Maria Kousouni

Born in Athens, she has been a Soloist of the Ballet of the Vienna State Opera and Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier. She has performed in the most prestigious theatres worldwide lead roles of such choreographers as John Cranko, Natalia Makarova, Elena Tchernichova, Vaslav Nijinsky, John Neumeier, Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Christopher Wheeldon, George Balanchine, Hans van Manen, Marius Petipa, Rudolf Nureyev and Renato Zanella. In Greece she has starred in numerous ballets such as Eugene Onegin, Giselle (Mukhamedov), Zorba the Greek (Massine), The Nutcracker, Cinderella and Alles Walzer (Zanella), The Snow Queen (Barra), Chopin in love (Boquin), Four Last Songs (Van Dantzig), etc. Roles have been especially created for her in such ballets as Medea, The Firebird, Romeo and Juliet, Journey to Eternity (Zanella), Gioconda’s Smile (Stellatou), Die sieben Todsünden (Brandstrup), The Sleeping Beauty (Lindberg), etc. She participates in performances and gala evenings worldwide and danced three times at the New Year’s concert of the Vienna Philharmonic. Moreover, she received the Special Prix at the Luxembourg International Competition for Young Artists and the Exaliptron dance prize.