Elizabeth McGorian

Elizabeth McGorian is a Principal Character Artist of The Royal Ballet, a position she has held since 1997. Born in Zambia and raised in Zimbabwe, McGorian studied at the Mercia Hetherington School in Zimbabwe. She joined The Royal Ballet Upper School in 1976 and won gold in the 1977 Adeline Genée International Ballet Competition, entering The Royal Ballet that same year at age seventeen. Her long career with the Company spanning nearly five decades reflects deep artistry in character roles. Her wide repertory includes Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Empress Elisabeth and Helene Vetsera in Mayerling, Madge in La Sylphide, Princess and Queen in Swan Lake, Lady Elgar in Enigma Variations, Madame Larina in Onegin, Pianist in The Lesson, Berthe in Giselle, Queen and Carabosse in The Sleeping Beauty, Madame in Manon, Bride in Les Noces, Utah Longhorn Ram in Still Life at the Penguin Café, and Tsarevna and Tsarina in Anastasia. Her role creations include Marie Virginie Avegno in Strapless, Madame Moritz in Frankenstein, and roles in Fleeting Figures, Piano, Half the House, Isadora, Gloria and La Fin du jour. Beyond The Royal Ballet, she has appeared in Arthur Pita's Facada with Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev, and in the BalletBoyz feature-length dance film Young Men.