Thomas Edur has graduated from Tallinn Ballet School in 1988 and worked at the Estonian National Opera in 1988–1990. In 1990–2009 he was the principal dancer of the English National Ballet, while dancing as a guest on many renowned stages, including Birmingham Royal Ballet (1996–1997), Teatro alla Scala (1994–2002), Staatsoper Berlin (2001–2003), Cape Town City Ballet (2001–2007), Teatro dell’Opera di Roma (2003–2007), Zurich Ballet (2000), Finnish National Ballet (1998–2001), Noriko Kobayashi Ballet (2002–2007), Dutch National Ballet (2004), Houston Ballet (1992) to name a few. Since 2009 he is the Artistic Director of the Estonian National Ballet. His most important roles include Apollo (Stravinsky’s “Apollo”), Basilio (Minkus’ “Don Quixote”), Prince (“Swan Lake” by Tchaikovsky), Romeo (Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet”), Prince (“The Nutcracker” by Tchaikovsky), Prince (Prokofiev’s “Cinderella”), Des Grieux (MacMillan/Massenet’s “Manon”), Désiré (Tchaikovsky’s “The Sleeping Beauty”) and Albert (Adam’s “Giselle”) etc. He considers his career highlight as a dancer appearing at the concert for Diana in “Swan Lake” with the English National Ballet at Wembley Stadium (2007). 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” (2006). In 2012 Thomas Edur’s first full-length ballet “Modigliani – the Cursed Artist” to the music of Tauno Aints premiered at the Estonian National Opera. It was followed by “La Bayadère” to the music of Minkus in the spring of 2013, Tchaikovsky’s “The Sleeping Beauty” in autumn 2014 and “Swan Lake” in spring 2016. 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. In 2014 he was nominated for the Taglioni European Ballet Award as the Best Director. In 2011 and 2013 Thomas Edur was a member of the jury for the Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition and in 2015 he was a member of the jury for the TV-series “Bolshoi Ballet” aired on the Russian TV channel Rossija – Kultura.
“There is only one place in Britain to go to see a man dancing ballet as if it was not only an art but life itself, and that is wherever Thomas Edur is.”
Daily Telegraph
“In Thomas Edur, the Romeo, we see the finest classical dancer in the country.”
Financial Times
“Thomas Edur is among the world’s finest male dancers with impeccable style, a
Bravura technique, and an attractive unforced stage personality.”
London Evening Standard
“If you can catch Thomas Edur’s Prince Siegfried, you will see the finest and noblest interpreter of the role in Britain – and arguably the world. Words to be eaten? I think not!”
Financial Times
