Evgenia Obraztsova

Evgenia Obraztsova is a Russian ballerina who dances as Prima ballerina with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, and with the Mariinsky Ballet as well. She is frequently invited as a guest soloist to other countries, and is known for dancing leading roles in ballets such as Romeo and Juliet, Ondine, Giselle, and La Sylphide. She has won several awards, including the Gold Medal at the Moscow International Ballet Competition in 2005. Also an actress, she portrayed a ballerina in the 2005 film The Russian Dolls, and was one of the ballerinas profiled in the 2006 documentary Ballerina.

She was born in Leningrad into a family of dancers, as her mother studied under Natalia Dudinskaya and was a member of the company at the Moussorgski Theatre. Obraztsova discovered her dance talents early and passed the entrance exams for the Vaganova School, which trains young dancers in preparation for joining the Mariinsky troupe. She graduated in 2002, having studied with Marina Vasilieva, before joining the company and rapidly proceeding through the ranks, protected and guided by a previous ballet star, the renowned Ninel Kurgapkina. Obraztsova soon learned by reading one of the theater brochures that she had been promoted from Corps de ballet to Coryphee no one at the theater had informed her of her promotion.

Source: Wikipedia