Ballet dancer: Alina Cojocaru

Alina Cojocaru is a female principal dancer with The Royal Ballet of London. She was born on 27th May 1981 in Bucharest, Romania. From her young age she studied gymnastics. Later she began ballet classes, despite never having seen a live ballet.

At the age of 7 or 8 she began gymnastic classes, progressing at the age of 9 to a Bucharest ballet school which acted as a feeder for the Romanian State Ballet school. In January 1997, aged 16, she competed in the Prix de Lausanne, a prestigious international ballet competition. She won the gold medal, winning a six month scholarship to train at the Royal Ballet School in London. She moved to London that same year to commence her training, but did not speak any English. Cojocaru's early appearances with the company included performing in the opening gala for the refurbished Royal Opera House, plus appearances with the corps de ballet in the Kingdom of the Shades from La Bayadère, as a snowflake in The Nutcracker and as a doll in Coppélia.