Svetlana Zakharova

Russian ballet dancer born from Ukrainian parents in Lutsk (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic) in 1979. From 10 to 16 years old she studied at the Kyiv Choreographic College. In 1995, following a second prize at the International Young Dancers' Competition of St. Petersburg, she entered the Vaganova Academy. For the first time in the school's history, a student skipped two grades and passed directly to the final class directed by Elena Evteyeva. After graduation, in 1996, she joined the Mariinsky Ballet with the role of Maria in Rostislav Zakharov's "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai". One year later, aged 18, she was appointed Prima Ballerina. In 2003, she left the Mariinsky to become étoile of the Bolshoi Ballet, after a longstanding offer and the personal invitation from Vladimir Vasiliev. Her coach was Ludmilla Semenyaka. Since 1999, she's been dancing for the most prestigious ballet companies across the globe, taking part to several cultural events such as the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi 2014: XXII Olympic Winter Games (2014). Starting from l'Opéra de Paris in 2009, she worked as a principal guest artist in Milan, London, Vienna, New York, Munich, Rio, Hamburg and Tokyo. In 2008, she became the first not-Italian étoile at La Scala of Milan. In addition to her career as a dancer, she's a member of the Presidential Council for Culture and Art and served one term in the Russian parliament from 2008 to 2012. Her many awards include the special prizes "Our Hope" and "People of Our City" in Saint Petersburg, a "Golden Sophit" and a "Golden Mask" for "Serenade" and "Sleeping Beauty" in 1999-2000; a Danza & Danza 2002 award in Italy; two "Benois de la danse" for the roles of Titania in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (2005) and Marie in Bolshoi Ballet: The Lady of the Camellias (2015). She's also recipient of the title of "Artist Emeritus of the Russian Federation", followed by the "People's Artist of Russia" in 2008, and other dance magazines prizes such "Soul of Dance" and "Queen of the Dance".