Svetlana Zakharova

People’s Artist of Russia, laureate of the Russian state prize, prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, étoile of La Scala, Svetlana Zakharova 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. Then 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, she took invitation to perform a solo part in the ballet “Don Quixote” in the Mariinsky Theatre. The graduate from the class by Elena Evteeva perfectly managed to perform one of the m...