Alexandrova was born in
Moscow,
Russian SFSR, and attended the
Moscow Choreographic Academy. She won a gold medal at the
Moscow International Ballet Competition in 1997 and shortly thereafter joined the Bolshoi Ballet, quickly making her debut as Myrtha in
Giselle. In June 2000, she played a double role in
Don Quixote as street dancer for the first act and as soloist in third. By 2004, she had become a principal dancer, and since then she has performed in such ballets as
The Sleeping Beauty and played the title character in
Alexei Ratmansky's
Leah and Carmen in
Carmen Suite. In 2005 and 2007, she performed numerous
soloist roles and made her debuts as Odette-Odile in
Swan Lake, Medora in
Le Corsaire and the Pupil in
The Lesson. In 2009, she danced in the premiere of
Coppélia as Swanilda, made her debut as Nikiya in
La Bayadère and danced the title role in the premiere of
Esmeralda. The same year, she also traveled to
Novosibirsk where she appeared again in
Swan Lake and
Don Quixote, both of which were performed at the
Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. In 2010, she made her debut as the Countess in
Roland Petit's
Queen of Spades. She returned to the Bolshoi stage on 28 February 2014 in a performance of
Mats Ek's
Apartment. In 2015, Alexandrova had participated in a film called
Bolshoi Babylon. On 2 February 2017, it was officially announced that Alexandrova decided to resign from the Bolshoi Ballet. "Bolshoi Theater has confirmed resignation of one of the ballet company stars, internationally acclaimed prima ballerina Maria Alexandrova. The resignation was voluntary" said
TASS. "On January 19, 2017, People's Artist of Russia Maria Alexandrova filed a request for voluntary resignation," a spokesperson for the theater said. "This was Ms. Alexandrova's personal decision." Alexandrova explained she will continue to dance within the context of other projects. Alexandrova was a leader of the Bolshoi Theatre's performer's union, and on 14 September 2014 she ran unsuccessfully for
election to the
Moscow City Duma as a candidate from the
Communist Party of the Russian Federation, finishing second in the 41st electoral district. ==See also==