Maria Mosina and Alexei Tyukov in Swan Lake - Act 3 - photo by Mike Watson
Maria Mosina and Alexei Tyukov in Swan Lake – Act 3 – photo by Mike Watson

Bravo!! The Colorado Ballet season has opened with excitement and applause with Swan Lake; a classic ballet and musical masterpiece.

The dedicated dancers  make their movements seem effortless and  the set design brings this enchanting story to grand scale.

It was announced the beginning of this season that after 21 years dedicated to the Colorado Ballet that Maria Mosina would step down as principal dancer who has been dedicated to her craft for 26 seasons as a professional dancer. “To be honest, I would dance forever, but I believe it is the time for me to step out and give the opportunity to younger dancers to step in and dance for our audience,” said Mosina. “The 2016-2017 will be my last season as a member of the Colorado Ballet Company.”

Born in Moscow, Maria Mosina graduated from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Russia. Molina joined the Bolshoi Ballet Grigorovich Company upon her graduation from the academy and was chosen for principal roles. Touring the world, Mosina appeared on all major stages throughout Europe, America, Africa and Asia. In 1995 the Colorado Ballet invited Mosian to join the company as a leading principal dancer.

Maria Mosina in Don Quixote - by Terry Shapiro
Maria Mosina in Don Quixote – by Terry Shapiro

Gil Boggs, artistic director of the Colorado Ballet since 2006 expresses his working relationship with Mosina. “It has been phenomenal to have the ability to work with Maria. When I got here I was overjoyed that she was a member of this company and to have such a wonderful artist here. One of my favorite stories is that we all came back from a long Summer break and we started rehearsals and Maria came boomering out and it literally brought tears to my eyes. She is such a beautiful dancer. It has been a pleasure to watch her over the years.”

The level of devotion and true expertise to the ballet profession is a testament to the commitment that has been her life on stage and behind the curtain. “The process here is what we all enjoy and then there is final product on stage. The beautiful thing about Maria,” states Boggs “is that every day, five days a week we are in the studio, six hours of rehearsal and she never takes it easy, she never “marks”, thats what we say here in the industry, which means she is always doing everything full out.”

When asked what he will miss the most after Mosina departs? “Everything!,” states Boggs with a smile. “From working with her in the studio to watching her rehearsal process, her performance process, her development of character.” Boggs goes on to say that “when she is given a role she slowly pieces things together with what that role entails and there is no moment left to chance, she has been through the mental process.”

Maria Mosina and Alexei Tyukov in The Nutcracker - by Mike Watson
Maria Mosina and Alexei Tyukov in The Nutcracker – by Mike Watson

In July Boggs received a tough phone call from Mosina advising that she had injured her foot. After surgery and some rehabilitation Mosina was cleared to perform. And perform she did opening night of Swan Lake. With vibrant enthusiasm, Mosina took stage with the leading roles of Odette and Odile; her grace and believability of each character is beyond words. The dance company took the story of Swan Lake to a level I had not experienced before. Boggs expressed his gratitude for the level of professionalism that Mosina brings to the company and knowing that this would be her last season he built it around her to say goodbye with.

Mosina’s decision to retire at the end of this season left her with mixed feelings as her mind and body aren’t quite ready to stop dancing. “I was very fortunate that throughout my career I had a lot of people close to my heart – people, mentors that guided me through my career,” said Mosina. “Teachers who not only showed me the steps of ballet but they helped me to create the parts and roles. They’d tell me about little secrets and details that their teachers told them. There is a little chain and I think it’s time for me to give this knowledge and my experience to younger generations.” Mosina will continue to work with the Colorado Ballet as a teacher and Boggs adds “You can only imagine the wealth of knowledge that will be passed on and we are very excited about that.”

Maria Mosina and Igor Vassine in Giselle - by Rosalie O'Connor
Maria Mosina and Igor Vassine in Giselle – by Rosalie O’Connor

“Everyone knows that the career of a ballet dancer is not so long, but for me, I had 26 years of dancing professionally, and I’ve traveled around the world and shown my art to different audiences,” said Mosina.  “I’ve worked with the best teachers, coaches and choreographers and I’ll be very thankful for all my life that I had the opportunity.”

 

Each and every season the Colorado Ballet engages and mesmerizes its audience and hopeful young future dancers. They go above and beyond expectations. “I credit the dancers for their abilities that I am able to bring these productions in because I know that they are going to pull it off and they are going to look wonderful,” states Boggs.

Don’t miss out on the final season of principal dancer Maria Mosina that includes performances that are engaging, vibrant and simply spectacular! Visit www.coloradoballet.org to purchase your tickets today and to learn more about the performance season.

Remaining Swan Lake performance dates and times:

Friday, October 14, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 15, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 16, 2016 at 2 p.m.
Thursday, October 20, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, October 21, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 22, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 23, 2016 at 2 p.m.

Maria Mosina in Swan Lake - by Mike Watson
Maria Mosina in Swan Lake – by Mike Watson

 

Please Note: some information and quotes were gathered from the Colorado Ballet press release announcing the retirement of Maria Mosina