46 Times Ballerina Svetlana Zakharova/Светлана Захарова Made Me Say Wow!

Music: “Etude No 1 for STRING (=P Paul lol) Quartet“ by Peter Sandberg () and “Refined Enlightenment“ by Howard Harper-Barnes () Svetlana Zakharova/Светлана Захарова is a People’s Artist of Russia, laureate of the Russian state prize, prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, and étoile of La Scala. She was born in Lutsk (Ukraine). At the age of 10 she entered the Kiev Choreography School. Having spend six years in the class of Valeria Sulegina, she took part in the international young dancers contest “Vaganova Prix“ in Saint Petersburg, where she was the youngest ballet dancer. At the age of 15 Svetlana won the second prize. After the contest she accepted the invitation to go to the famous Vaganova Ballet Academy in Saint Petersburg. She skipped the second class and went straight to the graduating class which was the only case in the whole history of this educational institution. Zakharova immediately drew attention to herself and six months later when she took invitation to perform a solo part in the ballet “Don Quixote“ in the Mariinsky Theatre. When she was seventeen, Svetlana Zakharova graduated from the Vaganova Academy and in nearly no time she was accepted into the legendary ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre. Svetlana was noticed by the outstanding teacher of the Mariinsky Theatre and a famous ballet dancer the People’s artist of Russia Olga Moiseeva. Under her guidance, Zakharova debuted as Maria in “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai“. Then she danced Gulnara in “Le Corsaire“ and performed “The 7th Waltz and Mazurka“ in “Chopiniana“. But the most tremendous success was brought to her by the role of Giselle in the ballet of the same name. Shortly after the premiere Zakharova received an offer from Vladimir Vasiliev to join the company of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. Having received her official ’prima’ status at the age of 18, Svetlana continued her work for the Mariinsky Theater expanding her repertoire with classical and modern pieces. At the same time she started to receive international recognition. Her global fame rapidly grew. In 2001, she signed her first contract with L’Opera de Paris for “Bayadère“. It was the first time in thirty years that a ballet dancer from Russia had a chance to perform on the French capital’s famous stage. Zakharova has toured to every part of the world: New York Metropolitan Opera, London Covent Garden, The Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Teatro di san Carlo in Napoli, Vienna Opera, National Theater in Tokyo, stages in many cities of Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. La Scala signed a long-term contract with her and awarded her with the status of étoile. This was the first time in the history of this great theater that such a distinction was made. Up until then, no Russian ballet dancer had been awarded this honor before. She also took part in DVD-recordings of “Swan Lake“, “Bayadère“ and “Giselle“. In 2003 Svetlana Zakharova decided to join the ballet company of the Bolshoi Theater. Famous ballet dancer People’s Artist of Russia Ludmila Semeniaka has become her tutor. Zakharova’s first work in the Bolshoi was the ballet-premiere “La Fille du Pharaon“ by the famous choreographer Pierre Lacotte. A recording of this ballet was issued on DVD. Gradually Zakharova was introduced into every piece of the Bolshoi’s classical repertoire. She is still performing. If you enjoyed this, please subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking on this link: Or, check out my “Svetta“ Zakharova, The Beloved playlist here: Thank you kindly for watching, Pam Boehme Simon for Graceful Beast Ballet #svetlanazakharova #СветланаЗахарова #pamboehmesimon #gracefulbeastballet