Svetlana Zakharova is without doubt the most discussed young star of Russian
Ballet in the late nineties. This is as much the result of her youthful talent,
as of her swift advancement at the Mariinsky, her performance style and her sometimes
nonconformist approach of the classics, dividing critics and ballet fans alike.
Long-limbed and slim, physically gifted, ultra-supple and preferring extreme
extensions and sinuous lines, Svetlana Zakharova became at the close of the 20th century the epitome of the new breed of
ballerinas cherished in Russia and foremost by the Mariinsky.
Born in Lutsk in the Ukraine in 1979, Svetlana Zakharova initially trained six years at
the Kiev Choreographic School. After obtaining second prize at the 1995 International young dancers'
competition in St. Petersburg ('Vaganova Prix') she was immediately admitted to
the third course at the Vaganova Ballet Academy (class of Yelena Yevteyeva) and
graduated into the Kirov in the summer of 1996, just 17. The next year she was
promoted to principal dancer.
In her first seasons with the Kirov and under the experienced guidance of Olga Moiseyeva
she was offered massive opportunities. However, confronted from the beginning with a variety
of styles, ranging from the academic patterns of The Sleeping Beauty and the
lyrical world of Giselle, to the stylised romanticism of Chopiniana, the
dram-ballets of the Soviet period, and the neoclassical patterns of Balanchine,
the results were often variable and Zakharova obviously still needed to find her
proper place in the repertoire. In fact, her first efforts looked promising by their
combination of youthful charm and striking plasticity, yet hard-pressed to match them it
was felt that in consecutive performances Zakharova already ran up to the limitations
of her predilection for outsized shapes and willful phrasing. One of her finest achievements
at the Mariinsky remains Swan Lake, with an understated and touching Swan Queen.
Svetlana Zakharova toured worldwide with the Kirov (notably the UK, the USA,
Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Australia, Japan) and her dancing partners included
Igor Zelensky, Viktor Baranov, Evgeni Ivanchenko, Igor Kolb,
and Danila Korsuntsev.
Since 2001 she frequently appears as principal guest artist with various companies in the world (Rio, Tokyo, Munich, Paris, Rome, Milan, New York). Her performances with the Paris Opera Ballet in December 2001 as Nikiya in Nureyev's La Bayadère
were extremely successful.
In the summer of 2003 Zakharova moved from the Mariinsky to the Bolshoi Ballet.
On October 5th she danced her first performance as a principal of the Bolshoi in Giselle,
partnered by Nikolai Tsiskaridze and Maria Alexandrova. At the Bolshoi she is coached
by former Bolshoi star Ludmila Semenyaka, who like Zakharova initially danced with the Kirov. Her repertory soon included all the major ballerina roles as well as the Russian creations of Hippolyta/Titania in John Neumeier's A Midsummer Night's Dream and of Cinderella in Yuri Posokhov's version of the same ballet. Her partners at the Bolshoi also include Andrei Uvarov, Sergei Filin and Alexander Volchkov.
Svetlana Zakharova is a recipient of the Golden Mask Award (best female role in ballet) in 1999 for her
performance in Balanchine's Serenade and in 2000 for her interpretation of Aurora
in The Sleeping Beauty. (She was moreover nominated in 1998 for Giselle and in 2002 for
Now and Then.) She was also awarded the special prize "Our Hope"
from the St. Petersburg brewery "Baltika" in 1997 and the special St. Petersburg prize
"People of Our City" for her achievements in ballet in 2001. Since June 6, 2005 Svetlana Zakharova is
an Honoured Artist of Russia, since February 21, 2008 a People's Artist of Russia.
Marc Haegeman
Her repertory includes:
Mariinsky Ballet
Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty (Petipa, staged by K. Sergeyev) (1996)
Soloist in Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux (Balanchine) (1996)
The Dying Swan (Fokine) (1996)
Maria in The Fountain of Bakhchisarai (Zakharov) (1996)
Masha in The Nutcracker (Vainonen) (1996)
Gulnara in Le Corsaire (Gusev after Petipa) (1997)
title role in Giselle (Coralli/Perrot, Petipa) (1997)
Queen of the Dryads in Don Quixote (Petipa, Gorsky) (1997)
Waltz and Mazurka Girl in Chopiniana (Fokine) (1997)
Juliet's friend in Romeo and Juliet (Lavrovsky) (1997)
Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty (Petipa, staged by K. Sergeyev) (1998)
Terpsichore in Apollo (Balanchine) (1998)
soloist in Serenade (Balanchine) (1998)
Odette-Odile in Swan Lake (Petipa-Ivanov, staged by K. Sergeyev) (1998)
Poem of Ecstasy (Ratmansky) (1998)
soloist Symphony in C-1st movt. (Balanchine) (1999)
Medora in Le Corsaire (Gusev after Petipa) (1999)
Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty (Petipa, staged by Vikharev) (1999)
Nikiya in La Bayadère (Petipa, staged by Ponomarev, Chabukiani) (1999)
Diamonds in Jewels (Balanchine) (2000)
title role in Manon (MacMillan) (2000)
Kitri in Don Quixote (Petipa, Gorsky) (2000)
soloist in Now and Then (Neumeier) (2001)
soloist in The Young Lady and The Hooligan (Boyarsky) (2001)
Zobeide in Scheherazade (Fokine) (2001)
Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (Lavrovsky) (2002)
Nikiya in La Bayadère (Petipa, staged by Vikharev) (2002)
soloist in Paquita Grand Pas (Petipa)
soloist in Middle Duet (Ratmansky)
soloist in Etudes (Lander) (2003)
Bolshoi Ballet
title role in Giselle (Perrot, Coralli, staged by Vasiliev) (2003)
Aspiccia in La Fille du Pharaon (Lacotte) (2003)
Odette-Odile in Swan Lake (Petipa-Ivanov, staged by Grigorovich) (2003)
Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty (Petipa, staged by Grigorovich) (2004)
soloist in Symphony in C-2nd movt. (Balanchine) (2004)
Nikiya in La Bayadère (Petipa, staged by Grigorovich) (2004)
Kitri in Don Quixote (Petipa, Gorsky, staged by Fadeyechev) (2004)
Hippolyta/Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Neumeier) (2004)
title role in Raymonda (Petipa, staged by Grigorovich) (2005)
soloist in In the Middle Somewhat Elevated (Forsythe) (2005)
title role in Carmen (Alonso) (2005)
title role (cr.) in Cinderella (Posokhov) (2006)
Revelation (M. Hiroyama) (2006)
Medora in Le Corsaire (Petipa, staged by Ratmansky, Burlaka) (2007)
soloist (cr.) in Class Concert (A. Messerer) (2007)
Aegina in Spartacus (Grigorovich) (2008)
Guest performances
Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker (Balanchine) - New York City Ballet (2000)
title role in Manon (MacMillan) - Bayerisches Staatsballett, Munich (2001)
Odette-Odile in Swan Lake Swan Lake (Petipa-Ivanov, staged by Makarova) - Teatro Municipal Rio de Janeiro (2001)
Nikiya in La Bayadère (Petipa, Chabukiani, Ponomarev, staged by Nureyev) - Paris Opera Ballet (2001)
Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty (Petipa, staged by Chalmer) - Opera di Roma (2002)
Odette-Odile in Swan Lake Swan Lake (Petipa-Ivanov, staged by Deane) - English National Ballet (2002)
Odette-Odile in Swan Lake (Petipa-Ivanov, staged by Nureyev) - Paris Opera Ballet (2002)
Nikiya in La Bayadère (Petipa, Chabukiani, Ponomarev, staged Asami) - New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo (2003)
Odette-Odile in Swan Lake (Petipa-Ivanov, staged by Samsova) - Opera di Roma (2003)
title role in Giselle (Perrot, Coralli, Petipa, staged by Bart/Polyakov) - Paris Opera Ballet (2004)
Nikiya in La Bayadère (Petipa, Chabukiani, Ponomarev, staged Makarova) - American Ballet Theatre, New York (2004)
Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty (Petipa, staged by K. Sergeyev) - New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo (2004)
title role in Raymonda (Petipa, staged by Asami) - New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo (2004)
Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty (Petipa, staged by Nureyev) - Paris Opera Ballet (2004)
Nikiya in La Bayadère (Petipa, Chabukiani, Ponomarev, staged by Makarova) - Hamburg Ballet (2005)
title role in Giselle (Perrot, Coralli, staged by Chauviré/Clerc) - La Scala, Milan (2005)
Kitri in Don Quixote (Petipa, Gorsky, staged by Fadeyechev) - New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo (2005)
