Last month, newest Principal Dancer, Jiří Jelinek, arrived in Toronto. Born in Prague, Jiří trained at the Prague Conservatory of Dance and the Hamburg Dance Centre under John Neumeier. He was a Principal Dancer with the Prague National Theatre Ballet and Stuttgart Ballet before joining The National Ballet of Canada.

Toronto audiences will get their first glimpse of Jiří’s dancing in Swan Lake, onstage March 11 – 21, 2010, but if you are interested in learning more about Jiří, have a look at some recent interviews in The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star, as well as his Q & A in the February issue of Ballet News.

Jiří is looking forward to dancing the title role in “Onegin because I’ve never danced it in North America and it’s a role I’m well-known for in Europe and Asia.”

[Photos: Above, in Onegin. Photo by Ulrich Beuttenmüller]