Xander Parish

OBE
Parish in 2020
Born
Alexander Robert Nigel Parish

1986 (age 37–38)
North Ferriby, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
NationalityEnglish
EducationRoyal Ballet School
OccupationBallet dancer
Years active2005–present
Career
Current groupMariinsky Ballet

Alexander Robert Nigel Parish OBE (born 1986), is an English ballet dancer and the first British dancer to be employed by the Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg, Russia.

Biography

Parish (right) with Maria Khoreva, first soloist of the Mariinsky Ballet, in 2020

Xander Parish born in 1987 in North Ferriby in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. He began dancing at the age of 8, at the Skelton-Hooper School of Dance in Kingston upon Hull, under the direction of principal and former Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet Theatre soloist, Vanessa Hooper. In 1998, he was accepted into the Royal Ballet School, first attending the lower school at White Lodge, Richmond Park, then continuing his training at the upper school.

He graduated into the Royal Ballet in 2005, as a member of the corps de ballet. He remained with the company for five years, before joining the Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg, Russia in January 2010. He made his debut with the company performing the role of the poet in the ballet Chopiniana as a Coryphee, a corp member who may dance solo or even principal roles. He was promoted to soloist in March 2014 and principal dancer in July 2017 Parish has a sister, Demelza Parish, was previously a dancer with the Royal Ballet.[1]

In early March 2022, Parish decided to temporarily leave Russia due to Russian invasion of Ukraine.[2] In August, he joined the Norwegian National Ballet.[3]

Honours

He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to dance and UK/Russia cultural relations.

Repertoire includes

Created roles

  • DGV, Danse a Grand Vitesse – Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon
  • Seven Deadly Sins – Choreographer: William Tuckett
  • I'm Not Scared – Choreographer: Ilya Zhivou

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ↑ Sanderson, David (7 March 2022). "British dancer quits Russia's Mariinsky Ballet over Ukraine". The Times.
  3. ↑ Escoyne, Courtney (1 September 2022). "News of Note: What You Might Have Missed in August 2022". Dance Magazine.
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