Anzelika Cholina (Lith. Anželika Cholina) is one of the most prominent Lithuanian choreographers, Associate Professor at Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, founder of Anželika Cholina Dance Theatre A|CH.

In 2011 Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė awarded the director and choreographer with Knight’s Order for Merits to Lithuania.

In 2016 she was awarded with the main state prize to the cultural work in Lithuania ‘Carry your Light and Believe’.

In 2020 Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda awarded the director and choreographer with the Officer's Cross for Merits to Lithuania.

In 1989 Cholina graduated from Vilnius Ballet School and in 1996 she graduated from  Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS) as a director-choreographer. Her choreographic debut was a ballet in two acts, Medea (1996), a performance awarded with a St. Christopher prize for choreography. She has been awarded with Golden Cross of the Stage for the best choreography twice (“Othello” 2006, “Anna Karenina” 2011).

Anželika Cholina has staged over 40 works: dance performances, ballets, musicals, operetta and operas, more than 100 choreographic miniatures. She is a choreography director of several episodes of "Warner Brothers" and “NetworkUSA” movies.

Modern choreography^[1] miniatures staged by Cholina and her students in the Vilnius Ballet School and the Munich Dance Academy have been awarded with Grand-Prix and Golden Medals of international ballet competitions in Lausanne, Varna, Moscow, Paris, Tokyo, New-York, Stockholm, Munich and Helsinki.

Choreographer is invited to work in main theaters in Lithuania and abroad. ^[2]

She staged ballets “Medea” and “Barbora Radvilaitė” at Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre; dance performances “Songs of Women”, “Carmen”, “The House of Bernarda Alba” at Lithuanian National Drama Theatre; operetta  “Madame Pompadour” and opera “Traviata” at Kaunas State Musical Theatre.

Since 2008 Cholina collaborates with Moscow State Academic E. Vakhtangov Theatre, where she implemented Dance performance genre and created dance performances “The Coast of Women”, “Anna Karenina”, “Otello”, "Men and women" and created choreography for Tuminas’ performances “Eugene Onegin”, “Minetti" and "Oedipus Rex".    

In 2012, dance performance “Anna Karenina” was nominated as the Best musical performance for the highest Russian theatre award “Golden Mask”, in 2013 was acknowledged as the Best performance of the year in Cuba’s festival “Villanueva 2013”. The same year, choreographer received Oleg Jankovsky award “Creative discovery” and “Othello” received Theatre award “Theatre goers Star” as the Best musical performance.^[3]  

She debuted as a choreographer at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre in 2016 with “Katerina Izmailova” by Dmitri Shostakovich (conductor: Tugan Sokhiev, director: Rimas Tuminas) and later in 2018 was invited to be director-choreographer of “Queen of Spades” (conductor: Tugan Sokhiev, director: Rimas Tuminas).

In 2017, A. Cholina started collaboration with Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko theatre in Moscow on two one act operas “Oedipus the King” and “Blue beard” (conductor F. Korobov, director R. Tuminas).

Listing of most significant performances staged in Lithuania:

• 1996, Medea, ballet by A. Rekasius | Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre;

• 1998, Songs of Women based on the songs of M. Dietrich | Lithuanian National Drama Theatre;

• 1998, Carmen to music by G. Bizet–R. Shchedrin | Lithuanian National Drama Theatre;

• 1999, Crazy girls’ dances to music by A. Vivaldi and C. Saint- Saens | Oskaras Korsunovas Theatre;

• 2000, The house of Bernarda Alba based on the play by F. G. Lorca | Lithuanian National Drama Theatre;

• 2001, Tango in Fa to music by A. Piazzolla | A|CH Theatre;

• 2002, Love to music by contemporary composers | A|CH Theatre;

• 2003, Romeo and Juliet to music by contemporary composers | A|CH Theatre;

• 2004, Bolero by M. Ravel | A|CH Theatre;

• 2005, People to an arrangement of Lithuanian folk music | A|CH Theatre;

• 2006, Othello to music by J. Adams and contemporary composers | A|CH Theatre;

• 2007, The fantasy for five elements to music by contemporary composers | A|CH Theatre;

• 2009, Men and Women to music from the classical ballets | A|CH Theatre;

• 2010, Madame Pompadour operetta in two parts | Kaunas State Musical Theatre;

• 2010, Anna Karenina to music by A. Schnittke | A|CH Theatre;

• 2011, Barbora Radvilaite, ballet by S. Vainiunas, A. Malcys, H. M. Gorecki | the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre;

• 2014, Legend of Zygimantas Augustas and Barbora Radvilaite, musical by K. Masanauskas | A|CH Theatre;

• 2016, Othello to music by J. Adams and contemporary composers in A|CH Theatre;

• 2017, The Idiot to music by G. Kanchelli in A|CH Theatre;

• 2018, King Mindaugas, musical by K. Masanauskas | A|CH Theatre;

• 2020, Traviata, opera by G. Verdi | Kaunas State Musical Theatre^[4].

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