Russian Ballaerina Diana Visheva, a principal dancer with American Ballet Theater since 2005, is set to give her farewell performances with the company in 2017. These will take place at the Metropolitan Opera House on 19 and 23 June, with Vishneva at the age of 41. For her last performances with American Ballet Theater she will dance the role of Tatiana in John Cranko’s Onegin, partnered by Marcelo Gomes.
Despite these farewells in the US, Vishneva will remain a principal dancer with the Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg, Russia. Her decision to leave American Ballet Theater is said to be due to too many big and demanding projects, and the fact she can no longer give 100 percent to American Ballet Theater. Her performances in June will enable Vishneva to dance a powerful and dramatic role with one of her favourite partners, yet she will not rule out one-off guest performances with the company in the future.
Vishneva has danced with American Ballet Theater for 12 years, performing a huge range of classical repertoire. She has also performed independently in her own productions, commissioning pieces from contemporary choreographers, as well as from balletic choreographers. In 2013, she founded Context, an international festival of contemporary dance in St Petersburg, which will this year expand with a parallel programme in Moscow. One to watch, Vishneva has commissioned the Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin to create a work for herself and Aurélie Dupont, the former Paris Opera Ballet étoile who is now the director of the company.
Bespoke projects such as these are of great interest to Vishneva, who constantly monitors the contemporary dance scene for ideas and possibilities. There may even be the possibility of Vishneva directing a company in the future; we will just have to wait and see.