Born in the Basque town of Zumaia, Gipuzkoa,[2] Lacarra was interested in dance from an early age but only received training from the age of 10 when a ballet school opened in her home town. After participating in a summer course run by Rosella Hightower, she studied for three years with Mentxu Medel in San Sebastián before attending Víctor Ullate's school in Madrid, along with Tamara Rojo and Angel Corella.[3] She soon became a member of his Ballet de Victor Ullate, dancing George Balanchine's Allegro Brillante when she was 15,[4] as well as other modern abstract ballets.[3]
"I love to do bad stuff! I don't want to get typecast in goody roles." (Lucía Lacarra, 2001)[3]
In 2002, Lacarra moved to Munich where she became a principal with the Bayerisches Staatsballett, partnering Cyril Pierre with whom she has participated in guest performances around the world. In recent years, she has created the roles of Princess Natalia and of Princess Odette in John Neumeier's Illusions – Like Swan Lake, Katharina in John Cranko's The Taming of the Shrew and Hippolyta/Titania in Neumeier's A Midsummer Night's Dream.[4] From 2007, she began a dancing partnership with Marlon Dino which led to their marriage in 2010.[1]
In 2002, Lacarra received the Nijinsky Award.[7] In 2003, at a gala in Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre she was awarded the Prix Benois de la Danse as best female dancer for her role of Tatjana in Cranko's Onegin.[8] In 2011, at the World Ballet Stars Gala in St Petersburg, she was named the Dancer of the Decade.[1]
