Natalya Yevgenyevna Sedykh (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Ната́лья Евге́ньевна Седы́х) (born 10 July 1948) is a Russian retired figure skater, ballet dancer, and film actor. Sedykh was born in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. As a very young girl, she was enthralled by a television broadcast of figure skating. She began skating at the age of four, and became known as "the smallest skater in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

". A 1962 televised version of ''

The Dying Swan ''The Dying Swan'' (originally ''The Swan'') is a solo dance choreographed by Mikhail Fokine to Camille Saint-Saëns's ''Le Cygne'' from ''Le Carnaval des animaux'' as a '' pièce d'occasion'' for the ballerina Anna Pavlova, who performed it abo ...

'' brought her to the attention of director Aleksander Rou, who cast her as the ingenuous heroine Nastyenka in his 1964

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

film ''

Jack Frost Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow, sleet, winter, and freezing cold. He is a variant of Old Man Winter who is held responsible for frosty weather, nipping the fingers and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, ...

'', and also in his 1968 film ''

Fire, Water, and Brass Pipes ''Fire, Water, and Trumpets'' (russian: Огонь, вода и… медные трубы, ''Ogon', voda i... mednye truby'') is a 1968 Soviet Union, Soviet fantasy film directed by Aleksandr Rou. Its story and characters are derived from Slavic ...

''. In 1969, Sedykh graduated ballet school at the

Bolshoi Theater The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, literally "Big Theater", p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈatər) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and ope ...

and joined the theater's company, first as a member of the corps de ballet and later as a soloist. She toured internationally in '' The Sleeping Beauty'', ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...

'', ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' ( rus, Ча́йка, r=Cháyka, links=no) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises t ...

'', and ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writte ...

'', in which she danced alongside

Maya Plisetskaya Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya (russian: link=no, Майя Михайловна Плисецкая; 20 November 1925 – 2 May 2015) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer, choreographer, ballet director, and actress. In post-Soviet times, she he ...

and Māris Liepa.Natalya Sedykh: I'm ready for a mad love
/ref> She married the composer

Victor Lebedev The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

and moved to

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Her former boyfriend, a fellow artist from the Bolshoi, was so consumed by jealousy that he followed her to Leningrad and attempted to strangle her, then threatened her with a knife. She managed to escape without injury, but was severely shaken. Her assailant went abroad shortly afterwards. She remained married to Lebedev for ten years, and they had one son, Alexei. In 1990, Sedykh joined the company of Mark Rozovsky's Nikitsky Gate Theater in Moscow, where she continues to perform.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sedykh, Natalya 1948 births Living people Figure skaters from Moscow Soviet ballerinas Russian ballerinas Soviet female single skaters Russian female single skaters Russian film actresses Soviet actresses 20th-century Russian actresses