991 to Anton Gerritsen, upon his retirement as Managing Director of Dutch National Ballet, and in 1992 to Astrid van Leeuwen, for her contributions to the Friends of Dutch National Ballet foundation.

Learn more about the Alexandra Radius Prize