Elena Zaytseva
Elena Zaytseva was born in Saint Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) and graduated in 1991 from the Faculty of Theatre Production, specialising in costume design, at the Saint Petersburg Academy of Theatre Arts. While still a student, she began her professional career at the renowned Lenfilm Studios in Saint Petersburg, where from 1990 to 1995 she worked in film as a costume assistant and costume designer.
From 1995 to 2001, Zaytseva was engaged at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, initially as a Chief Specialist in costume design. There she created costumes for operas such as The Flying Dutchman and for a version of the ballet The Sleeping Beauty based on historical designs. Between 2001 and 2003, she headed the costume department of the New Opera Company in Moscow, before joining the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 2003 as Head of the Costume Department. Zaytseva has designed costumes for a wide range of major ballet and opera productions and works regularly with leading international houses.
Her ballet credits include Paquita, Le Corsaire, La Bayadère, Swan Lake and Don Quixote at the Bolshoi Theatre, as well as productions in Volgograd, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Astrakhan, SND Bratislava and at the Lithuanian National Opera. In opera, she has designed costumes for productions such as Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Wozzeck, Don Giovanni, Simon Boccanegra, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Prince Igor, Parsifal, Carmen, Les Troyens, Salome, Ariadne auf Naxos and Rusalka, collaborating with companies including English National Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Opéra national de Paris, Teatro alla Scala, the Metropolitan Opera New York, Teatro Real Madrid, the Canadian Opera Company Toronto and Staatsoper Berlin. In addition to opera and ballet, she has also designed costumes for numerous theatre productions. Zaytseva has received several honours for her artistic achievements, including the honorary title Honoured Artist of Russia.
Elena Zaytseva previously worked with Staatsballett Berlin in 2011, collaborating with Yuri Burlaka and Vasili Medvedev on La Esmeralda.