TIMOUR BOURTASENKOV

Timour Bourtasenkov began his professional education with the Moldavian Opera House and the Bolshoi Ballet. Upon coming to America, he danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet, New Jersey Ballet, and the New York-based Daring Project. In 1998, Timour joined Carolina Ballet as a Principal dancer and founding member of the Company.

 

Timour's repertory includes ballets by Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanox, Mikhail Fokine, Leonid Massine, Auguste Bounonville, Arthur Saint-Leon, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, John Cranko, Frederick Ashton, Antony Tudor, José Limón, Peter Martins, Robert North, Margo Sappington, William Forsyth, Richard Tanner, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Christopher Wheeldon, and Carolina Ballet's Artistic Director, Robert Weiss, who has created numerous principal roles for him in the company's extensive repertory.

 

As a renowned choreographer, Timour has created dances for Carolina Ballet, Ballet Hawaii, Infinity Ballet, and New Jersey Ballet. He has been chosen twice for the New York Choreographic Institute where in 2004 he choreographed using New York City Ballet dancers and in 2006 with Carolina Ballet dancers. His ballets include Calderiana, Dance of the Spirits, Dances for Piano and Violin, Elements, Fallen Dreams, Intrigue, Light and Dark, Memories, sections of Messiah, Slavonic Dances, Tango! Tango! Tango!, The Jungle Book, Vivaldia’s Gloria and Walpurgisnacht.

 

Timour won the Bronze Medal in the VII Massako Ohyo World Ballet Competition of Osaka, Japan, and the V International Competition of Paris, France. He also has been seen on tours with the Stars of American Ballet in the Orient and Europe, as well as serving as a judge for numerous international competitions.

 

Within film, Timour has appeared in movies, choreographed dance scenes, and directed shorts. He appeared in two USSR movies, The Long Way and The Magic Star. In 1996, he filmed Little Red Riding Hood for the Sundance Film Festival. During the summer of 2008, he choreographed the dance scene for the independent film Looking for Nick. During the summer 2022 he directed a short film The Adventures of Kai on the Big Island of Hawaii.

 

Timour's academic credentials include serving as Assistant Professor at East Carolina University from 2006 to 2009 where he choreographed Listianna, Provocative Monologues, and Swan Fake. From 2015 to 2022, he was on the faculty of Cary Ballet Conservatory.

 

In 2022, Timour accepted the Director of Repertoire position with Cleveland Ballet and in 2024 he was appointed by the Board of Directors as the Artistic Director of Cleveland Ballet.