Dmitrij Simkin

Ballett

Dmitrij SIMKIN was born in Perm, studied from 1974 to 1982 at the Bolshoi Ballet School. His first engagement was with the Novosibirsk State Theater as principal dancer. Through his technical virtuosity and his natural acting ability, Dmitrij SIMKIN reached critical and public acclaim. Invited as a guest to Moscow and St. Petersburg, he toured with the Bolshoi Ballet /Stars of Soviet Ballet/ to Japan, France, Austria, Belgium, Portugal and Israel. Dmitrij SIMKIN not only took the First prize in the National Ballet Competition in Moscow and the Grand Prix and Gold Medal in the International Competition in Paris, but also won in 1988 the First Prize and Gold Medal in the acclaimed Ballet Competition, Varna (Bulgaria). 1989 Dmitrij SIMKIN went on to film „The Marriage of Balsaminov“ in the Lenfilm Film studios in St. Petersburg to music by V. Gavrilin and directed by A. Belinski. Dmitrij took the leading role of Balsaminov.

1990 Dr. G. Brunner persuaded Dmitrij to come to the west and dance in Graz (Austria), where he danced ballets from W. Forsythe, H. Spoerli and Y. Ulrich. This resulted in a principal contract from Heinz Spoerli with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf-Duisburg) in 1991. His repertoire included the virtuoso role of Alain in „La Fille mal Gardée“ and he created the role of Joseph in „Josephslegende“. Dmitrij SIMKIN has been invited as a guest artist with Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Oper Bonn, Niedersächsische Staatstheater – Hannover and also with Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, where in 1993 he took the position of principal dancer. During this time he has had both critical and public acclaim dancing many roles including Mercutio /Romeo and Juliet/, Till /Till Uelenspiegel/ and many more, choreographed for him by the ballet director Ben Van Cauwenbergh. The important achievements were evident in presentations of the Ballet-Galas „World Stars at the Opera“ (Budapest) and „Le Gala des Étoiles“ (Montreal, Jerusalem, Greece Tour, Japan Tour),“World Ballett Star Festival“ (Seoul). 1995 in the years review of the ballet magazine „ballett international/tanz actuell“, Dmitrij SIMKIN was acclaimed „the most exciting dancer“. Returning to Varna for the XIX International Ballet Competition, Dmitrij joined the panel of international Judges representing Germany.

1995 Dmitrij presented his own interpretation of Stravinsky’s „Petrushka“ for the Gyori Ballet, as his first big choreographic work. The next choreography was a ballet „Schwerefelder“, created for Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden. For the Donetsk Opera Dmitrij created the ballets „Tango del Angel“ and „Pulcinella“. His choreography „As long as you lust“ was awarded „Prix d’encouragement“ in 1. Concours de choregraphie de Paris (1999). Dmitrij appears as guest choreographer, working in theatres such as the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe for the opera „Rusland and Ludmila“. 2002 also saw Dmitrij choreograph for „Tanzprojekt 2002“ with the students of Hochschule Frankfurt and the „Noverre -Gesellschaft“ project where he worked again with the critically acclaimed dancers of Stuttgart Ballet. With 2002 marking his 20 year jubilee on stage, Dmitrij’s concept of a showcase performance presented together with his son Daniil SIMKIN became a reality. The performances won critical acclaim not only from the choreography but also the seamless use of multimedia. Dmitrij continued to develop his interest for video arrangement through various other production of the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden including: a ballet „Sleeping Beauty“ and a opera project „Il mondo della luna“, where in the latter he designed and choreographed the entire video sequences. 2004 Dmitrij presents „QUEEN“ (Hommage an Queen) as his own first work as a stage designer. This production which was then set up in Vienna at the Staatsoper and Volksoper ballet company included many light and video effects was also a great success.

For his last main role Dmitrij along with Ben Van Cauwenbergh created the ballet „Keep Smiling“. As well as dancing this production Dmitrij designed the sets, video sequences and the whole concept. With big success this production was set up with Gyori Ballet in Hungary in October 2007. Dmitrij ended his career of 25 years on April 2007 in Wiesbaden performing his favorite role in this ballet. Since then he teaches at the Dr. Hoch’s Konservatorium Frankfurt am Main and works as a freelance stage designer on many productions under the label stage3d. 2020 Dmitrij took a lead of the ballet department in Dr. Hoch’s Konservatorium Frankfurt am Main.