St. Petersburg Classic Ballet Theatre

The Saint Petersburg Classic Ballet Theatre, under the artistic direction of prima ballerina, Marina Medvetskaya, is one of St. Petersburg's most well-respected ballet companies that, since its founding in 1996, has performed to acclaim throughout Russia, the states of the former Soviet Union, England and Scandinavia. The troupe of 12 soloists and principal dancers made its U.S. debut tour during the 2001-2002 season and has returned to North America each year since then. Saint Petersburg Classic Ballet Theatre's founder and director, Marina Medvetskaya, is a disciple of the legendary premier danseur and choreographer, Vakhtang Chaboukiani. She is the former Prima Ballerina of the Tbilisi State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, where she danced all the leading roles in the classical and contemporary ballet repertoire, as well as working with Alexander Plesetsky and the Bolshoi Ballet’s Mikhail Lavrovsky. Her company was awarded the Amber Necklace, the equivalent of the Gold Medal, at the National Ballet Competition in Kalingrad in 1999. The artists in her company have been in trained in the exacting classical technique of the Kirov Ballet's Vaganova Ballet Academy and have previously danced with the finest ballet companies of St. Petersburg, including the Kirov, The Maly and the St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre of the late Askold Makarov.