Yasmine Naghdi

Yasmine Naghdi (born in London on 25 March 1992) is a British ballerina and a principal dancer of The Royal Ballet in London. She joined the Royal Ballet's corps de ballet in April 2010. In June 2017, she was promoted to the highest rank of principal ballerina.[1]

Yasmine Naghdi
Yasmine in La Bayàdere (production of Natalia Makarova)
Born (1992-03-25) 25 March 1992
London, England
OccupationPrincipal ballerina at The Royal Ballet

Early life

Naghdi grew up in Kensington, England to a Belgian art-historian mother and an Iranian car-manufacturing father.[2]

At 12 years old she was accepted into the Royal Ballet School and performed in numerous ballets. [3]

Because Naghdi joined the Royal Ballet School "late" by ballet standards, she felt like an outcast and saw herself at "the bottom of the class".[2] Despite her initial social struggles, she excelled at the Royal Ballet School, and was awarded "Most Outstanding Classical Dancer" at the age of 15.[4]

In September 2008, Naghdi progressed into The Royal Ballet School's Senior Section/Upper School. In March 2009, she was awarded the First Prize after winning the national competition Young British Dancer of the Year by The Royal Ballet, a prize which recognizes young British and British-trained classical dancers.[5]

Career

Yasmine Naghdi joined The Royal Ballet company in April 2010, and was promoted to the rank of first artist by the end of 2011–12 season. She was made soloist at the end of the 2013–14 season, first soloist by the end of the 2015–16 season, and promoted to principal dancer by the end of 2016-2017 season.[6]

At the age of 22, she made her debut as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet.[7][8] At 24, she was promoted to The Royal Ballet's highest rank of principal ballerina by the end of the 2016–17 season.[3][9] That same year, she made her debut as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake.

Repertory

Her major roles with the company include:[10]

Yasmine Naghdi in 'Dances at a Gathering' of Jerome Robbins
  • Odette/Odile (Swan Lake)
  • Aurora (The Sleeping Beauty)
  • Giselle
  • Juliet (Romeo and Juliet)
  • Gamzatti (La Bayadère)
  • Kitri (Don Quixote)
  • Tatiana (Onegin)
  • Swanilda (Coppelia)
  • Baroness Mary Vetsera (Mayerling)
  • Countess Larish (Mayerling)
  • Sugar Plum Fairy (The Nutcracker)
  • The Firebird
  • Mathilde Kschessinska (Anastasia)
  • Pink Girl (Dances at a Gathering)
  • Irina (Winter Dreams),
  • Young Girl (Two Pigeons)
  • Terpsichore (Apollo)
  • Florence Billington (The Unknown Soldier)
  • Stop Time Rag and Bethina Waltz (Elite Syncopations)
  • The Girl (The Invitation)

Her further repertory includes:[10]

  • Le Corsaire Grand Pas
  • Sylvia - Act 3 Grand Pas de deux
  • Ballet Imperial (Balanchine)
  • "Le Parc" (Angelin Preljocaj)
  • "Three Preludes" (Ben Stevenson)
  • Symphony in C
  • ‘Emeralds’, ‘Rubies’, ‘Diamonds' (Jewels)
  • Tarantella (Balanchine)
  • The Four Temperaments (Balanchine)
  • Symphonic Variations
  • Monotones I
  • La Sylphide
  • Ballets created by choreographers Wayne McGregor and Christopher Wheeldon
  • "Prima" (Valentino Zucchetti)

Honours
  • First prize for Classical Excellence, The Royal Ballet School
  • Most Outstanding Classical Dancer award, 2007[4]
  • First prize for the Kenneth Macmillan Choreographic Competition, The Royal Ballet School.
  • First prize for Young British Dancer of the Year, 2009.[5]
  • Nominated for Best Female Dancer at the National Critics Dance Awards, 2018

References
  1. "Yasmine Naghdi Promoted To Principal Dancer Of The Royal Ballet - The Royal Ballet School". 9 July 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  2. Winship, Lyndsey (26 October 2017). "Yasmine Naghdi: I saw myself as bottom of the class". Evening Standard. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  3. "Yasmine Naghdi". Royal Opera House. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014.
  4. "YasmineNaghdi". British Ballet Now & Then. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  5. "Graduate Contracts" (Press release). Royal Ballet School. 4 February 2010. Archived from the original on 24 August 2014.
  6. "Yasmine Naghdi". www.roh.org.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  7. "The Royal Ballet's new star-crossed lovers: Yasmine Naghdi and Matthew Ball". gramilano. 2 October 2015. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016.
  8. "FIVE QUESTIONS FOR Yasmine Naghdi". Grazia USA. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  9. "Promotions and joiners at The Royal Ballet for 2016/17". Royal Opera House. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016.
  10. "Yasmine Naghdi — People — Royal Opera House". www.roh.org.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2022.


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