Diana Vishneva

Hello. My name is Diana Vishneva. I am a Principle ballerina for the Kirov ballet. I was born July 13th, 1976 in Leningrad, Russia. i started dancing at the age of six in and later at the age of 11 I entered the Agrippina Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet. After many more years of training, I went to the "Prix de Lausanne" which is an international competition held annually in the Swiss city of Lausanne. It is known for being one of the most pretigious competitions for young ballet dancers. For this, i danced Carmen which won me the gold medal. My prefessional development began at this win. I was very quickly given solo roles while still finishing my final year of training such as Kitri in "Don Quioxte". Then i was honored with the priveledge of dancing in gala concert in memory of Ruldolf Nuriyev in 1995 while i was still studying at the Vaganova Academy. This is where i danced for the first time with my future longtime partner, Vladimir Malakhov. Also in 1995 i was accepted into the Mariinsky Theatre troupe where at the time, George Balanchine was preforming his productions. Since I was a part of the Mariinsky troupe, I got my first role where i danced with Sergey Vikharev in Blanchine's "Symphony in C". throughout 1996 and 1997 danced preformed the roles of Aurora in "Sleeping Beauty"; Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" ; and Firebird from "the Firebird". By this time i was acknowledged as a true star. I was awarded many honors and my status grew and grew. In the words of a wise ballet dancer, "Ballet is not just and art, it is a way of life". And to this day, I believe this quote, and it describes me and my life. I dedicated my life to something i love and i guess in the end it payed off. I love ballet! 3