Svetlana Zakharova - Then and Now

Svetlana Yuryevna Zakharova is a Russian prima ballerina with the Bolshoi Ballet and an étoile of the La Scala Theatre Ballet. Svetlana Zakharova was born in Lutsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, on 10 June 1979. At the age of six, she was taken by her mother to learn folk dancing at a local studio, and by the age of 10, she had auditioned and was accepted into the Kyiv Choreography School. Valeria Sulegina was one of her teachers. In 1995, after six years at the Kyiv School, Zakharova entered the Young Dancers' Competition (Vaganova-Prix) in St. Petersburg. The youngest contestant, she took second prize and was invited to continue her training in the graduating course of St Petersburg's Vaganova Academy. It was the first time in the school's history to allow a student to skip two grades. After attending the pre-eminent Russian ballet school for one year, Zakharova then joined the Mariinsky ballet in 1996. Zakharova debuted with the Mariinsky Ballet in 1996, appearing as Mar