| Biography | Thomas Edur graduated from Tallinn Ballet School in 1988 and worked at the Estonian National Opera in 19881990. In 19902009 he was the principal dancer of the English National Ballet, while dancing as a guest on many renowned stages, including Birmingham Royal Ballet (19961997), Teatro alla Scala (19942002), Staatsoper Berlin (20012003), Cape Town City Ballet (20012007), Teatro dellOpera di Roma (20032007), Zurich Ballet (2000), Finnish National Ballet (19982001), Noriko Kobayashi Ballet (20022007), Dutch National Ballet (2004), Houston Ballet (1992).
Since 2009 he is the Artistic Director of Estonian National Ballet. His most important roles include Apollo (StravinskysApollo), Basilio (Minkus Don Quixote), Prince (Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky), Romeo (Prokofievs Romeo and Juliet), Prince (The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky), Prince (Prokofievs Cinderella), Des Grieux (MacMillan/Massenets Manon), Désiré (Tchaikovskys The Sleeping Beauty) and Albert (Adams Giselle) etc. He has created the choreography for the pas de deux Forever that premiered on a gala evening The Greatest Love Gala (2000), for the performance E-duur that premiered in 2005 in Vanemuine Theatre and for a short ballet Anima that premiered in the English National Ballet within the ballet evening Synergy.
Thomas Edur has received many awards and prizes: Best Couple Prize at the International Ballet Competition 1990 in USA with Agnes Oaks, Evening Standard Outstanding Performance Award for Ballet 1994, Third Class Order of the White Star Estonia 2001, Unique Partnership Award Critics Circle 2002 with Agnes Oaks,Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance 2004 and nomination for the Prix Benois de la Danse 2004. He is the patron of the British Ballet Organisation since 2004.
In 2010 her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II gave orders for Agnes Oaks and Thomas Edur each to be appointed as Commanders of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. This is in recognition of their services to the arts in the UK and UK-Estonia cultural relations. |