Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Gracheva (russian: Надежда Александровна Грачёва; born 21 December 1969) is a Russian ballerina and ballet teacher who has danced with the

Bolshoi Ballet The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest ballet companies. In the early 20th century, it came to internatio ...

Early life

Born in

Semipalatinsk Semey ( kk, Семей, Semei, سەمەي; cyrl, Семей ), until 2007 known as Semipalatinsk (russian: Семипала́тинск) and in 1917–1920 as Alash-kala ( kk, Алаш-қала, ''Alaş-qala''), is a city in eastern Kazakhst ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

, Gracheva studied at the Kazakh Ballet School in

Alma-Ata Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936 as an autonomous republic as part of t ...

. In 1986, after winning second prize for the juniors at the International Ballet Competition in

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

, she was admitted to the Moscow College of Choreography where she studied with

Sofia Golovkina Sofia Nikolayevna Golovkina (alternate, Sophia; Russian, Головкина, Софья Николаевна; 13 October 1915 - 17 February 2004) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher. A graduate of the Moscow State Acade ...

Career

After completing her training, she joined the

in 1988, making her debut as a soloist. Rehearsed under

Galina Ulanova Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova (russian: Галина Сергеевна Уланова, ; 21 March 1998) was a Russian ballet dancer. She is frequently cited as being one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century. Biography Ulanova was born ...

and later Marina Kondratieva, she created the leading roles in the classical repertoire and as well as those in many works by contemporary choreographers. She quickly became the Bolshoi's leading dancer, earning the title of

prima ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

after dancing Nikiya in the 1991 production of ''

La Bayadère ''La Bayadère'' ("the temple dancer") ( ru. «Баядерка», ''Bayaderka'') is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. The ballet was staged especiall ...

''.

Awards

Among the awards she has received are the

Prix Benois de la Danse The Benois de la Danse is a ballet competition held annually in Moscow. Founded by the International Dance Association in 1991, it takes place each year on or around April 29 and it's judged by a jury. The members of this jury change every year and ...

(1992), the Gold Medal at the Japan International Ballet Competition (1995), the

People's Artist of Russia People's Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: Народный артист Российской Федерации, ''Narodnyy artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii''), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the Russian Federation, is an h ...

award (1996) and the

State Prize of the Russian Federation The State Prize of the Russian Federation, officially translated in Russia as Russian Federation National Award, is a state honorary prize established in 1992 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. In 2004 the rules for selection of laureates ...

(1996). In 2001, she was awarded the Russian Order of Honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gracheva, Nadezhda 1969 births Living people Russian ballerinas Soviet ballerinas Prima ballerinas People from Semey Bolshoi Ballet principal dancers Prix Benois de la Danse winners People's Artists of Russia State Prize of the Russian Federation laureates Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) 20th-century Russian ballet dancers 21st-century Russian ballet dancers