Worldwide recognized and one of the best representatives of St. Petersburg ballet culture, educated in the best traditions of academic dance. She´s actual and one of the most acclaimed teachers of Vaganova Academy.

Upon graduating with honors, Galina has completed specialization courses in the class of NATALIA DUDINSKAYA AND IRINA TROFIMOVA at Vaganova Academy.

After she worked as first soloist at the Theatre of Choreographic Miniatures of Leonid Jacobson, an exceptional and principal choreographer of Kirov Theatre (now Mariinsky), in his time. With the company Galina danced around the world with great success.

In 1998 she graduated as a classical ballet teacher in Vaganova Ballet Academy. Since then she has acquired an extensive teaching practice and methodical didactic in ballet.

Currently, she teaches ballet in Vaganova Academy in Saint Petersburg, basically on elementary and intermediate levels. Also, Galina gives Stage Practice classes for children in the Mariinsky Theatre.

She has given numerous master classes in Japan, Denmark, Italy and other countries.

More information on: http://vaganovaacademy.ru/academy/structure/kafedri/classica/enikeeva.html

In 1996 she graduated from Vaganova Academy of Ballet as a student of legendary Inna Zubkovskaya. She has been working since then with the Mariinsky Ballet where she dances soloist roles.

In addition, she graduated as teacher from the Vaganova Academy and the last four years she has been giving lessons in this prestigious school to the intermediate levels.

She has performed, among other soloist roles, the Sylph from La Sylphide by August Bournonville, Aurora and Princess Florine from The Sleeping Beauty by Marius Petipa and more neoclassical choreographies such as The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude by William Forsythe.

The Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta praises her versatility by saying that “her feet can command any tempi, emotions and styles”.
In our courses Ms. Ivanova will teach the intermediate levels. We are honored and lucky to be able to work with such a talented and professional teacher.

Born in Leningrad. Graduated from the Vaganova Ballet Academy in 1998.

Joined the Mariinsky Ballet сompany the same year. Her repertoire included La Sylphide (Nancy, Sylphs), La Bayadère (Manu, Bayadères, Trio of Shades), The Sleeping Beauty (Carefree Fairy, Playfulness Fairy, Little Red Riding Hood), Swan Lake (Cygnets, Neapolitan Dance), Raymonda (Grand pas, variation), Le Corsaire (Trio of Odalisques), Don Quixote (Amour) etc.

Prize-winner at the International Vaganova-Prix Competition (2nd prize, St Petersburg, 1998).

Since 2019 she has been a coach with the Mariinsky Ballet, working with Vaganova Ballet Academy students engaged in the theatre’s performances.

Ballet dancer and teacher.

Born in Kiev. From the age of 5, she began to study at the Deryugins' Gymnastics School in Kiev.

At the age of 10 she entered the Kiev Choreography School. Danced solo parts in the ballet "Theme with Variations" staged by V. Kovtun, The great classical pas from the ballet "Paquita", Pas de six from the ballet "Markitanka", Naina from the opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila", "Revived frescoes" from the ballet " Humpbacked Horse ", pas de deux from the ballet" The Venetian Carnival "," Classical pas de deux "by D. Balanchine.

After graduation, she came to St. Petersburg. From 1995 to 2010 she worked at the Academic Ballet Theater of Boris Eifman.

She took part in all theater performances (Russian Hamlet, Giselle (girlfriends), Pinocchio (Fox Alice, Red Giselle, Tchaikovsky, Requiem, My Jerusalem, Don Juan And Moliere "," Karamazov "," Seagull "," Anna Karenina "...).

In 2010-2011 she worked at the Helen Prokopieva DanceTheater "The Fortress Ballet". Danced in the performances "Attempt of tenderness", "Wait for an Angel", "Singing in July".

Marianna participated in the theatrical project "Lessons of Tango and Love" in which the People's Artist of the USSR Alisa Freindlikh, Varvara Vladimirova and the Dance Theater "The Fortress Ballet" took part. Producer and choreographer of the play is Elena Prokopyeva.

She graduated from the Russian Ballet Academy of  Vaganova specializing in "Pedagogy of the ballet".

She taught classical dance at the St. Petersburg Music Hall Theater. From 2011 to the present she is a teacher of choreography at the Academy of figure skating. She also teaches classical dance lessons at the DAR Dance Academy.

Mikhail Sivakov graduated from the Vaganova Ballet Academy in 1998, in the class of Konstantin Shatilov, and the same year he joined the Mikhailovsky Theatre.

He performed the roles of James (La Sylphide), Ahmet and Ali (Le Corsaire, rev. by Pyotr Gusev), Phoebus (Esmeralda), Solor (La Bayadère), Jean de Brien (Raymonda), Blue Bird and Fleur de Pois’s Cavalier (The Sleeping Beauty), Basilio and Espada (Don Quixote), Mikado (Princess of the Moon, or The Tale of Taketori, chor. by Nikolay Boyarchikov), Spartacus (Spartacus, chor. by Georgy Kovtun), Rose Waltz (The Nutcracker).
Now his repertoire includes roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, ou Les Wilis, The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Laurencia, Cipollino, Without Words, Nunc Dimittis.

“A tall, and with noble elongated lines, she perfectly embodies the modern type of the Petersburg ballerina - elegant and aristocratic.” - Ballet Magazine.

Sofya Gumerova graduated from the Vaganova Academy an an artist in 1995. The same year she entered the company of the Mariinsky Theater, becoming a ballet soloist in 2016. Sofya also graduated from the faculty of ballet staging of the St. Petersburg State Conservatory of Rimsky-Korsakov as a tutor-choreographer.

In 2010 Sofya received the title of honored Artist of Russia.

Sofia’s repertoire includes more than 30 roles, including the beloved Giselle (Giselle, Manna, Mirta), Swan Lake (Odette - Odile, large swans), La Bayadere (Nikia, Grand pas, trio of shadows), Corsair (Medora, a trio of odalisks), La Sylphide (La Sylphide), the Sleeping Beauty (Princess Aurora, Candide Fairy, Princess Florine), Raymonda (Raymonda, Clemance, Grand pas), Don Quixote (Kitri, Street Dancer, Queen of the Dryads), Michel Fokine’s ballets The Dying Swan, Chopiniana, and many many others!

Repertoire also includes:
Ondine (Queen of the Sea); choreography by Pierre Lacotte,
Reverence; choreography by David Dawson,
the duet from the ballet The Ghostly Ball; choreography by Dmitry Bryantsev,
Goya-Divertissement (Duchess of Alba); choreography by José Antonio,
Like an Old Organ Grinder; choreography by Alexei Miroshnichenko,
Pas de quatre (Carlotta Grisi, Lucile Grahn); choreography by Anton Dolin
and Euphoria; choreography by Nikita Dmitrievsky.

Sofya Gumerova has been working as a guest teacher for foreign students at the Vaganova Academy. Now she gives classes at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory of Rimsky-Korsakov of classical heritage and the art of being a tutor as well as acting classes at the Eifman Academy. In addition, Sofya conducts master classes all over the world.

She has the historical privilege to be the daughter and disciple of the great Tatiana Sevastianova. Graduated with honors at the Vaganova Academy, as an artist and teacher in ballet class of Udalenkova.

After her soloist career in various ballet companies, she became supervisor and teacher of great Russian ballet companies, including the prestigious Ballet L. Yakobson.

She was a guest soloist in the ballet company of the Leningrad Conservatory named after Rimskiy-Korsakov.

In 1993 she was invited to the ballet company of Prague as soloist.
From 1995-1998 she was a soloist of the State Theatre in Brno.
Since 1998, soloist in the company .L.Yakobson.
She participated in tours around Russia and the world.

Aleksandra Lebedeva has been recommended specifically by the Vaganova Academy to teach the character dance for our students. Currently Alexandra Lebedeva works as a character dance teacher at the Boris Eifman Dance Academy.

Graduated from the Vaganova Academy as artist and teacher, she works in the Mariinsky Theatre as a dancer since 1997. Since 2018 she also conducts rehearsals of the students from the Vaganova Academy from time to time.

She acquired a lot of experience working the historical repertoire on the Mariinsky Theatre stage. She performed as a soloist in “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai'' (Krakowiak), "The Swan Lake'' (mazurka) “Don Quixote'' (Gipsy), “The Nutcracker'' (Lady) and "Polovtsian dances'' and she has also danced every kind of historical dances such as quadrilles, minuets, sarabandes, polonaises and other kind of dances highly used in classical repertoire.

During the course of character dance, students may study and get familiar with the following dances from the Mariinsky Theatre: the Minuet from “Rigoletto”, the Quadrille from “The Queen of swords” and the Polonaise from “Eugene Onegin”, among other pieces and apart from the theoretical material following the methodology of the Vaganova Academy.

Zhanna Ayupova was born in Petrozavodsk. In 1984 she graduated from the Leningrad Choreographic School (coached by Ninel Kurgapkina) and was invited to become a member of the Kirov Ballet Company (Mariinsky Theatre). From 1987 Zhanna Aupova appeared as a featured soloist with the company preforming both lyric and dramatic parts. From 2000 to 2013 she had been coaching ballet dancers at the Mikhailovsky Theatre.

From 2013 – First Vice-rector and Artistic Director of the Vaganova Ballet Academy.

Over the course of her dance career Zhanna Ayupova has performed a great number of roles in major classical and neo-classical works. Her most prominent roles include Giselle (Giselle), Princess Aurora (The Sleeping Beauty), Marie (The Nutcracker), Raymonda (Raymonda), Kitri (Don Quixote), Nikiya (La Bayadère), Odette/Odile (Swan Lake), Manon (Manon), Soloist (Theme and Variations), Soloist (Symphony in C), Terpsichore (Apollo), Young Lady (Le Spectre de la Rose) and many others.

Zhanna Ayupova is a prize winner of the Moscow International Ballet Competition (1985).

In 2008 she was honored with the title People's Artist of Russia.

Maria Khoreva is one of the greatest promises of the ballet world in many years. Graduated in 2018 at the Vaganova Academy with the class of the famous professor Lyudmila Kovaleva, Khoreva joined the Mariinsky Ballet Theatre that same year.

In October 2018, she danced the lead role in Paquita, something extremely unusual for such a recent graduate, and at the end of the month she was promoted from Dance Corps to First Soloist, a rank just one step below the main dancer.


More information is on the website of the Mariinsky theatre.

In 2011 Ivan Zaytsev joined the ballet company of one of the best theatres of the world - Mikhailovsk, where very soon he became a Principal dancer, his repertoire includes solo and principal roles in La Sylphide, Le Corsaire, Cipollino, Don Quixote, Laurencia, The Flames of Paris, La Fille mal gardée, and Class Concert
as well as productions of Nacho Duato The Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, Multiplicity, Forms of Silence and Emptiness, Prelude, Invisible, and White Darkness. Ivan has toured with the Mikhailovsky Ballet Company to Japan, USA, Germany etc.

He start his career from Krasnodar Ballet School in 1997 and while studying he was training at the Yury Grigorovich Ballet Theatre where he performed roles in the ballets Spartacus, Romeo and Juliet, Raymonda, The Golden Age, The Nutcracker, and Cipollino.
In 2002 Ivan graduated from Krasnodar Ballet School and entered the Department of Choreography at St. Petersburg State University for Culture and Arts.
After graduation from the University in 2007, he joined Leonid Jacobson Ballet Theatre in St. Petersburg, where he danced Romeo (Romeo and Juliet), Jose (Passion for Carmen), Siegfried (Swan Lake), Prince (The Nutcracker), Albrecht (Giselle), and Rodin (The Kiss).

After participation in the 11th Moscow International Ballet Competition in 2009, he was invited to join Boris Eifman Ballet Theatre. Ivan´s parties in Eifman Ballet were:

• Basil in Don Quixote, 
• Onegin in Onegin, 
• Vronsky in Anna Karenina, 
• Ekaterina´s son in Russian Hamlet, 
• The Prince,
  
• The Young man & The Joker in Chaikovsky.
  

More information on the website of the Mikhailovsky theatre.

Beautiful, light and very technique dancer Veronika Markova in 2010 graduated from the Vaganova Ballet Academy and in 2012 joined the Mikhailovsky Ballet Company. Her repertoire includes solo, corps de ballet and character roles in the ballets Giselle, ou Les Wilis, Swan Lake, La Bayadère, Don Quixote, La Sylphide, Coppélia, Le Corsaire, Laurencia, The Flames of Paris, Cipollino, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Prelude, and others.

In 2020 Veronika graduated from the FPA (Association of Fitness Professionals in Moscow) as nutritionist (nutrition specialist) and started to provide individual consultations, master classes, webinars, and seminars in person and remotely. She is mainly working with ballet dancers, children of different ages and adult artists. Veronica patiently helps to plan the diet wisely, enjoy food, lose weight and solve related problems.

Passionate about his work, Sergei Laletin, being a dancer at St Petersburg theatre “Russian ballet”, graduated from the Vaganova Academy as a ballet critic and later became Associate Professor of the Department of Ballet Master Education at the Vaganova Academy.

He is a teacher at Boris Eifman Ballet Academy and Lecturer at the St. Petersburg Institute.

Senior researcher at the St. Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Musical Art and Chairman of the Youth Association of the Council on Ballet and Choreography of the St. Petersburg Branch of the Union of Theatre Workers of the Russian Federation.

Author-compiler of the album series "Legends of Russian Ballet". Author of articles in the magazines "Ballet", "Stage", "Ballet ad libitum", "PRO Dance", scientific collections and newsletters.

Winner of several national and international awards, currently a collaborator in the prestigious Mikhailovsky theater, professional photographer with more than 20 years of experience in the artistic world. Our students will have an exclusive opportunity to be portrayed by this magnificent artist, whose work has been recognized by the most emblematic museums of St. Petersburg and is part of the collection of numerous exhibition halls both in Russia and abroad.

More information about the individual and group sessions as well as the free pack of Russian Masters Ballet at info@russianmatersballet.com

Sergey Shcherbakov, specialist in commercial and art photography, member of the Creative Union of Photographers of Russia.

Featured awards:

• "Photographer of a year, 2005" (Reportage, series);
• Stipendium of International Project "Network Baltic" in graphic - center "Grafikens Huns", Sweden, 2004.
  

The works of Sergey are exposed in the collections of:
State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg
Museum of the History of the City of St. Petersburg
National Center of Photography "Rosphoto", Saint Petersburg
Graphic-Center "Grafiken Hus", Sweden
and many more.

Participant in more than 15 exhibitions

10 individual exhibitions

Instagram.com/Shcherbakov.foto

Ira Yakovleva is one of the most important ballet photographers in St. Petersburg and her international reputation has led her to work with the greatest ballet stars of the globe. Her training and previous career as a professional dancer bring to her works a point of view of the highest technical and artistic quality that unites with the expressive strength and delicacy of her images.

Yakovleva graduated from the State Choreographic School of Kiev and joined the ballet theatre L. Yakobson of St. Petersburg. She has toured throughout Russia, Europe, America and Asia with this prestigious company. For the past 7 years she has been exclusively dedicated to dance photography, where she has achieved international success and collaborates with dance brands from all around the world including Scena Shop, Susha More, Sonumberone, Balletpapier, Baustelle Berlin, Wezzarium, KeithLink , Dance Wear for all, Zi dancewear, Nina Shterenberg, Katerina Kelberg, Lets go dress or Virtuozo.

Apart from photographing countless ballet stars individually, she is an assiduous collaborator with large institutions in Russia such as the Mariinsky Theater, Eifman Ballet, Eifman Ballet School, Balleroosha, SPB City Guide or Dance Open. As well as in magazines such as: La Personne, Beatrice Magazine, Kadance.

Ira Yakovleva joins Russian Masters as one of the great representatives of dance photography worldwide and it’s a real proud for us to have someone of her stature and thus swelling the number of experts who, in their respective fields, help to make Russian Masters a unique experience of the highest level.