biography
Cristiano Principato - 30 years old from Novara, Italy - graduates at the age of 19 from La Scala Ballet School and from the Linguistic Lyceum in Milan, completing the full eight-year training program (list of teachers with whom Cristiano works throughout his training and career).
Already months before the official Diploma ceremony, he joins La Scala Ballet Company as a Corps de Ballet member.
He then moves to Amsterdam to work with the Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet and one year later he is promoted to its main company, where he spends five more seasons going through the ranks of Élève, Corps de Ballet and Coryphée (Demi-Soloist).
From 2020 he is a member of the Estonian National Ballet in Tallinn (first as Demi-Soloist and then, since August 2021, as Soloist), starring in most of the company's principal roles.
Throughout the years he dances alongside great soloists and principal dancers, not only for the companies he has worked with, but also as guest in galas and competitions: internationally he performs in Milan (La Scala and Teatro Arcimboldi), Amsterdam (Het Muziektheater and Stadsschouwburg), Saint-Petersburg (Mariinsky Theatre), Hamburg (Staatsoper), London (Coliseum and Royal Opera House's Limbury Stage), Varna (Open-Air Theatre), Madrid (Teatros del Canal), Granada (Alhambra), Sevilla (Teatro de la Maestranza), Hong Kong and other cities in Italy, Holland, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Croatia, Mexico, Kazakhstan and Dominican Republic (complete list of theaters).
His repertoire includes numerous group, solo and principal roles from classical ballet (Petipa, Vaganova, Bournonville, Vainonen, Balanchine, Nureyev, Wright, Makarova, Lifar, Fokine, Messerer, Stevenson, Cranko) as well as from works by renowned contemporary choreographers (Forsythe, Petit, Kylian, Dawson, Van Manen, Neumeier, Preljocaj, Béjart, Ratmansky, Wheeldon, Osta, Lopez Ochoa and more).
During his training and career, he also attends specific contemporary techniques workshops (tap dance, Martha Graham, José Limon, Wayne McGregor).
In 2017 he receives the Étoile del Domani award in Novara and in 2018 he attends the Varna International Ballet Competition partnering principal dancer Jessica Xuan all the way to her gold medal victory.
In 2021 he is nominated for the Estonian Theatre Award, in 2022 he wins the prize "Best Male Soloist Of The Year" (bestowed by Estonian National Ballet's sponsor MyFitness) and in 2025 he receives the Italian award called "Premio Sfera D'Oro" as a dancer and choreographer.
In 2024 the Estonian Ballet Union awards him the Ida Urbel scholarship for his achievements as a young choreographer: ever since 2016, in fact, Cristiano choreographes too, making on average one or two new pieces each season.
He creates various types of works (one-number piece, one-act ballet, full-length ballet, music video) in very diverse contexts: for Estonian National Ballet, for Estonian National Television, for both Estonian National and Dutch National Ballet's choreographic workshops, for Estonian National Ballet School’s annual performance, for Dutch National Ballet Junior Company's Choreographic Academy, for the private touring production Cinderella, for ballet galas and more (complete list of theaters where his works were performed).
Over the years, Cristiano also gains managing and leading expertise thanks to several different experiences, both theoretical (Positioning Ballet Conference, Young Rural Retreat) and practical (as organizer of a charity ballet gala, coordinator of Dutch National Ballet's choreographic workshop, representative of the dancers of Estonian National Ballet, stage director of the touring production Cinderella...).
He also has experience as jury member, teacher, coach, runway model, photo model, as well as guest dancer in out-of-theatre performing contexts (wedding, gala dinner, corporate event, fashion show, TV show as backup dancer for singers).
As of September 2026, Cristiano will retire from a twelve-year career with national ballet troupes.
While still occasionally taking the stage as a freelance artist, his main focus will shift to launching the new company Novarts Ballet in Tallinn, where he will serve as director, as well as main coach and choreographer. The institution will introduce a new way of performing, with each show featuring international guest artists alongside the members of the newly established Novarts Ballet Studio Company.
The latter will support and nurture young talents as they pursue professional contracts with ballet companies, while providing a stable base in which to train and perform.
