LINNAR LOORIS, soloist

Birthplace
Viljandi, Estonia

Dance Training
Tallinn Ballet School

Joined the Company
2007

Promoted to Soloist
2008

Other Companies
Estonian National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet

Favorite Ballet
George Balanchine's Apollo

One defining moment…
When my parents put me in ballet school- and when I became a professional dancer!

Linnar Looris was born in Estonia where he trained with Vladimir Artamonov, Ago Herkül and Alexander Basihhin at the Tallinn Ballet School. He won the Philip Morris Young Dancer of the Year in 2002 and Foundation of Culture Scholarships in 2004 and 2006. He joined the ballet company of Estonian National Opera in 2001 where his repertory included Romeo and Juliet (Romeo, Mercutio); The Nutcracker (Prince, Drosselmeyer); Swan Lake (Siegfried, Benno); The Sleeping Beauty (Prince Florimund, Bluebird); and Giselle (Albrecht). He has also danced in ballets by Balanchine (Allegro Brillante); Butler (Itineraire); Naharin (Who Knows One?); Clustine (Suite des Danses); Kylián (Songs of a Wayfarer); McKneely (New York, New York); Soini (Exit); Adamson (In the Mood with Duke); Suve (Theme and Variations); Tiit Harm (Grand pas, La Valse); and Jorma Elo (Red With Me). He joined Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2006 where he performed in Romeo and Juliet (Romeo, Paris), Nine Sinatra Songs (‘Strangers in the Night', ‘That's Life'), The Four Seasons (‘Summer'), The Nutcracker (the Prince) and Balanchine's Apollo. Since joining the Houston Ballet in 2007, Mr. Looris has danced a variety of roles, including the Prince in The Nutcracker, the Prince in Stanton Welch's Cinderella, Prince Siegfried in Stanton Welch's Swan Lake, Count Axel von Ferson and Prince Rohan in Stanton Welch's Marie, Onegin in John Cranko's Onegin and Pritich in The Merry Widow. Mr. Looris has also been featured in the principal couple roles in Christopher Wheeldon's Carousel and Antony Tudor's The Leaves are Fading. He has also performed in Serenade, and many of Stanton Welch's ballets including Falling, Nosotros, The Four Seasons and Gershwin Glam.