Ana Laguna
{{Short description|Spanish-Swedish ballet dancer (born 1954)}}
{{Infobox dancer
|name = Ana Maria Laguna Caso
|image = Ana Laguna.jpg
|caption =
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1954|5|16|df=yes}}
|birth_place = Zaragoza, Spain
|death_date =
|death_place =
|nationality = Spanish-Swedish
|occupation = Ballerina
}}
Ana Laguna (born 16 May 1954) is a Spanish-Swedish ballet dancer, court dancer and professor. She has danced throughout the world with such legends as Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov earning prizes for her performances from France, Italy, Monaco, Russia, Spain, Sweden and the United States.
Biography
Ana Maria Laguna Caso{{sfn|Snodgrass|2015|p=111}} was born 16 May 1954 in Zaragoza, Spain. Laguna grew up in Spain, beginning her ballet studies with Maria de Avila{{cite news|title=Mikhail Baryshnikov debuta hoy en Tenerife junto a la bailarina Ana Laguna|trans-title=Mikhail Baryshnikov debuts today in Tenerife with dancer Ana Laguna|url=http://www.europapress.es/nacional/noticia-mikhail-baryshnikov-debuta-hoy-tenerife-junto-bailarina-ana-laguna-20090629165028.html|accessdate=31 August 2015|publisher=Europa Press|date=29 June 2009|location=Spain|language=es}} and by age eighteen was dancing at the Real Ballet de Cámara (The Royal Chamber Ballet). In 1973, she was offered work at the Cullberg Ballet in Sweden and was soon starring in many productions of the company.{{cite web|title=Ana Laguna|url=http://www.spainisculture.com/en/artistas_creadores/ana_laguna.html|website=Spain Is Culture España Es Cultura|publisher=Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport|accessdate=31 August 2015|location=Madrid, Spain|archive-date=20 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120230323/http://www.spainisculture.com/en/artistas_creadores/ana_laguna.html|url-status=dead}} Her breakthrough performance to international recognition occurred in the 1976 production of St. George and the Dragon by the choreographer Mats Ek,{{cite news|title=Exclusive Interview: Legendary Dancer Ana Laguna|url=http://www.thewonderfulworldofdance.com/exclusive-interview-legendary-ballerina-ana-laguna|accessdate=31 August 2015|publisher=The Wonderful World of Dance|date=9 September 2014}} whom she later married.{{cite news|author=Molzahn, Laura|title=Mikhail Baryshnikov & Ana Laguna|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/mikhail-baryshnikov-and-ana-laguna/Content?oid=1200881|accessdate=31 August 2015|publisher=Chicago Reader|date=24 September 2009|location=Chicago, Illinois}} In the 1980-1981 season, she performed with Nederlands Dans Theater,{{cite web|title=Ana Laguna|url=http://benois.theatre.ru/english/participants/nominees/laguna/|publisher=Prix Benois de la Danse|location=Moscow, Russia|accessdate=31 August 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908052232/http://benois.theatre.ru/english/participants/nominees/laguna/|archivedate=2015-09-08|url-status=dead}} but returned to Cullberg for the opportunity to dance in two works she had long coveted, Sonate à Trois by Béla Bartók and choreographed by Maurice Béjart and Miss Julie by Ture Rangströn and choreographed by Birgit Cullberg. Though she had only two and a half weeks to learn Miss Julie, her performance with Rudolf Nureyev was one of her career highlights.{{cite news|author=Salas, Roger|title=Ana Laguna: "La danza es como el agua"|trans-title=Ana Laguna: "Dance is like water"|url=http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2014/05/21/actualidad/1400696868_382540.html|accessdate=31 August 2015|work=El País|date=22 May 2014|location=Madrid, Spain|language=es}} Other high-profile roles include the title role in Ek's Giselle (1982), which was created by him for her and for which she also received the French Video Dance Prize for the best interpretation of Giselle in a TV version. Carmen was another of the dancer's favorite roles to perform for which she won an Emmy Award.
In 1993, she left Cullberg's company and began working independently. In 2001, her performance of Andromaque earned critical acclaim.{{sfn|Snodgrass|2015|p=111}} She has danced throughout the world in performances with Mikhail Baryshnikov{{cite news|title=Mijaíl Baryshnikov nació en Letonia, el 27 de enero de 1948|trans-title=Mikhail Baryshnikov was born in Latvia, on 27 January 1948|url=http://www.catacultural.com/mijail-baryshnikov-nacio-en-letonia-el-37-de-enero-de-1948/|accessdate=31 August 2015|publisher=Catacultural|date=27 January 2015|location=Barcelona, Spain|language=ca}}{{cite web|title=Baryshnikov - Laguna Dance|url=http://www.thebigislandvisitorsguide.com/calendar.html|publisher=The Big Island Visitors Guide|accessdate=31 August 2015|location=Waimea, Hawaii|date=9 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302152517/http://thebigislandvisitorsguide.com/calendar.html|archive-date=2 March 2016|url-status=dead}} and worked in many productions including film, television and live dance, as well as serving as a choreographic assistant with a variety of companies and countries such as Nederlands Dans Theater and the Spanish National Dance Company, as well as with her husband. She has worked as a professor, on the Swedish National Council for Dance Education,{{cite news|author=Barkman, Clas|title=Tre frågor till Ana Laguna, professor i dans och hovdansare|trans-title=Three questions to Ana Laguna, professor of dance and court dancer|url=http://www.dn.se/arkiv/kultur/tre-fragor-till-ana-laguna-professor-i-dans-och-hovdansare|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924020207/http://www.dn.se/arkiv/kultur/tre-fragor-till-ana-laguna-professor-i-dans-och-hovdansare|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 24, 2015|accessdate=31 August 2015|publisher=Dagens Nyheter|date=23 July 2011|location=Stockholm, Sweden|language=sv}} and in 2006 was the first dancer outside the Royal Ballet to be appointed as an official Court Dancer.{{cite web|title=Nya hovsångare och hovdansare|url=http://www.kungahuset.se/press/pressmeddelanden/2006/2006pressmeddelanden/nyahovsangareochhovdansare.5.1a2467a10ad032dc2680007486.html|website=Kungahuset|publisher=Sveriges Kungahus|accessdate=31 August 2015|location=Stockholm, Sweden|language=Swedish|date=5 March 2006|archive-date=2 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802165057/http://www.kungahuset.se/press/pressmeddelanden/2006/2006pressmeddelanden/nyahovsangareochhovdansare.5.1a2467a10ad032dc2680007486.html|url-status=dead}}
Awards
- France Video Dance Prize (1983) for Giselle{{cite news|title=Nijinski Awards ceremony |url=http://www.rivieratimes.com/index.php/monaco-article/items/nijinski-awards-ceremony.html|accessdate=31 August 2015|publisher=The Monaco Times|date=11 December 2006|location=Monte-Carlo, Monaco|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924091523/http://www.rivieratimes.com/index.php/monaco-article/items/nijinski-awards-ceremony.html|archivedate=24 September 2015 }}
- Swedish Carina Ari Medal (1987){{cite web|title=The Carina Ari Medal|url=http://carina.se/foundation_medals_en.html|publisher=Carina Ari Foundations|accessdate=31 August 2015|location=Sweden}}
- Spanish National Dance Award (1990)
- Monegasque Nijinski Lifetime Achievement Prize (2006)
- Swedish Royal Court Dancer (2006)
- Spanish Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts (2010){{cite news|title=Entregadas las Medallas de Oro a las Bellas Artes, una de ellas concedida a la zaragozana Ana Laguna|url=http://www.heraldo.es/noticias/cultura/la_bailarina_ana_laguna_recibe_medalla_ora_las_bellas_artes.html|accessdate=31 August 2015|publisher=Heraldo|date=3 November 2010|location=Zaragoza, Spain|language=es}}
- Italian 42nd Positano Leonide Massine lifetime achievement dance prize (2014)
- Russian Prize Benois-Moscow Miassine-Positano (2015){{cite web|title=News|url=http://benois.theatre.ru/english/massmedia/news/|publisher=Prix Benois de la Danse|accessdate=31 August 2015|location=Moscow, Russia|date=20 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905082528/http://benois.theatre.ru/english/massmedia/news/|archive-date=5 September 2015|url-status=dead}}
Filmography
- Speak Up! It's So Dark (1993)
=Television=
- Giselle (1982) (TV Movie)
- Svansjön (1990) (TV Movie)
- Carmen (1994) (TV Movie)
- Place (2009) (TV Movie)
- Gammal och dörr (2012) (TV Movie)
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
Sources
- {{cite book|last=Snodgrass |first=Mary Ellen|title=The Encyclopedia of World Ballet|date=8 June 2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-4526-6}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0481457}}
- {{YouTube|TLOyc6rG2pQ|title=Mikhail Baryshnikov and Ana Laguna choreographed by Mats Ek}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laguna, Ana}}