Vadim Muntagirov will join The Royal Ballet as a Principal Dancer on 24 February 2014.
Muntagirov was overlooked by Monica Mason when he graduated from The Royal Ballet School in 2009, instead he joined the English National Ballet, where he has made a striking contribution, especially in partnership with Daria Klimentová.
It has been a great pleasure and privilege to see him develop and grow within the ENB company. But this is the reason for his move. Still only 23, he wants new repertoire, new direction, and new challenges, as his statement makes clear:
“This is a very exciting time for me. I’ve had so many fantastic opportunities with English National Ballet over the past four years and have many great memories to take with me.
"At this point in my career I feel ready to take on new challenges and felt that The Royal Ballet could offer me that opportunity. To dance some of the great roles in The Royal Ballet’s repertory as well as create new work being made by some of the greatest choreographers is a dream come true.”
What a huge hole he'll leave at the ENB. And what a blow not only to Tamara Rojo, its Artistic Director of one year, but also Klimentová and Alina Cojocaru, whom he partnered so beautifully in Le Corsaire last month.
ENB will have to do some recasting for its Lest We Forget programme commemorating the centenary of the First World War at the Barbican in April:
'Vadim Muntagirov has resigned from English National Ballet to accept a contract at The Royal Ballet. He will be leaving English National Ballet at the end of February and will not now perform in the new works by Russell Maliphant, Akram Khan and Liam Scarlett at the Barbican, nor Romeo & Juliet in-the-round at the Royal Albert Hall as previously announced.'
Vadim joined English National Ballet in 2009, straight from school, as a First Artist. He was promoted to First Soloist in 2010, Principal 2011 and Lead Principal 2012. Tamara Rojo had this to say:
“Vadim is a beautiful dancer whom we have cherished at English National Ballet where he has spent his whole career. We are sad to see him go but wish him all the best for the future.”
Vadim’s first performance with The Royal Ballet will be on Tuesday 25 March as Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Beauty partnering Akane Takada who will be making her debut as Princess Aurora. Vadim will also be appearing in Christopher Wheeldon’s new full-length ballet The Winter’s Tale which opens in April.
Born to dancer parents in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, where his father was director of the town's State Ballet, Vadim began dancing in 1999, attending the Perm Choreographic Ballet Institute.
In 2006 he won the silver medal at the Prix de Lausanne and in the same year was invited to join The Royal Ballet Upper School. The English National Ballet followed in 2009 on graduation.
In 2011 he won the UK National Dance Award for Outstanding Classical Performance and in 2013 received the Le Benois de la Danse award.