Ulyana Lopatkina and Marat Shemiunov in the Fragments of a Biography

Ulyana Lopatkina and Marat Shemiunov in the Fragments of a Biography, music by Astor Piazzolla, choreography by Vladimir Vasiliev. Ulyana Lopatkina Tango Gala, April 2014.

Ulyana Lopatkina (written also Uliana) is prima ballerina with Mariinsky Ballet, St. Peterburg, Russia. Ulyana was born on 23th of October 1973 in Kerch (Ukraine). From the early age Ulyana took dancing classes and was admitted to the Academy of Russian Ballet named after Vaganova (St.Petersburg) where she studied the art of dancing from Galina Novitskaya in primary school and Natalia Dudinskaya in higher school. Still being a student of the Academy, Uliana took won at Vaganova-prix Competition (St.Petersburg, 1991).

After graduation from the Academy in 1991 Ulyana joined Mariinsky theatre company (St.Petersburg). In 1994 Ulyana successfully made her debut as Odette/Odille in the “Swan Lake” ballet in St.Petersburg, for which she was awarded with “Golden Sofit” as best debut in St.Petersburg. In 1995 Ulyana was called the principal dancer of Mariinsky theatre where her teachers were Olga Moiseeva and Ninel Kurgapkina. Presently Ulyana’s coach is Irina Chistyakova.

Marat Shemiunov is principal danseur with Mikhailovsky Theatre, St Patersburg. He was born in Leningrad (St Petersburg) in 1983, he graduated from the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet (class of professor Yury Tsvetkov) in 2001 and the same year joined the Mikhailovsky Theatre in 2001.

Photo by Jack Devant ballet photography © with kind permission of the Ulyana Lopatkina, special thanks to Ilya Goor.