Biography
In 1976, he completed his studies at the Leningrad A.Y. Vaganova College of Choreography (today the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet), where
his teachers were: Natalia Dudinskaya, Konstantin Sergeyev, Gennady Selyutsky. While a student at the College he mounted the grand pas from the ballet The Little Golden Fish, the female
variation of which Dudinskaya included in her Paquita grand pas.
In 1988, he graduated from the department of choreography of the Leningrad Conservatoire (teacher Nikita Dolgushin).
From 1979-81, he was a soloist at the St.Petersburg Mussorgsky Theatre of Opera and Ballet (today the Mikhailovsky Theatre). In 1981, he
joined the Vanemuine Theatre, Tartu, Estonia, as soloist. For this Company, he danced lead roles in the following, among other, ballets: Giselle, Satanella, Nutcracker, Coppelia, La
Sylphide, The Prince of the Pagodas, Romeo and Juliet. Among the productions he created for the Company are: Satanella, or Love and Hell, The Prince of the Pagodas, Peter and the Wolf,
Birth of Dance, Symphonie fantastique.
Since 1989, he has been collaborating with the Mariinsky Theatre, the St.Petersburg Mussorgsky Theatre of Opera and Ballet, National Theatre Prague,
National Theatre Brno Prague Chamber Ballet, the Laterna Magika Dance Company, the New Classical Ballet, Forli, Italy, Balletto di Cagliari, The Forli University of Dance, Munich Ballet
Academy, Centre Choreographique de la Ville de Strasbourg, Teatro Colon, as well as other theatres in Latin America, the USA, Canada, Taiwan, South Korea and South Africa.
His productions include: Onegin (National Theatre, Prague, 1999; Santa Fe Opera, USA, 2004; Vanemuine Theatre, 2007); La Dame aux
camelias (The St. Petersburg Mussorgsky Theatre of Opera and Ballet; the Russian Ballet Theatre under the direction of Alexander Bruskin; Czech Republic); The Kiss of Salome (The
St.Petersburg Mussorgsky Theatre of Opera and Ballet); Romeo and Juliet (Czech Republic; Germany); La Fille mal gardee (Czech Republic, National Theatre of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Sarajevo, 2004); Cinderella (Izmir State Opera and Ballet Theatre, Turkey; National Theatre of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2008); Nutcracker (National Theatre Brno, Czech Republic, 2001 -
best production of the year); Le Corsaire (National Theatre Brno, 2005 - best production of the year; Izmir State Opera and Ballet Theatre, 2006; new version - National Opera of
Bucharest, 2007; new version – P.I. Tchaikovsky Perm Theatre of Opera and Ballet, 2008); Swan Lake (National Theatre of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2006); Coppelia (National Theatre of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2009); Seven Beauties (Azerbaijan National Theatre of Opera and Ballet, Baku, 2008).
His television work includes: Strangers in the Night, Life, Tainted Pleasure, Birth of Dance – for Estonia TV, Summer Bolero and
Vasily Medvedev dancing - for the French 5 TV Channel, Sentimental Waltz - for USA TV.
He teaches at the A.Y. Vaganova Academy of Russian Dance (pedagogical faculty).
He has taken part in international gala concerts and festivals. Since 2003, he has been artistic director of the Dance Open International Ballet Festival, St. Petersburg, of which he is
founder.
His awards include: for his services to Estonian ballet - the State Prize, the Ministry of Culture prize and the prize of the Union of Theatre People
of Estonia; the prize for Best Teacher of Classical Dance (Italy); the prize of the Pushkin Legacy International Fund (USA) - for Onegin; the Zirvya prize (Azerbaijan) -
for Seven Beauties. Since 2007, he has been a member of the International Council of Dance CID, attached to UNESCO.
Art. Lebedev Studio