Elias Frantziskonis

Biography

Elias Frantziskonis was born on 4 July 1997 in Arizona and holds dual United States and Greek citizenship. He received his earliest training with Ballet Tucson (2002–2013) before moving on to the Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle and the San Francisco Ballet School, where he first attracted notice as Harlequin in Bruce Wells’s Pinocchio and as Harold in Ronald Hynd’s The Sleeping Beauty. In 2016 he entered the Dutch National Ballet Academy in Amsterdam; under Jean-Yves Esquerre he refined a buoyant jump, articulate feet and musical phrasing, graduating with distinction in 2023. While still a student he danced Kenneth MacMillan’s Soirée Musicale, John Neumeier’s Yondering and Balanchine’s Who Cares? pas de trois, and created roles in premières by Ben Fremantle and Parrish Maynard. Guest appearances followed with Seattle Dance Project and Ballet Tucson, where he headlined as the Nutcracker Prince. He joined the Czech National Ballet in August 2023 and has since debuted as Benno in Swan Lake, the Prince of the West and Ali Baba in Márcia Haydée’s The Sleeping Beauty, and both Benvolio and Mercutio in John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet. His contemporary credentials already include Sharon Eyal’s razor-sharp solo Bill, Eyal Dadon’s rhythm-driven Artza, Mário Radačovský’s Bohemian Gravity, Hans van Manen’s Frank Bridge Variations, Marco Goecke’s kinetic Fly Paper Bird and Cayetano Soto’s lyrical Prelude und Liebestod.

Classical repertoire

• Swan Lake – Benno; Companion of the Neapolitan Princess; Prince’s Friends (John Cranko)

• The Sleeping Beauty – Prince of the West; Ali Baba (Márcia Haydée)

• Romeo and Juliet – Benvolio; Mercutio (John Cranko)

• Coppélia – Wedding Dance (Ronald Hynd)

• Leonce & Lena – Valet (Christian Spuck)

• The Nutcracker – A Christmas Carol – Harlequins; Waltz – solo; Guards (Youri Vámos)

• Cinderella – Prince’s Four Friends (Jean-Christophe Maillot)

• The Snow Queen – Imps (Michael Corder)

Contemporary & Neoclassical repertoire

• bpm – Artza (Eyal Dadon)

• bpm – Bill (Sharon Eyal, Gai Behar)

• bpm – Bohemian Gravity (Mário Radačovský)

• Beyond Vibrations – Frank Bridge Variations (Hans van Manen)

• Beyond Vibrations – Fly Paper Bird (Marco Goecke)

• Forsythe / Clug / McGregor – Eden | Eden (Wayne McGregor)

• Kylián – Bridges of Time – Petite Mort (Jiří Kylián)

• Phoenix – Prelude und Liebestod (Cayetano Soto)

• Moving Still – ensemble (Douglas Lee)

• Dance On… The Second Detail – open rehearsal (William Forsythe)

• A Streetcar Named Desire – Brides’ Escort (John Neumeier)

• Edges of the Present – ND Lab project (ensemble)