Maia Makhateli named Dance Europe’s Dancer of The Year

The international dance magazine Dance Europe has named Maia Makhateli Dancer of The Year 2020. Makhateli is a principal with The Dutch National Opera and Ballet.

Maia Makhateli was praised for her ‘heartbreaking’ performance as Frida Kahlo in Frida, choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, and for her ‘masterful and stylish’ interpretation of the ballets by George Balanchine. In 2019, she was nominated twice for the magazine’s ‘Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer’ category, as well as for a Benois de la Danse. She won the Alexandra Radius Prize in 2015.

Makhateli was chosen from twelve nominees. These were selected by a jury and submitted to the magazine’s readers. The readers then chose the winner. Among the nominees was Makhateli’s fellow principal at The Dutch National Opera and Ballet, Qian Liu.

The jury of the Dancer of the Year award consisted of editors who contribute to the internationally renowned Dance Europe magazine, plus a number of internationally published authors on dance. They made a selection of twelve dancers who gave outstanding performances in the 2019 – 2020 season.

FRIDA | Het Nationale Ballet | choreography: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa | photos: Hans Gerritsen