Tamara Rojo

Tamara Rojo is a ballerina from Spain who was born in May 17, 1974.  She is considered as a Prima Ballerina and she is currently one of the principal ballet dancers of the Royal Ballet which is based in London, England.  She is scheduled to take over the position of Artistic Director of the English National Ballet in 2012 thus she will have to leave the Royal Ballet at that time.

Although Tamara Rojo has Spanish parents, she was actually born in the city of Montreal, Canada.  She grew up in Spain though because her parents moved back to their country when Tamara was just 4 months old.   At the young age of 10 years old, she was already dancing in the Victor Ullate Dance Center which is based in Madrid, Spain.  She trained there with Renato Paroni and David Howard.  Upon completion of her training, Tamara was immediately offered a position in the dance company of Victor Ullate which was named the Ballet de Comunidad de Madrid.  In an unfortunate event, the lead performer of the company was injured but the scheduled show still turn out to be a success as Tamara was chosen to take her place and she was able to perform well beyond expectations.

By the time she was 20 years old, Tamara reached a new plateau of fame as she won the gold medal when she finished in first at the Paris International Dance Competition.  She also won the special jury award which was given to the best dancer as determined by a special set of judges. 

 In the year that Tamara won, the judges for the award were Galani Samsova, Natalia Makarova, and Vladimir Vassiliev, three of the most recognized and respected figures in the world of Ballet.

  

Fresh from her success at the Paris International Dance Competition, Tamara was offered a position with the Scottish ballet which was headed by Galina Samsova.  During her stay here, Tamara continued her impressive performances while dancing the principal roles in such classic ballets as Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, La Sylphide, and the Nutcracker. She stayed with the Scottish Ballet until she was 23 when she made the decision to move and join the English National Ballet.  The following year, Tamara was already promoted to the distinguished position of Principal Dancer. 

  At 26, she moved to the Royal Ballet where she remained as a Principal Dancer.

Tamara Rojo was invited to join the Royal Ballet of London amid high praise being heaped upon her by both the ballet audience and the critics as well.  As Principal Dancer, Tamara has performed for the Royal Ballet in the Swan Lake of Dowell, the Sleeping Beauty of both Makarova and of Mason, the La Bayadere of Makarova, the Nutcracker of Wright, and Don Quixote of Nureyev.  She has also performed in many of the works of Sir Kenneth Macmillan.  In these roles, the works of Sir Kenneth Macmillan were recreated especially for Tamara by Deborah Macmillan.  These performances include: Isadora, Requiem, Rite of Spring, Song of the Earth, Winter Dreams, and Dances Concertantes.