Daria Klimentova as a Snow Queen act 2 choreography by Michail Corder

Corder’s choreographies are unashamedly classical, allowing the ballet to flow seamlessly from beginning to end. And the dance he creates - from the grands jetés to the pas de deux - is quite outstanding.
The Snow Queen was commissioned by the English National Ballet and received its world premiere at Liverpool’s Empire Theatre on 11 October 2007 before transferring to the London Coliseum. It has subsequently been played all over the world.
Klimentová is from Prague, and grew up under the Soviet regime. She was first trained as a gymnast, then switched to ballet as she would have a longer career.[3] Klimentová had her ballet training at the Prague State Conservatoire of Music and Dance for eight years, and graduated with the highest honour.[4]In 1989, following her graduation, Klimentová joined National Theatre Ballet in Prague as a soloist, and was promoted to principal dancer a year later. In 1992, she joined Cape Town City Ballet in South Africa as principal. The following year, she joined the Scottish Ballet as a principal dancer.[5]
In 1996, Klimentová joined the English National Ballet at the invitation of then-artistic director Derek Deane. She had danced many of the company's repertoire, including Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker and the title role in Manon.[5] She had created principal roles in Camille, The Snow Queen and Double Concerto.[1] She also had a close creative relationship with the choreographer of the latter, Christopher Hampson.[4]
In 2010, Klimentová rehearsed with Vadim Muntagirov, 19 years her junior, for his debut in Swan Lake, though he was supposed to dance with guest star Polina Semionova. However, Semionova had to withdraw from opening night as she did not have a visa, so Klimentová stepped in and performed. The performance received critical acclaim, and their partnership was compared to Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev's partnership.[6][7] The rehearsals and performance was featured in the BBC4 documentary Agony and Ecstasy: A Year with English National Ballet.[8] Since then, the two were paired together frequently. Klimentová noted it is a partnership she waited for 20 years.[9]