Russia's most beautiful ballerinas, on and off stage
For a long time, ballet and the lives of ballerinas were shrouded in mystery and considered something forbidden to outside eyes. This led to many myths—from the idea that under their clothes dancers are covered in bruises and broken bones from grueling training, to the notion that the girls eat nothing but cabbage leaves. Meanwhile, behind this curtain lies not suffering, but incredible grace. Just look at how the most stunning Russian ballerinas appear, remaining beautiful off stage as well.
Maria Vinogradova
As soon as Maria learned to walk without her parents« help, she wanted to dance. She did it gracefully and smoothly, so her mother and father had not a single doubt—the girl had talent.
«I was only three years old, but I already couldn»t live without dance and music. My parents saw my passion and decided to send me to a dance group,« recalls Maria.
Success came quickly. While all children have flexible joints and easily do the splits and quickly learn to do cartwheels, Vinogradova was better at it than her peers. Her parents, noticing this, submitted her documents to the Moscow State Academy of Choreography.
«In 2006, after graduating from the academy, I was invited to an audition at the Bolshoi Theatre and was accepted into the company,» Vinogradova said in one interview.
Despite her decent success and leading roles at the academy, at the Bolshoi she had to rebuild her reputation from scratch and prove she was worthy of principal parts. At first she was placed in the second corps de ballet, then moved up to the first, and gradually she rose to become a leading soloist.
At the Bolshoi Theatre, Maria not only built a career but also found love. In 2015, Vinogradova married premier dancer Ivan Vasiliev, and a year later their daughter Anya was born.
Ivan and Maria were called one of the most beautiful couples in Russian ballet. The spouses themselves didn«t mind the attention and often appeared together at receptions and published photos of their domestic idyll.
In 2022, the marriage hit rough waters, and the couple parted ways. Maria«s heart remains free to this day.
Eleonora Sevenard
Bolshoi Theatre prima Eleonora Sevenard had a pull towards ballet in her blood. She is a descendant of the famous Mathilde Feliksovna Kschessinska, who, it is rumored, was adored by Tsar Nicholas II himself.
«Mathilde Feliksovna is the first Russian prima ballerina who performed 32 fouettés. Before her, no one in Russia had done it. At the time, it was believed such a trick on stage was only possible for Italian dancers. I am proud that she is my predecessor; for me, it»s a special incentive in my profession,« Eleonora said modestly about her famous ancestry.
Sevenard«s mother also did ballet in her youth. So, when Eleonora and her sister were under three years old, she enrolled them in a dance studio without hesitation. But initially, the classes were more for general development, and the girls attended them alongside other clubs.
«We just did choreography, gymnastics. I also went to art school, music lessons, and swimming,» Sevenard said about her childhood.
Of all the activities, ballet was closest to Eleonora, so at age 10 the girl was sent to the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, which she successfully graduated from in 2016.
«She is the best graduate of the school from last year, the very best,» Nikolai Tsiskaridze said about her.
After graduation, Eleonora joined the Bolshoi Theatre company and by 2023 had become its prima. Her love for art and dance brought her together with her current husband—Denis Rodkin. During a tour in Greece, Eleonora was put in to replace Denis«s partner in the ballet »The Nutcracker.« A spark ran between the pair immediately.
«I liked Denis right away. Moreover, when we girls at the Academy discussed male dancers, I called him the ideal. I felt attraction to him from the start,» Eleonora confessed.
The artists dated for seven years, and only in 2025 did Denis propose to Eleonora. The couple married in early 2026.
Yulia Stepanova
Yulia was born in Orenburg. At five years old, she saw ballet on TV and wanted to learn to soar on stage just as gracefully. Her mother supported little Yulia«s dream and sent her to a choreographic school.
After five years of classes and performances, the school«s director advised Yulia»s mother to go to St. Petersburg and try to get into the Vaganova Academy. The family hesitated; the girl was too young to go alone, but giving it all up was too risky. In the end, the parents split up temporarily; the mother went with Yulia to the Northern capital, and the father stayed in Orenburg.
All the fears turned out to be unfounded. Yulia was accepted and was one of the best in her class. In 2009, she graduated from the academy and joined the Mariinsky Theatre company. For five years she performed in all the famous productions but always remained in secondary roles.
No matter how hard Yulia tried and honed her craft, someone else was always ahead. In 2015, Stepanova grew tired of this and moved to work at the Bolshoi Theatre. In her new place, within just a year she became a prima ballerina and remains one to this day.
Maria Khoreva
Maria ended up in ballet by pure chance. In childhood, she was seriously into gymnastics and won competitions. But once, while walking around St. Petersburg with her parents, she saw announcements that the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet was accepting students. Khoreva immediately was eager to try and successfully passed all three audition rounds.
«After gymnastics, ballet felt strange and incomprehensible, and sometimes even boring for the first few years. But then awareness came, and it probably continues to come to this day. How profound it all is,» Maria said.
After graduating from the academy, Khoreva joined the Mariinsky Theatre company. Like everyone, she started from the bottom but quickly became popular. The whole secret is that she simultaneously launched her blog, where she honestly talked about and showed the effort behind all those fouettés and perfectly polished numbers.
«In ballet, endurance is measured by performances. On a tour in America, we performed »Paquita« three times in a week—a three-hour ballet, one of the most technically challenging at the Mariinsky Theatre. I danced the last of the three performances almost unconscious, barely believing I was still alive,» the ballerina detailed all the trials.
There turned out to be many people wanting to peek behind the theater«s curtains and learn the ballerinas» secrets. Khoreva began to be regularly invited for interviews, as well as for film and advertising shoots.
When Maria became a first soloist of the theatre, she began to share her knowledge with others. She published a book with lessons and started conducting master classes for young dancers.
Alexandra Khiteyeva
The Mariinsky Theatre first soloist came to St. Petersburg from Kazan. In her hometown, Alexandra graduated from a choreographic school and then entered the Vaganova Academy.
Khiteyeva admits that by nature she is a very anxious person and often, in an attempt to do things perfectly, engages in self-scrutiny and criticism. Because of this, Alexandra had problems with eating and accepting her body for a long time.
«I»ve always had a complicated relationship with food and weight issues, which I still struggle with. It makes me very sad that when I was little, no one explained to me how to lose weight properly, that starving is bad,« Alexandra confided in one interview.
The ballerina also does not hide that her first steps at the Mariinsky Theatre were not easy. Wanting to prepare a perfect number and image for a performance, she could spend many hours honing dance techniques she already mastered. And in the end, only made it worse.
«There is a risk of losing both yourself and the dance. That»s precisely why I don«t like to rehearse too much or prepare roles—I»m afraid of losing the live, successful discoveries in endless refinements,« Alexandra shared the secret of her current success.
Besides her work in the theatre, Alexandra also acts in films and models for magazines and brands. Her poses with a perfectly pointed toe or flawless splits would be the envy of any top model.
