📍Lutsk, Ukraine
1979 – 1989“Svetlana Zakharova was born in June 1979 in Lutsk, an old town on the Styr river in north-western Ukraine, known for its medieval Lubart's Castle. Her parents are Yuri and Halyna Zakharova. When Svetlana was six, her mother took her to a local studio to learn folk dancing, and she showed such natural grace and long, elegant lines that her teachers encouraged her to try ballet. At ten she auditioned for the Kyiv Choreographic School and was accepted, leaving Lutsk to study in the capital, where she trained for six years with her teacher, Valeria Sulegina. It was a long way from home for a young girl, but she was dedicated and determined, and her extraordinary proportions, extensions and flexibility marked her out. In 1995, at sixteen, she entered the Vaganova-Prix competition in Saint Petersburg as the youngest competitor, won second prize, and was invited to join the graduating class at the Vaganova Academy. She graduated in 1996 and joined the Mariinsky Ballet, where she was promoted to principal at eighteen. In 2003 she moved to the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, where she became prima ballerina, and in 2008 she also became an étoile of La Scala in Milan. Famous for her Swan Lake, Giselle and Sleeping Beauty, she has danced on the great stages of the world. Lutsk is proud of the girl from the folk dance studio who became one of the greatest ballerinas of her generation.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today