Dutch National Ballet principal dancer Anna Ol wins the Alexandra Radius Prize 2025
Anna Ol, principal dancer with Dutch National Ballet, is the winner of the Alexandra Radius Prize 2025.
The prize was presented to Ol by Alexandra Radius tonight, Thursday 11 September 2025, at the premiere of Monument, the opening programme of Dutch National Ballet‘s new season in Amsterdam. Alexandra Radius was a principal dancer with the company who retired in 1990 at the age of 48.
The Alexandra Radius Prize is an initiative of the Friends of Dutch National Ballet foundation, and is presented annually to the Dutch National Ballet dancer who has made the most striking impression in the previous season. The prize comprises a sum of €5,000 and an artwork donated by one of the Friends of Dutch National Ballet. This year, the Alexandra Radius Prize was awarded for the 36th time.
According to the jury, Ol has demonstrated remarkable talent, excelling in her great technical purity and aesthetic perfection. The jury’s full statement is published below.
“After 10 years as principal dancer with Dutch National Ballet,” says Ol, “and countless beautiful roles along the way, this prize feels like both a celebration of the past and an inspiration for the future. It is thrilling to know that my dedication and artistry have touched others. This prize gives all those years of hard but joyful work even more beautiful meaning.”
The jury about Anna Ol
“Ever since joining the company in 2015, principal dancer Anna Ol – because it is her we are talking about – has demonstrated remarkable talent, excelling in her great technical purity and aesthetic perfection. Last season, however, the jury’s admiration of her dance technique over the years was augmented by their amazement at the increasing expressiveness of her dancing. Alongside her beautiful lines and great physical control, the Siberian dancer succeeded in adding a variety of emotional nuances to many of the roles she danced, giving her performance much more depth and enabling her to get closer to her audience – not only as an artist, but also as a person.
In the title role of Pickett’s Lady Macbeth, for instance, she succeeded in conveying the full depth and breadth of both the power-mad aggression and the heart-rending vulnerability of her character. In a totally different way – in addition to her spot-on variations and duets – she managed to capture the youthful innocence of Clara in The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, without being cliché or exaggeratedly childish in her movements and/or expressions. And in her exquisite interpretation of Robbins’ Other Dances, she won over the jury through her evident joy of dance and the way in which her dancing and Chopin’s etudes seemed to become one. But what moved the jury most of all was probably Ol’s phenomenal performance of Emeralds, the first part of Balanchine’s triptych Jewels. Her striking lightness, elegance, nuance and different ‘shades’ – with a wonderfully heartfelt melancholy – combined to make her appear almost the personification of the refined French perfume envisaged by Balanchine when he created the ballet.”
Jury Alexandra Radius Prize 2025
This year’s Alexandra Radius Prize jury comprised: Alexandra Radius (former principal with Dutch National Ballet), Alexander Zhembrovskyy (former principal with Dutch National Ballet), Astrid van Leeuwen (dance journalist and publicist), Frederik Redelé (board member of the Dutch National Opera & Ballet Fund) and Joan Termeer-Blom (Friend of Dutch National Ballet).
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
i remember anna dancing in wheeldon’s cinderella 10 years ago. she was a marvel. i have followed her career ever since. she so deserves this award. such a talent!