Ioanna Avraam is a Cypriot ballet dancer, and a first solo dancer at the Vienna State Ballet since 2022. She is one of eight female first solo dancers at the Vienna State Ballet, its most senior dancers.[1]
Avraam was born in Nicosia, Cyprus.[2] She lived with her grandparents until aged three, as her parents were studying overseas.[2] They then moved to Limassol, as her father was a refugee from Famagusta.[2] She trained at the Nadina Loizidou Ballet School in Limassol, and at the Heinz-Bosl-Stiftung/Ballet Academy in Munich.[3]
She started her career with Cyprus' Diastasis Ballet and the Bavarian State Ballet.[3] In 2008, she joined the Vienna State Opera and Volksoper Ballet.[3] In 2010, she was promoted to semi-soloist in 2014 to soloist.[3] In September 2022, she was appointed a first solo dancer by the company's ballet director Martin Schläpfer.[4]
In October 2024, Avraam will be awarded a "Special Recognition" by the jury of the Helena Vaz da Silva European Award for Raising Public Awareness on Europe's Cultural Heritage.[5]