Nadja Saidakova

Nadja Saidakova was born in Izhevsk (Russia). After her training at the State Ballet Academy in Perm, she began her career at the Moscow Classical Ballet. In 1991, she was engaged by Heinz Spoerli as a principal dancer at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf. From 1995, she danced as a principal dancer with the Ballet of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, and since 2004, also with the Staatsballett Berlin under the direction of Vladimir Malakhov. Her repertoire included numerous classical roles and leading parts, while she was equally at home in the field of neoclassical and contemporary dance. She danced in the major works of John Cranko (Onegin), Boris Eifman (Tschaikowsky – das Mysterium von Leben und Tod), repeatedly by Maurice Béjart (Le Concours, Serait-ce la mort?, Ring um den Ring), Patrice Bart, Heinz Spoerli, or William Forsythe. She inspired numerous choreographers to create roles for her.

Nadja Saidakova danced, among others, in the classic adaptations of Rudolf Nureyev (Raymonda, Dornröschen), Patrice Bart (Giselle, Schwanensee, Der Nussknacker), or Vladimir Malakhov (Die Bajadere, Cinderella), in major works by Heinz Spoerli (Peer Gynt), John Cranko (Onegin), Boris Eifman (Tschaikowsky – das Mysterium von Leben und Tod), and again by Maurice Béjart (Le Concours, Serait-ce la mort?, Ring um den Ring). Her repertoire also includes works by George Balanchine, Uwe Scholz, or William Forsythe. In recent years, she interpreted choreographies by Alexei Ratmansky or Nacho Duato; Itzik Galili and Giorgio Madia created roles for her.

In 2005, Nadja Saidakova began choreographing and presented her works at the Berliner Festspiele, in Moscow, and with the Staatsballett Berlin, among others, also at Berghain in Berlin. She was honored as Dancer of the Year in 2016 in Italy with the Premio Re Manfredi. She took her farewell from the stage in 2017 with the role of Tatjana in John Cranko's Onegin. Since then, she has been working as a ballet master.