Alexey Popov
Alexey Popov, born in Chișinău, Moldova, completed his training at the Vaganova Ballet Academy St. Petersburg in 2010. In the same year he became a member of the Mariinsky Ballet, where he continued to be mentored by teachers such as Gennady Selyutsky and Sergei V. Vikharev and attended classes with Igor Kolb and Leonid Sarafanov, among others. In 2014 he won the 1st prize at the Yuri Grigorovich International Ballet Competition in Sochi (World Youth Ballet International Competition). In 2016, Igor Zelensky engaged him as a soloist with the Bavarian State Ballet in Munich, where he was promoted to principal dancer in 2019. In the 2021/22 season he joined the Vienna State Ballet as first soloist.
Among the outstanding roles Alexey Popov has interpreted with the Mariinsky Ballet are Prince Siegfried in »Swan Lake« and Prince Désiré in »The Sleeping Beauty« (Konstantin M. Sergeyev after Marius Petipa), the »Nutcracker« Prince in Vasili Vainonen and Kirill Simonov’s productions, James in »La Sylphide« (Elsa-Marianne von Rosen after August Bournonville), Lankedem in »Le Corsaire« (Pyotr A. Gussev) and the Rose Spirit in »Le Spectre de la rose« (Mikhail Fokine). He has also danced in works by Victor Gsovsky, Harald Lander, Benjamin Millepied, Roland Petit and Alexei Ratmansky. His roles with the Bavarian State Ballet include Albrecht in »Giselle« (Peter Wright after Marius Petipa), Colas in »La Fille mal gardée« (Frederick Ashton), Lenski in »Onegin«, Mercutio in »Romeo and Juliet«, Lucentio in »The Taming of the Shrew« (John Cranko) as well as Demetrius in »A Midsummer Night’s Dream« and Drosselmeier in »The Nutcracker« (John Neumeier). He has performed as soloist in George Balanchine’s »Symphony in C«, »Rubies« and »Diamonds« from »Jewels«. Alexey Popov also worked in Munich with Christopher Wheeldon on »Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland« and Wayne McGregor on »Kairos« and »Borderlands«.
His Viennese repertoire comprises Franz in Pierre Lacotte's »Coppélia«, Lenski in John Crankoʼs »Onegin«, Bluebird in Martin Schläpfer’s»The Sleeping Beauty«, Jerome Robbinʼs »Glass Pieces«, George Balanchineʼs »Symphony in Three Movements« and »Symphony in C«, Alexei Ratmanskyʼs »24 Préludes«, Hans van Manenʼs »Four Schumann Pieces« and works by Martin Schläpfer such as »Marsch, Walzer, Polka«.