Alina Cojocaru is one of the great ballerinas of her generation – her Giselle, Odette-Odile and Manon bring those complex, anguished characters to life. This deep dive of a conversation offers a rare chance to hear a dancer at the peak of their profession discuss the ways in which art works on both artist and audience. Now a freelance dancer, Alina can shape her own artistic path. She founded her own production company, ACWorkroom, and is currently guesting with London City Ballet – and tells us about creating character, mining emotion and sharing it with an audience.

Alina Cojocaru CBE is a former Principal of the Royal Ballet and English National Ballet. After studying at the Royal Ballet School she joined the Kiev Ballet in Ukraine as a principal dancer and then the Royal Ballet, being promoted to Principal aged 19, in 2001. In 2013 she joined English National Ballet, where lead roles included Akram Khan’s acclaimed reimagining of Giselle. Her numerous awards include Best Female Dancer at the 2002 Critic’s Circle Awards and the 2004 and 2012 Benois de la Danse awards. A permanent Guest Artist with John Neumeier’s Hamburg Ballet, Alina dances as a guest artist with the world’s foremost ballet companies.

Alina’s company ACWorkroom https://www.alinacojocaru.com/

London City Ballet (Alina performs in Oxford, Bath, Birmingham and at Sadler's Wells in London) https://londoncityballet.com/production/momentum/#tour-dates

Why Dance Matters is a dance podcast featuring inspiring conversations with extraordinary people from the world of dance and beyond. Hosted by David Jays, editor of Dance Gazette, this podcast explores how dance shapes lives and why it matters to us all. Brought to you by the RAD, which inspires the world to dance, these insightful stories will surprise and delight. Tune in and discover more on our website.

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