Leonard Jakovina
Was born in Zagreb, where he graduated from the Classical Ballet School in 1997. He continued his education in Munich at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater and graduated in 2000. That same year he became a member of the Bayerisches Staatsballett in Munich. As of 2001, he joined the Berlin Staatsballett, where he became a leading soloist in 2003.During his dancing career, Jakovina successfully portrayed a large number of roles in classical, neoclassical, contemporary and modern repertoire, some of which were created especially for him, like Madia’s Don Juan, Bigonzetti’s Caravaggio, or Mujić’s Out of 99. He worked with many renowned choreographers, and his performances include a wide range of roles.
He portrayed Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker, Benno / Rotbart in Swan Lake, Jefferson Hogg in Das Flammende Herz and Hilarion in Giselle, choreographed by Patrice Bart, Blue bird / Pas de cinq in Rudolf Nureyev’s Sleeping Beauty, Paris / Tibaldo in Romeo and Juliet and Gremin in John Cranko’s Onegin, Prison guard / Young man in Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon, Orion in Frederic Ashton’s Sylvia, the Prince in Angelin Preljocaj’s Snow White, Death in Heinz Spoerli’s Peer Gynt, Alter ego in Boris Eifman’s Tchaikovsky, Don Juan in Giorgio Madia’s Don Juan, the Mouse King in Vasily Medvedev and Yuri Burlaka’s Nutcracker. He took part in many contemporary projects, including Black Cake and Bits and Pieces by Hans van Manen, Svadebka, Symphony in D, Forgotten Land by Jiří Kylian, Lady of the Camellias and Cinderella by John Neumeier, Aida by Nils Christie, La Bayadere by Patrice Bart, Don Quixote by Ray Barra, Händel / Corelli by Lucinda Childs, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Bayadere by Vladimir Malakhov, as well as many performances by Maurice Bejart, George Balanchine, William Forsyth, Nacho Duato, Jerome Robbins, Christian Spook, Uwe Scholz, and others.
Jakovina gave guest performances at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb – he appeared as Solor and Golden Idol in La Bayadere choreographed by Dinko Bogdanić and Apollo at the premiere of Apollon Musagete by George Balanchine in 2003.
Together with the Munich and Berlin ballet ensembles, Jakovina toured Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Russia, Japan, China, Thailand, Taiwan, India and other countries. In addition, he gave numerous guest performances at various ballet gala-concerts, such as Malakhov and Friends in Japan and Poland, Prix de Benois in Moscow, and with Ballet MNT from Skopje he appeared as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet choreographed by Staša Zurovac, at the Ohrid Festival and the 58th Pula Film Festival.
In 2003, he was nominated for the Croatian Actor Award for outstanding achievement of a young artist under 28. In 2009, the Berlin Theatre Community nominated Jakovina for their annual award for the most promising artist in opera / drama / ballet. In 2010, as part of its Die Theatermacher series, German TV channel ZDF aired a short documentary titled The Dancer about Jakovina’s career and achievements.
From 2014 until 2022, Leonard Jakovina was Ballet Director at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb and during that time Ballet company received several Awards.
In September 2022 he was employed in Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia where from January 2023 he became Advisor to the Minister.
