| Petra Conti | |
| Birth Place: | Anagni, Italy |
| Occupation: | Prima Ballerina |
| Years Active: | 2007–present |
| Spouse: | Eris Nezha |
| Current Group: | Hollywood Ballet |
| Former Groups: | Mariinsky Ballet Bavarian State Ballet La Scala Theatre Ballet Boston Ballet Los Angeles Ballet |
Petra Conti (born April 30, 1988) is an Italian prima ballerina. She is a former principal dancer with Los Angeles Ballet, the Boston Ballet and La Scala Theatre Ballet. She is now the artistic director of her own ballet company, Hollywood Ballet.
Before being promoted to principal dancer, she danced as a member of the corps de ballet with the Bavarian State Ballet.
She has danced as a guest principal dancer with Arena di Verona, the Great Russian Ballet, the National Opera of Ukraine, the Ballet Opera of Istanbul, the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Albania in Tirana and toured all around the world.
Since 2014 she holds the title of Ambassador of the Italian Ballet around the World.
Petra Conti was born on April 30, 1988, in Anagni but she grew up in Frosinone, Italy.[1] Her father is Italian and her mother is Polish. Her mother and sister trained at the Academy of Ballet in Poland.[2]
She trained at Szewczenko M.M. Scholl of Ballet, until she moved to Italy. In 2006 she graduated with honors from the in Rome.[3]
She is a naturalized American citizen since March 2021.
Petra Conti graduated at the National Academy of Dance in Rome under the coaching of legendary Maestro Zarko Prebil and later joined the Mariinsky Ballet as a trainee, where she was assigned to work with Prima Ballerina Elvira Tarasova, now the coach of Maria Khoreva.[4]
At seventeen years old she was invited to dance as guest star in the Arena di Verona Ballet's Cinderella. In 2008 she was a company member of the Bavarian State Ballet and a trainee at the Mariinsky Ballet.[5] In 2009 she joined La Scala Theatre Ballet and was promoted to the rank of principal dancer in 2011.[6] In 2013 Conti was invited by Mikko Nissinen to join the Boston Ballet as a principal dancer.[3] [7] She danced as a principal dancer with the company until 2017. Later that year she joined the Los Angeles Ballet as a resident principal guest dancer.[8]
She has danced alongside ballet stars Roberto Bolle, Ivan Vassiliev, Zachary Catazaro, Massimo Murru, Daniel Camargo, Eris Nezha, Alexander Stoyanov, Stanislav Olshanskyi and many more.
Among the awards she received, the 2018 Glamour Talent Award, the 2007 and 2018 Positano Award, the Danza e Danza Award for Best Performer of 2011, the 2012 Roma in Dance Award, the 2013 Ciociaria Prize and the 2017 Capri Award.
Her name is mentioned in numerous ballet publications, and she has been featured in several TV programs and documentaries, including one on SKY Classica about her rendition of Giselle, Romeo and Juliet and Don Quixote.
She modelled for Discount Dance Supply and was chosen as testimonial for fashion brands such as Furla, MAX&Co., Bagutta, Freddy, Dansez-Vous?.
From 2017 to 2019 she was an artistic consultant at the State Ballet Academy Educandato agli Angeli in Verona, Italy. She is a resident ballet coach at Pasadena Civic Ballet and a guest ballet coach for University of South Carolina, Orange County School of the Arts, Master Ballet Academy and Southeastern School of Ballet.
She served as a ballet judge for the 2023 Youth American Grand Prix.
From 2009 until 2011 Conti studied dramatic arts with Kuniaki Ida at the Arsenale Theater in Milan.[3] She has been named the Anna Magnani of Ballet (Panorama Magazine, 2012) for her interpretational skills.[9]
In 2023 she founded Hollywood Ballet, a ballet company based in Los Angeles.[10]
She was the subject of a 2010 Sky Italia documentary titled Dancers of Tomorrow which focused on her performances in Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, and Don Quixote.[3]
At age fifteen Conti was introduced by Italian iconic TV host Raffaella Carrá on her Show Sogni as "the future of Italian ballet in the world". In the show, teenage Conti was sent on a dream trip to Russia to dance a pas de deux alongside ballet superstar Roberto Bolle.
Conti is married to principal dancer Eris Nezha.[11] [12] They reside in Los Angeles with their three rescue cats Frida, Misiu and Romeo.[13]
She is currently earning her bachelor's degree in Science of Leadership at Northeastern University.[3]
In 2016 Conti underwent surgery for kidney cancer.[2] A cancer survivor, she has teamed up with CURE Childhood Cancer for Pointe Shoes for A Cure, a charity that raises funds through the sales of her autographed pointe shoes.