Zhanna Ayupova

Career Trajectory

Ayupova joined the Kirov Ballet Company in 1984 as a newly graduated artist from the Vaganova Academy, quickly establishing herself as a principal dancer of exceptional technical command and interpretive depth across the classical and contemporary repertoire. Her career encompassed the full spectrum of roles from the Petipa canon to works by Balanchine and Ratmansky, culminating in recognition as both Honoured Artist (2002) and People's Artist of Russia (2008). In her second career, she has become an indispensable custodian of Russian ballet tradition, serving as First Vice-Rector and Artistic Director of the Vaganova Academy and as a ballet coach at the Mikhailovsky Theatre.