IANA SALENKO

Iana Salenko was born in Kiev and received her dance training from 1995-2000 at the Pisarev Ballet School in Donetsk. Immediately after graduating, she was engaged as a soloist in the local opera house. In 2002 she became principal dancer at the Ukrainian National Opera in Kiev. In 2005 she joined the Staatsballett Berlin as a demi-soloist and was appointed first soloist by director Vladmir Malakhov in 2007 with her debut as Princess Aurora.

Iana Salenko has developed an extensive classical and modern repertoire in a short time. She danced the title roles in many well-known works, such as Marie in Patrice Bart's The Nutcracker, John Cranko's Onegin (Olga), Peter Schaufuss' La Sylphide, as well as in the productions of Giorgio Madias Alice's Wonderland and its OZ - The Wonderful Wizard. She has also danced in Vladimir Malakhov's Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadère and La Péri, Patrice Bart's Giselle and The Flaming Heart, as well as Boris Eifman's Tchaikovsky, George Balanchine's Tchaikovsky pas-de-deux, Frederick Ashton's Sylvia and the title role in Yuri Burlaka/Vasily Medvedev's La Esmeralda.

In 2013 she made her debut as a guest with the Royal Ballet London as Kitri in Carlos Acosta's Don Quixote, which forged a close bond with England's elite ballet company. In the meantime she has conquered almost all the main roles of the classical repertoire there, often alongside Steven McRae.

Iana Salenko is a popular guest with companies all over the world. She has received numerous awards, such as first prize and the Diaghilev Prize at the Serge Lifar Competition in Kiev in 2002, first prize and the Makarova Prize at the Arabesk Competition in 2004, the renowned German Future Dance Prize and first prize at the International Ballet Competition in Helsinki and Nagoya.