Laetitia Pujol Ballerina Date of Birth: 08.10.1975 Country: France

Biography of Letizia Pujol

Letizia Pujol, a ballerina born on March 8, 2000, was promoted to the position of first soloist ("première danseuse"). Pujol was born on October 8, 1975, and started dancing at the age of eight in Toulouse, in the south of France. In her youth, she won several national ballet competitions, including gold medals at the competitions in Ulgate (1990, 1991), Montpellier (1991), and La Baule (1992). In 1991, she also received the Grand Prix Méditerranéen. In the same year, Pujol entered the conservatory in Toulouse. The following year, she won first prize at the International Ballet Competition in Lausanne, which allowed her to continue her education at the Paris Opera Ballet School, where she was accepted into the graduating class. In 1993, Pujol danced the role of Lise in the school performance of "La Fille mal gardée" (choreography by Romanova, version by Claude Bessy) with Jérémie Bélingard.

In 1993, Pujol graduated from the ballet school and was accepted into the corps de ballet of the Paris Opera Ballet. In 1994, she was promoted to the position of coryphée. In July 1994, Pujol won the silver medal at the International Ballet Competition in Varna. In her first season at the Paris Opera Ballet, Pujol mainly danced in the corps de ballet in performances such as Rudolf Nureyev's "Swan Lake," "Crystal Palace," "Serenade," "Theme and Variations," and George Balanchine's "Allegro Brillante," John Neumeier's "Magnificat" and "Sylvia," Angelin Preljocaj's "Parc," Roland Petit's "Notre-Dame de Paris," and Kenneth MacMillan's "Song of the Earth."

In 1994, Letizia Pujol danced her first solo role as the Princess Florine and the Bluebird in "The Sleeping Beauty" with Emmanuel Thibault at the "Young Dancers of the Opera" evenings. Her solo repertoire continued to expand in the 1996-1997 season, when she danced the Child in Agnes de Mille's "Fall River Legend," Louise in Rudolf Nureyev's "The Nutcracker," the Canary and one of the Precious Stones in "The Sleeping Beauty," and the Scottish pas de deux in Pierre Lacotte's "La Sylphide."

In 1998, Pujol danced the Peasant pas de deux in the first act of "Giselle." In January 1999, as a result of the company's annual competition, where she performed variations of Gamzatti from "La Bayadère" and Esmeralda from "Notre-Dame de Paris," Pujol was promoted to the position of "sujet." In the same year, Letizia Pujol performed in Japan as part of Manuel Legris' group. In 1999, she danced the pas de trois and the Dance of the Little Swans in "Swan Lake," as well as the jump, the Dance of Manu, and the 2nd Shade in "La Bayadère." In addition, she performed the solo role in Maurice Béjart's "IX Symphony of Beethoven," where her partners were Laurent Hilaire and Nicolas Le Riche, and Ada in Béjart's ballet "Le Concours." In "The Sleeping Beauty," she danced the 2nd variation in the Prologue, the White Cat in the 3rd act, and the Princess Florine.

On March 8, 2000, Letizia Pujol was promoted to the position of first soloist. In this competition, she performed variations from "Raymonda" and "Etudes" by Harald Lander. Her repertoire at the Paris Opera Ballet was expanded with roles such as Cinderella's Stepsister in Nureyev's "Cinderella," Henriette in "Raymonda," and Clara in "The Nutcracker" (with Josu Martinez as her partner) in the 2000-2001 season. She also danced Polyhymnia in Balanchine's ballet "Apollo" and the pas de trois in "Emeralds," the first part of the recently acquired ballet "Jewels." William Forsythe chose her to perform in his ballet "The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude," and Jiri Kylian chose her for his new production "Bella Figura." In the new version of Pierre Lacotte's "Paquita," she danced the pas de trois in the first act. In the same season, she danced two ballets by Jerome Robbins - "Other Dances" and "The Cage." In the 2001-2002 season, Pujol danced Gamzatti in Nureyev's version of "La Bayadère" (including partnering with Mariinsky Theatre star Svetlana Zakharova as Nikiya and Jean-Guillaume Bart as Solor) in November-December 2001. In February 2002, she performed the role of Cathy in Kader Belarbi's new ballet "Hurlevent," based on Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights."

In December 2001, Pujol participated in a gala concert at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, where she danced the pas de deux from "Carnaval in Venice" and the pas de deux of Gamzatti and Solor from the 2nd act of "La Bayadère" with Jean-Guillaume Bart.

On May 2, 2002, after performing the role of Kitri in "Don Quixote" (replacing the ill Clairemarie Osta), Pujol was given the title of étoile, making her one of the company's principal dancers.

On January 20, 2003, Pujol danced the pas de deux from "Don Quixote" with Eric Vu An at a gala concert dedicated to Rudolf Nureyev.

At the Third International Ballet Festival "Mariinsky" (February 21 - March 2, 2003), Pujol danced the leading role in "Emeralds."

Letizia Pujol has received numerous awards throughout her career, including gold medals at the ballet competitions in Ulgate (1990, 1991), Montpellier (1991), and La Baule (1992), as well as the Grand Prix Méditerranéen (1991) and the silver medal at the International Ballet Competition in Varna (1994).