Adji Cissoko

Last updated
Adji Cissoko
Born
NationalityGerman
Education School of American Ballet, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School
OccupationBallet dancer
Height5'10"
Current group Alonzo King LINES Ballet
Former groups National Ballet of Canada

Adji Cissoko is a German ballet dancer. She is currently a principal dancer at LINES Ballet.

Contents

Early life

Cissoko was born in Munich, Germany, to a German mother and Senegalese father. While growing up, the family visited Senegal regularly and blended both cultures at home. [1] While growing up, she studied the Vaganova method of ballet training. At age 18, she left Germany to study at School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theatre's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, both in New York. [2]

Career

After graduating, Cissoko joined the corps de ballet at the National Ballet of Canada. The artistic director, Karen Kain, had seen her dance at the 2009 Prix de Lausanne. During her first year with the ballet, she was photographed for the cover of the August/September 2011 issue of Pointe Magazine. After three seasons with the National Ballet of Canada, Cissoko felt she wasn't a good fit for the company because of her height, and Kain suggested she try out for LINES Ballet, a more contemporary company with taller dancers. Cissoko was accepted at LINES, although she did return to National Ballet of Canada in summer 2018 to dance Swan Lake . [2] [3]

Cissoko has danced with LINES since 2014, where founder Alonzo King encouraged her to be more improvisational. She has also performed at New Chamber Ballet and Monterrey International Ballet Gala. [2] In 2018, she created the role of Furiosa in Fury, a ballet based on Mad Max: Fury Road choreographed by Danielle Rowe and produced by Kate Duhamel. [4]

Personal life

Cissoko also started working as a life coach during the COVID-19 pandemic, which she spent in Toronto. [1] She is fluent in German, French, and English, conversational in Spanish, and knows basic Senegalese. [2]

Related Research Articles

Karen Alexandria Kain is a Canadian former ballet dancer, and the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada.

The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca as the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2005 by artistic director Karen Kain, one of the greatest ballerinas of her generation. Renowned for its diverse repertoire, the company performs traditional full-length classics, embraces contemporary work and encourages the creation of new ballets as well as the development of Canadian choreographers.

Greta Hodgkinson O.Ont is an American-Canadian ballet dancer. She was a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada until she stepped down in 2020. She will continue to perform freelance and become the artist-in residence of the National Ballet.

Polina Alexandrovna Semionova is a Russian ballet dancer and model for Uniqlo who is currently a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre in New York and with the Berlin State Ballet. She is a professor at the Berlin State Ballet School.

Sabrina Matthews is a Canadian ballet choreographer. She has created pieces for some of the most prestigious ballet companies in the world, including multiple pieces for the renowned Stuttgart Ballet. This in-demand choreographer has premiered works on three continents in over a dozen cities from Beijing, to New York, to London. She was recognized as one of Canada's Amazing Women to Watch, alongside Oscar nominees. Recently, Sabrina Matthews has received commissions from Stuttgart Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Boston Ballet, England's Royal Academy of Dance's Genee International Ballet Competition, and the National Ballet of Canada. Over the past few years, her works have been performed by major international ballet companies in Canada, the United States, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.

Janie Taylor is an American ballet dancer, répétiteur and costume designer. She joined New York City Ballet in 1998, was promoted to principal dancer in 2005 and left in 2014. She then started designing costumes and staging works by Justin Peck and Benjamin Millepied, before performing again as a member of the L.A. Dance Project.

Sofiane Sylve is a French ballet dancer. She is currently a principal dancer and ballet master with the Dresden Semperoper Ballett, and the artistic advisor and school director of Ballet San Antonio, and is set to run the latter's new school. She was previously a principal dancer with Dutch National Ballet, New York City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet.

Stott Pilates is a branded version of the Pilates method of physical exercise that was developed by Moira Merrithew and commercialized by Moira with her husband, Lindsay Merrithew, starting in 1988. The most significant difference between Stott Pilates and Joseph Pilates's original method of the early 1900s is that Stott Pilates focused on having a neutral spine posture and generated a different sequence of exercises.

Danielle Rowe is an Australian-born ballet dancer and choreographer.

Beatriz Stix-Brunell

Beatriz Eugenia Stix-Brunell is an American ballet dancer. She is currently a First Soloist of The Royal Ballet.

Alonzo King LINES Ballet

The Alonzo King LINES Ballet (AKLB) is an American contemporary ballet company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The ballet company, founded by choreographer Alonzo King, premiered at San Francisco State University's McKenna Theatre in 1982.

Whitney Jensen American ballet dancer

Whitney Jensen is an American ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the Norwegian National Ballet in Oslo and previously at the Boston Ballet.

Chloe Lukasiak American actress, dancer, model, author, producer and reality television personality

Chloe Elizabeth Lukasiak is an American actress, dancer, author, model, producer, and reality television personality. She is best known for being an original cast member of Lifetime's reality television series Dance Moms during Season 1 through Season 4. She returned as a guest during the Season 7A finale and had a recurring role in Season 7B.

Michaela DePrince Sierra Leonean-American ballet dancer (born 1995)

Michaela Mabinty DePrince is a Sierra Leonean-American ballet dancer. With her adoptive mother, Elaine DePrince, Michaela authored the book Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina. She rose to fame after starring in the documentary First Position in 2011, following her and other young ballet dancers as they prepared to compete at the Youth America Grand Prix. She formerly danced with the Dance Theatre of Harlem as the youngest dancer in the history of the company and currently dances as a soloist for the Dutch National Ballet. Since 2016 Michaela is a goodwill ambassador with the Dutch organisation War Child, based in Amsterdam.

Anne Ditchburn is a Canadian ballet dancer, choreographer, and film actress headlining films like 1979's Slow Dancing in the Big City as a dancer with a crippling disease, a film directed by Rocky director John G. Avildsen and co-starring Paul Sorvino. She also played the doomed ballet dancer Laurian Summers in the 1983 cult horror film Curtains with John Vernon and Samantha Eggar. She danced in nearly all of her film credits, and earned a Golden Globe nomination for her work in Slow Dancing in the Big City. In her time with the National she choreographed some of its most distinguished pieces of the 1970s, including Mad Shadows and Kisses, while also heading side company Ballet Revue.

Dusty Button is an American ballet dancer. She was born in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. At age sixteen she moved to New York to train at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at the American Ballet Theatre. After that, she was invited to the ABT II company where she performed major roles. In 2006 she was awarded the Bronze Finalist Medal at the Youth America Grand Prix. She later joined the Royal Ballet School, in 2008 where she also performed professional roles at the Royal Opera House. She joined the Boston Ballet corps de ballet in 2012, was promoted to soloist in 2013 and principal in 2014.

Alicia Graf Mack American dancer

Alicia Graf Mack is an American dancer and teacher. She danced with Dance Theatre of Harlem and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and taught at Webster University and University of Houston. In 2018, she became the Director of Dance Division at Juilliard School.

Calvin Royal III is an American ballet dancer. He is the third black dancer to be a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre.

Francesco Gabriele Frola Italian ballet dancer

Francesco Gabriele Frola is an Italian ballet dancer. He joined the National Ballet of Canada in 2010, and in 2018, he was promoted to principal dancer, the highest rank in the company. The same year, he joined the English National Ballet as a principal dancer, while keeping his position in Canada. In 2020, the English National Ballet promoted him to lead principal, and he started to dance with the company full-time.

Patricia Delgado American ballet dancer

Patricia Delgado is an American ballet dancer, répétiteur and teacher. She joined the Miami City Ballet in 2000, was promoted to principal dancer in 2007 and left in 2017. Since then, she performs as a freelance dancer, stages works by Justin Peck and teaches ballet at The Juilliard School part-time. She served as an associate producer in the 2020 Broadway revival of West Side Story and as associate choreographer of the upcoming film adaptation of the musical.

References

  1. 1 2 Ford, Penelope. "Back to Nature". Fjord Review. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Bauer, Claudia (November 12, 2018). "The Spirit and Soul of LINES' Enchanting Adji Cissoko". Dance Magazine.
  3. Foster, Hannah (August 6, 2020). "Revisiting Pointe's Past Cover Stars: Adji Cissoko (August/September 2011)". Pointe Magazine.
  4. Bauer, Claudia (September 6, 2018). "Immersive San Francisco show 'Fury' reimagines Mad Max and ballet". Datebook.