Iana Salenko and Dinu Tamazlacaru in La Esmeralda

Iana Salenko as Esmeralda and Dinu Tamazlacaru as Phoebus (both with Berlin State Ballet) and corps de ballet of the Yakobson Ballet Theater in Pas de six from La Esmeralda, Music by Cesare Pugni, choreography by Jules Perrot and Marius Petipa.

Iana Salenko and Dinu Tamazlacaru and corps de ballet of the Yakobson Ballet Theater in Pas de six from La Esmeralda, Music by Cesare Pugni, choreography by Jules Perrot and Marius Petipa.

Iana Salenko  was born in 1983 in Kiev. From 1995 Iana attended the Pisarev Ballet School in Donezk an graduated in 2000 as a professional dancer. She danced from 2000-2002 at the Donezk Opera House as a soloist and then as a principal dancer at the National Opera in Kiev. In 2005 joined the Berlin State Ballet where she is now first soloist.

Dinu Tamazlacaru was accepted 1994 to Chisinau Opera Theatre ballet school with Alexander Iwanow. From 2000 to 2002 at Wiener Konservatoriums with Maxim Abzalow. From 2002 to 2006 is soloist at Berlin State Opera.

La Esmeralda is a ballet in 3 acts, 5 scenes, inspired by Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo, originally choreographed by Jules Perrot; with music by Cesare Pugni. Today the ballet is presented in its full-length form only in certain parts of the world; Russia; parts of Eastern Europe; and New Jersey, United States. Oftenly only excerpts are given – the La Esmeralda Pas de Deux and the Pas de Six, but mostly the Diane and Actéon Pas de Deux.

Photos by Jack Devant © with kind permission of the Dance Open, special thanks to Ekaterina Galanova, Julia Martina, Daria Donova and Adelia Mukhamedzhanova.