Alhanko, Anneli

Anneli Alhanko Photos

Anneli Alhanko Biography

Notable: Born 1954; Royal Swedish Ballet 

Anneli Alhanko was born in 1954. She studied with the Swedish Opera Ballet School from 1963 to 1971. Coached by Margaretha von Bahr. She was the first Swedish dancer to participate at the Varna competition in 1971. Joined the Royal Swedish Ballet in 1971. Her first big role was Paquita in first year with RSB. Appointed soloist in 1973 (and in 1990 the first to be given the title Court Dancer by the Swedish king). Danced Giselle as guest with the Kirov Ballet in 1975. In the 80’s she did several tours to Leningrad, Moscow and other Russian cities. In 1984 Galina Ulanova coached her to dance Giselle at the Bolshoi.

Some of her leading roles with the RSB were in:

• Nureyev’s staging of the Nutcracker (1971)
• MacMillian’s Romeo and Juliet (1973)
• Sleeping Beauty (1974)
• Cullberg’s Miss Julie (1977)
• Cranko’s Taming of the shrew (1978)
• Coppelia (1980), Manon (1980)
• Beryl Grey’s staging of Sleeping Beauty (1985)
• Natalia Makarova’s staging of La Bayadere (1989)
• Cranko’s Onegin (1990)
• Neumeier’s A Midsummer Nights Dream (1990)