Alexandre Katsapov

Born in St. Petersburg, Alexandre Katsapov studied at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet and subsequently (in 1993–1996) was engaged at the Mussorgsky State Academic Theatre, where he danced the roles of Albert in Giselle, the Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty, the Prince in The Nutcracker, Romeo and Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, James in La Sylphide, the titular role in Petrushka, etc.
In the 1997/98 season he was named a soloist of the Czech National Ballet in Prague, and since 2003 he has been the company’s principal dancer. He masters a superlative classical dance technique and possesses great talent for character roles.
His major successes to date as regards the classical repertoire include the roles of the Prince in Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Mercutio in the ballet Romeo and Juliet, Abderakhman in Raymonda, Albert in Giselle (Christopher Hampson) and Carabosse in The Sleeping Beautry (Javier Torres). He has also danced in August Bournonville’s La Sylphide (James) and Napoli (Gennaro), and portrayed the Slave in the Pas de troisin Le Corsaire.
He proved his great talent for character roles back in the 1990s in Libor Vaculík’s productions, as the Liftboy/Death in Isadora Duncan – The Story of a Famous Dancer, Johannes Friedemann in the double bill Little Mr. Friedemann / Psycho, the First Member of the Cabaret in Some Like It… and asAlfonso of Aragon in the musical- dance production Lucrezia Borgia. He has also dazzled in the titular roles in Vaculík’s Faust (2010) and Valmont (2014).
As for the contemporary repertoire, he has excelled in Jiří Kylián’s choreographies The Child and Magic, Field Mass, Sinfonietta, Return to a Strange Land and Petite Mort, and in solo parts in the mixed bills Americana, The Butterfly Effect, Songs of the Earth, Family Album, Mozart? Mozart!, Czech Ballet Symphony I and II, Extreme, The Rite of Spring and Moonshine. He also dances in George Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky, Pas de deux and Theme and Variations, Christopher Bruce’s Rooster and William Forsythe’s In The Middle Somewhat Elevated.
At the premiere of the mixed bill Americana II in January 2002 he danced opposite Daria Klimentová, portraying Oedipus in Glen Tetley’s choreography Sphinx to great critical acclaim. He has also excelled as Don José in Mats Ek’s Carmen, in the lead male roles in John Cranko’s The Taming of the Shrew and Onegin, the Devil in Youri Vàmos’s The Nutcracker – A Christmas Carol and Rodrigo in Othello by the same choreographer, Jiřík in the fairy-tale ballet Goldilocks and the Master in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Jan Kodet, and the Prince in Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Cinderella.
As regards Petr Zuska’s choreographies, he has portrayed the character of I / Psychiatric Patient in Ibbur, or A Prague Mystery and the lead male role in Brel – Vysotsky – Kryl / Solo for Three, for the latter of which he was nominated for the Komerční banka Award. In 2014 he appeared in the pivotal role of Friar Lawrence in Zuska’s production of Romeo and Juliet.
In 1995, Alexandre Katsapov came second in the Sanlam international competition in Pretoria, South Africa. In 2002 he received the prestigious Czech Thalia Award for his portrayal of the Tsar in the ballet Ivan the Terrible by the choreographer and stage director Libor Vaculík, and one year later was nominated for the Thalia Award for the role of Petruchio in the ballet The Taming of the Shrew. In 2003 he won the Philip Morris Ballet Flower Award for the best classical dance ballet artist in the Czech Republic.
Katsapov has appeared as a regular guest at the National Theatres in Brno and Bratislava, and participated in numerous tours and festivals (Germany, Spain, Finland, Italy, Estonia, Portugal, Malta, Russia, Taiwan and the USA).