Xander Parish

Xander was born in East Yorkshire, England and began dancing in Kingston upon Hull at the age of eight. In 1998 he joined the Royal Ballet School in London where he trained until summer 2005 when he joined The Royal Ballet Company with his sister Demelza. In 2009, he was invited to join The Mariinsky Ballet by its ballet director Yuri Fateyev and moved to St. Petersburg to join the company in January 2010 as its first and only British dancer.

His repertoire includes: Count Albrecht (Giselle), Prince Siegfried (Swan Lake), Romeo (Romeo & Juliet), Nutcracker Prince (The Nutcracker), Prince Désiré (Sleeping Beauty) Count Vronsky (Ratmansky’s Anna Karenina), Poet (Chopiniana), Golden Slave (Scheherazade), Aminta (Sylvia) & Armand (Marguerite and Armand) by Ashton, Balanchine ballets include the title roles in Apollo, Emeralds, Diamonds & Serenade; Hans Van Manen’s Adagio Hammerklavier and Variations for Two Couples; and McGregor’s Infra.

His recent awards include the Positano Premia La Danza Léonide Massine Emerging Dancer on the International Scene Award 2014, Best Young Male Dancer at the 1st Taglioni European Ballet Awards in Berlin 2014 and Best Male Performance (Classical) for Apollo at the UK’s Critics Circle National Dance Awards 2014.

Xander has been a guest artist with The Kremlin Ballet, Opera National Bucharest and Roberto Bolle & Friends. Xander is generously supported by The Mariinsky Theatre Trust UK.