Nikisha Fogo
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{short description|Swedish ballet dancer}}
{{Infobox dancer
| name = Nikisha Fogo
| image = Nikisha Fogo for Swans for Relief.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Fogo dances for Swans for Relief in May 2020
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1995|01|18|df=y}}
| birth_place = Stockholm, Sweden
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| education = Royal Swedish Ballet School
Royal Ballet School
| occupation = Ballet dancer
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| current_group = San Francisco Ballet
| former_groups = Vienna State Ballet
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}}
Nikisha Fogo (born 1995) is a Swedish ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet and previously a principal at the Vienna State Ballet.
Early life
Nikisha Fogo was born in Stockholm. Her mother is Swedish, while her father was born in England to Jamaican parents.{{cite news|url=https://www.gramilano.com/2020/06/interview-meet-nikisha-fogo-san-francisco-ballets-new-principal-dancer/|title=[Interview] Meet Nikisha Fogo, San Francisco Ballet's new Principal Dancer|work=Gramilano|date=10 June 2020|access-date=3 November 2021|quote=my mom is Swedish and I was born in Sweden, and my dad was born in England but his parents are from Jamaica.}} Her parents owned the first hip-hop dance school in Sweden, and she dabbled in different dance styles such as hip-hop, jazz, and tap. At age 10, she entered the Royal Swedish Ballet School.{{cite news|url=https://www.dancemagazine.com/nikisha-fogo-2639609121.html|title=The Kinesthetic Multilingualism of Nikisha Fogo, Vienna State Ballet First Soloist|work=Dance Magazine|date=6 August 2019}} The following year, she auditioned for Talang 2007.{{cite web|url=https://www.expressen.se/noje/kvallens-deltagare-i-talang-2007/|title=Kvällens deltagare i Talang 2007|date=4 May 2007 |lang=Swedish}}
In 2011, shortly after she turned 16, Fogo competed at the Prix de Lausanne; though she did not make it into the finals or win any prize, she was offered several scholarships. She also met Gailene Stock, the director of The Royal Ballet School in London, who invited her to train in London. Fogo attended the school's second and third years of the Upper School, with a scholarship provided by Anglo-Swedish Society. She graduated in 2013.{{cite news|url=https://www.gramilano.com/2020/06/interview-meet-nikisha-fogo-san-francisco-ballets-new-principal-dancer/|title=[Interview] Meet Nikisha Fogo, San Francisco Ballet's new Principal Dancer|work=Gramilano|date=10 June 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.angloswedishsociety.org.uk/tag/2011/|title=The 2011–12 Scholars|work=Anglo-Swedish Society|access-date=3 May 2020}}
Career
Fogo joined the Vienna State Ballet in 2013. She was promoted to demi-soloist in 2015 and soloist the following year.{{cite web|url=https://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/en/artists/ballet/detail/artist/44-fogo-nikisha/|title=Nikisha Fogo|work=Wiener Staatsoper|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511205836/https://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/en/artists/ballet/detail/artist/44-fogo-nikisha/|archive-date=11 May 2020}} As a soloist, she danced the principal role in Theme and Variations. In 2018, she was chosen to dance the title role in artistic director Manuel Legris's reconstruction of Sylvia, which was also Fogo's first full-length principal role. After the performance, Legris promoted Fogo to the rank of principal, the highest rank of the company. She went on to dance principal roles in other productions.
In 2020, it was announced that Fogo will join the San Francisco Ballet, after she had auditioned and took classes when the company was touring in London. Helgi Tomasson, the artistic director of the company, said Fogo "has everything I look for in a principal dancer—strong and versatile technique to excel in the classical and contemporary repertoire, beautiful musicality and a profound desire to dance".{{Cite news|title=SF Ballet Announces Company Roster For 2021 Season|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/san-francisco/article/SF-Ballet-Announces-Company-Roster-For-2021-Season-20200423|date=23 April 2020|website=Broadway World}}{{cite news|url=https://www.sfcv.org/events-calendar/artist-spotlight/helgi-tomasson-on-managing-sf-ballets-challenging-present-and-his|title=Helgi Tomasson on Managing SF Ballet's Challenging Present and His Hopes for a Bright Future|work=San Francisco Classical Voice|date=4 May 2020}} Fogo said one of her reasons for leaving the Vienna State Ballet was Legris' departure from the company.
Fogo was originally scheduled to relocate to the U.S. in July but had to delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time she danced The Swan in Misty Copeland's fundraiser, Swans for Relief, a response to the pandemic's impact on the dance community, with funds going to participating dancers' companies and other related relief funds.{{cite news|url=https://www.dancemagazine.com/ballet-dancer-relief-fund-2645933643.html|title=32 Ballerinas From Around the World Perform "The Dying Swan" for COVID-19 Relief|work=Dance Magazine|date=6 May 2020}} She made her San Francisco Ballet debut at the virtual gala in January 2021 with Julian MacKay, also a new principal, and danced the White Swan Pas de Deux from Swan Lake and the Don Quixote Pas de Deux.{{cite news|url=https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/dance/san-francisco-ballet-leaps-into-new-year-with-first-virtual-gala|title=San Francisco Ballet leaps into new year with first virtual gala|work=San Francisco Chronicle|last=Howard|first=Rachel|date=January 15, 2020}}
On colorism in ballet, Fogo, who identifies as mixed race/black, has called for better representation of black dancers, though she has said, "It's tricky: I feel really happy that I can represent for the brown ballerinas, but then I look at my skin and I'm the most pale person ever!"
Selected repertoire
Fogo's repertoire with the Vienna State Ballet includes:
{{columns-list|
- Allegro Brillante
- Concerto
- Swanilda in Coppélia
- Medora and Odalisque in Le Corsaire
- Kitri's friends and Amor in Don Quixote
- Friends in La fille mal gardée
- Pleasants in Giselle
- "Rubies" from Jewels
- Solo Snowflake in The Nutcracker
- Olga in Onegin
- Clémence in Raymonda
- Little Swans and Hungarian Dance in Swan Lake
- Stars and Stripes
- The title role in Sylvia
- Tarantella
- Theme and Variations
=Created roles=
- Putzfrau in Der Feuervogel
- 2nd couple in Movements to Stravinsky
}}
Awards
References
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Category:Artists from Stockholm
Category:Swedish people of Jamaican descent
Category:People educated at the Royal Ballet School
Category:Swedish expatriates in England
Category:Swedish expatriates in Austria